A Bonds of Steel and Blood sequel.
Reinae Agnar thought she had left the darkness of the Underground City behind when she joined the Survey Corps, but some shadows refuse to fade. As she struggles to balance her duties with her burning vendetta and...
taint /teɪnt/ — affect with a bad or undesirable quality
Weeks flew by too quickly for Rei's liking. The event Erwin told her about was around the corner, and the only thing she'd learned from her next visits to Mitras was that Wenzel Franklin had his dirty fingers everywhere. It was of general knowledge that he had great influence within the Military Police, but he pulled strings within the Garrison Regiment, too, and controlled many smaller criminal gangs that operated in the cities of Wall Shina. Reinae was shocked to learn that he even worked with some of the men of power in the Underground City - with those same men Reinae was no longer keeping in check. The amount of proof she'd found of deals where women - no, girls, were sold to the Capital, where that killer or the other was hired to get rid of someone Franklin didn't like, where drugs were trafficked through the underground to politicians and even members of Order of the Walls made her want to throw up.
She'd planned on getting rid of Franklin on the side, using her growing knowledge about the so-called authority figures of Mitras to get back at him, but she realized he was the center of all corruption and schemes. That, unfortunately, made things more difficult for her since Erwin forbade her from harming or killing anyone - unless it was to protect her own life - before the time came to realize his plan.
As if her secret missions weren't a burden enough, though it was easier now when she could talk to Jasper and Aiden about it, she also had her new squad to worry about.
They worked together surprisingly well. Carter and Isaac were quick learners, and Jasper often helped teach them the maneuvers he, Rei, and Aiden used with ODM gear. The only problem was that Aiden and Carter might kill each other if either even muttered another comment that wasn't to the other's liking.
Three times, she had to break them apart with Jasper's help when they started beating each other in the middle of practice. More than a dozen times, she had to give them an earful when their bitter teasing went too far. And a few times, they even pissed her off enough that she used her own fist to get them in check.
Rei sat by her desk in her room, gazing through the window. She was exhausted from all the rides to Wall Rose, from all training, and from all the hours she'd spent in Erwin's office, reporting and planning. She wished she could talk to Levi. Nothing specifically prevented her from doing so, but something had changed with that talk - or rather, confrontation - in the cellar. He barely looked at her, he never came to her room, never asked a question when she'd disappear for a day or two.
She hated it. Hated him. Hated that she didn't hate him at all.
With an exhausted sigh, she scooped up all the papers with information about Franklin and the Military Police into her drawer, glancing at the clothes she had prepared for the next day when she was to go to Ehrmich again. Beside her black cloak was a bag containing a dozen small boxes of impression material. She had some keys to duplicate.
But before that, she desperately needed a drink.
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