Rule and Ruin

three; the traitor

chapter three.

✧ ✧ ✧

SELENE WAS ALWAYS listening.

She listened to rumors. She listened to secrets. She listened when people thought no one was.

Information was perhaps the most dangerous kind of power and Selene knew just how to use it. If information was deadly, that silver tongue of hers was even deadlier. A single word from her and Dino would have beheaded anyone in a heartbeat.

She found it strange she didn't know much about Nix. If he was as important as Dino said, there was no way she wouldn't have heard anything about him.

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like Dino hid Nix away from her on purpose.

She frowned as she walked down the hallway. She didn't like being kept in the dark.

"Did you hear about Nix?"

Selene stopped at the corner to listen in on the conversation between two guards on break.

They lounged in the hallway, oblivious to her presence.

"Yeah, Dino's gone bonkers getting everyone looking for him."

"I met him once, you know?" The first guard said proudly.

"No way. How?"

"I was stationed at the exit for a raid he was leading against a rival business. He was assigned around five men but for him, it was really a one man job. Within minutes, he had the enemy boss's head in his hands and left the scene without giving us any more orders."

"Everything I hear about him is fucking insane."

"He works like a shadow. If you ask me, we'll never catch him. Whatever he's planning, we're fucked."

Selene's lips twitched as she straightened her back and turned the corner.

"Well, good thing no one asked you," she interrupted. The guards were young, around her age, but their inferiority was clear in their lack of rank and composure.

"Miss Casey," they stammered, stumbling to their feet to greet her.

She stared them down, letting them sink in the shame of being overheard by her. She had every reason to snap at them for their ugly words, but she had better things to do than rat out low ranks like them.

She stared at the boys for a little longer, just to enjoy their intimidation, before spitting, "Get back to work."

She pushed past them into the file room, not looking back to check whether they stood guard. Under her presence, they knew better than to continue flapping their mouths.

The door slammed behind her and she wandered the dusty room. Her eyes skimmed the contents of each cabinet before landing on what she had come for.

She reached for the folder labelled NICHOLAS MADDOX.

Opening the folder, she read through its contents carefully. She familiarized herself with him through printed words, wondering what was missing from the story for him to betray everything Dino gave to him.

The picture on file was of a child, around twelve years old, staring blankly out of the paper. He had messy uncut black hair that hung at his eyes. There was a grim look in those dark eyes, far too grim for any twelve year old to have. He looked sullen, a burning anger hidden behind those empty eyes.

She continued to flip through the file, reading through each mission he was assigned and executed to perfection. The more she read, the less she understood. None of it added up.