Shuffle The Deck

Chapter 41 - Searchlight

Bzzt bzzt.

Standing in the darkness near a midpoint of the city, her phone alerted her attention.

"I'd better get that. I'll be back in a moment," she told him, striding a few paces from where he stood. Hisoka eyed her bleakly, then returned to the ruins of the burned buildings.

Lilah grabbed her phone out of her jacket pocket, immediately pressing the accept button and holding it to her ear. She pulled on her jacket as she waited for the line to connect.

"Hello?"

"Finally. I thought you'd never pick up."

She froze at the sound of his familiar voice. "Sorry, I've been occupied these past few weeks. How are things on your end, Illumi?"

"I just finished an intriguing commission. Nevertheless, do you have a moment to speak in person?"

"I have half an hour to spare. Is that enough for you?" She asked.

"That's all the time I need. You're in Yorknew, correct?"

She laughed lightly. "How did you figure that out?"

"I have my sources. Can you meet me at the top of the auction house building?"

"I'll be there momentarily."

"Good. Don't keep me waiting."

He hung up on her as she slowly removed her phone from her ear. She looked in Hisoka's direction, who was still observing the bloodbath occurring before his eyes.

"Illumi, was it?" Came his voice, uninterested.

She nodded. "He asked to speak with me. I'll meet you at the auction house right after I'm finished."

"Do be careful. I'm informed there are assassins around the building."

She placed her hands on her hips. "Don't underestimate me."

He smiled and kissed her cheek. "Of course not, my darling." 

He disappeared right before her eyes, leaving her alone on the hill. Looking in the direction of the bright building, she began sprinting through the night. Jumping from roof to roof wasn't difficult, but avoiding straggling armed guards below was tedious. 

With a swift movement, she pressed off the top of her heels to the balcony of a corporate penthouse. It was directly across the auction house's midpoint, which meant she had to find her way to the top from the outside.

"Makes you reminisce, doesn't it?" 

She almost jumped out of her skin, seeing him stand effortlessly on the rim of the balcony. "You frightened me, where in the shit did you even come from?"

He cocked a brow. "I've been trailing you since you arrived in the central city. Wondered how you didn't detect my presence yet. Have you gotten rusty, Lilah?"

She sent him an annoyed expression. "Of course not. Let's go."

Bolting off the metal below her feet, she flew through the air, Illumi on her tail. "I wasn't trying to piss you off, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," she rolled her eyes as her back hit a glass pane. "But you always find a way to manage it."

They made it to the top of the building quite easily, now standing on top of the whole city in all of its glory. Smoke, mainly, but the blocked roads and thousands of car lights made quite a spectacular scene from away. The wind billowed from a higher altitude, a storm fast approaching.