𝐄𝐤𝐤𝐨 | 𝐃𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝐋𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝐀𝕟𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕤

8. Shimmer

I'd followed Sevika even after that night when she had lost her arm, when Vander, Mylo, and Claggor died in the explosion.
Deckard had died as that Shimmered-up beast, and Powder... Powder had broken, too.
She's gone to Silco, just like I did.
Because what else was there?

That night, I lost everything.
My family, my friends, even the pieces of myself I'd thought were unshakable.

The boy with white hair disappeared around a corner, and I shook my head, forcing the memories back into the dark place they belonged.
That wasn't Ekko, but the ache in my chest lingered.

The sound of the door creaking open had me snap my head towards it. I straightened instinctively, eyes locking on the rich man stepping out. His clothing shimmered faintly in the low light, his whole aura commanding.
But when I caught his gaze, I could feel myself suck in a breath.
I knew that face. Everybody did.
Square jaw, piercing eyes, the unmistakable sharpness of someone who's seen power and wielded it. Jayce Talis.

Councillor Jayce Talis, of all people, was standing in the depths of Zaun, looking exactly as out of place as one would expect.
Our eyes met for the briefest moment— a flicker, a heartbeat— but it was enough. Recognition bloomed in his expression, just as it did in mine, though his turned cold almost instantly.
Without a word, he turned and began walking away, his polished boots clicking against the grimy floor.
I moved to follow, my curiosity pulling me forward, but a hand clamped down on my wrist, halting me in my tracks.
"Oh, look at this," came a familiar, cutting voice.
"If it isn't the devil in flesh and bones."

I looked back, and there she was.
Babette, the same as always— small, sharp-eyed, and brimming with venom. Her hatred of me hadn't dulled with time, that much was clear from the way she glared up at me like she wanted to claw my face off.

"Hi, Babette," I said with a grin I knew would piss her off. "Long time no see."
Her scowl deepened, and with a force I wouldn't have expected from her small frame, she yanked me toward her.
"Inside. Now."

I glanced down the hall where Jayce had just left, but there was no getting out of this. The little dwarf's grip tightened as she pulled me into her office, slamming the door shut behind us.
The room was cramped, clattered with paperwork, trinkets, and half-burned candles. The air was heavy with the smell of wax and smoke. Babette let go of my wrist and moved to sit behind her desk, her chair squeaking as she settled into it much like a child struggling to crawl on a surface.
She looked at me with that same mix of disappointment and irritation she'd had for me since the day Vander died.

"You," she said, pointing a gnarled finger at me, "need to mind your business. It's all you cause lately— trouble. Every time you show up, someone gets hurt, someone disappears, and yet here you are again, sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."
I sat down on the chair across from hers, her desk separating us.
"Trouble? Me? Never."

Babette wasn't amused.
"Don't play coy with me, Shark. I mean it. Stay away from whatever that man's involved with. You've got nothing to do with it."

"That man?" I asked, feigning innocence.
"Oh, you mean Councillor Jayce Talis? Thought he looked familiar, yeah."
Her expression tightened, and I pressed.
"Why was he here?"
Babette snorted, leaning back in her chair.
"None of your damn business, that's why. And you'd do well to forget you even saw him."
I narrowed my eyes, annoyed at how vague she was being, but I could tell I wasn't going to get anything out of her.