The Science of Spying (Erityian Tribes, #4) | Published under Pop Fiction

Chapter 16 : Fourth Member

I thought I was just hallucinating a while ago but it was real. Even though his eyes were covered with lenses, I could still see the glint of green on them as he traversed through the changing lights of the place. The Japanese representative was a Shinigami.

We followed him inside the casino where he roamed around, looking for something or someone, until he stopped in front of a roulette. People were gathering around it and started betting. The Shinigami sat in front of the roulette table as the participants placed their bets.

"Do you have any money?" tanong ko kay Cliff at tumango naman siya.

"I'm gonna exchange it for some chips," he said and went to the casino cage.

We didn't use our patheia since the Shinigami might sense our presence or even hear our conversation. There might be other Erityians here and using it might trigger some kind of connection to them.

I wandered around the roulette table and saw some familiar faces from the news these past few days. Three of them were politicians and some were actors and businessmen.

"How's the goddess?"

Napatingin naman ako sa katabi ng Shinigami na nagtanong sa kanya. He has a shoulder-length, jet black hair that complimented his white tuxedo but what made him stood out was the horizontal scar running across his forehead.

"Your lowly presence doesn't have the right to speak of her," the Shinigami said and for a second, I saw how his pupil constrict—a sign of resentment or fear.

"Is that so? I'm sorry, then," he smirked.

Goddess? Did he mean the Death Goddess, Rin, of the Shinigami tribe?

I was suddenly confused. Who was this guy? A Shinigami? If not, then how did he know Rin?

"You Chromes are really . . . how should I say this?" He placed a chip on the Black box. "Imperious."

"That word completely describes your organization, not us." East retorted as he placed his chip between 12 and 15—a split bet.

Chromes . . . that was the term used by Spider when he confronted me. A Black. This guy was a Nox member. The Nox had been targeting the tribe leaders of the Erityian race ever since they discovered our existence.But why was he dealing with a Shinigami?

Bumalik naman si Cliff at agad siyang naglagay ng chip sa table. He placed his on the Even box and sat one seat apart from East. The croupier spun the wheel and threw the ball as it bounced around the track. The betters called their respective choices, hoping that the ball would fall on them.

"How fitting," East murmured. "So they assigned a zweite for this deal."

"Ah. You noticed," the Black said while stroking his hair.

"Of course. One of my Reapers said that the size of your tattoo decreases as the level increases," sabay tingin niya sa leeg ng Black at nakita ko rin ang maliit na black sun tattoo ro'n.

The ball finally stopped and it fell in slot 8. Out of all the people who bet, only two won and one of them was Cliff because of his Even choice.

"I guess that's it," the Black said and he suddenly stood up. "Ah. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Pitch. Remember that."

After that, he walked away. I looked at Cliff and he just nodded. He'd continue observing East and I'd follow that guy, the one who called himself Pitch.

***

I had never lost sight of my target . . . until now. Pitch walked too fast and he chose to navigate through crowded area, making it hard for me to follow him. In the end, I lost him. Damn it.