The Second Layer

Chapter 9: Lily

Chapter 9: Lily

Evan, Alaine, and Silver were all waiting in front of Vanning's building when Lily pulled her car up to the curb. They all offered her nods of greeting as she turned the engine off and got out.

"Any idea why Vanning's calling us in this late?" Lily asked as she walked over to stand beside them.

"No clue. I could hope he's suddenly turned into a better leader and he wants us to hunt down Blaze, but you know the odds of that are virtually zero," Alaine answered, giving a little shrug.

"You might want to be quiet about that sort of thing. As paranoid as he is, you never know when the guy might hide security cameras around the exterior of this place that capture sound as well as video," Silver warned.

"Good point. He's just the sort to do something like that," Alaine admitted with a grimace.

"Waiting for me?" a voice suddenly asked from above them. Lily barely had a chance to glance up before she spotted the figure falling from the building's roof to land smoothly on the ground beside them. And there, wearing a smirk on his face, was Kade.

"We're all here, let's go," Evan said simply before turning to stride through the front door. Without hesitation, they all followed him. They'd barely stepped inside the building though when Lily sensed the three freaks below.

"Vanning has company," Kade called in a sing-song voice, seeming amused by it for some strange reason.

It only took a short while for the five of them to trek downstairs, and then into the throne room itself. Immediately Lily spotted the two freaks with Vanning. The ever-loyal servant Payne, and Garen Carnus, a reliable if somewhat profiteering freak. Vanning just took one glance over in the group's direction before turning his attention back to Garen and Payne. "The two of you should get going, you've got a long trip ahead of you," Vanning told them, a clear dismissal.

Payne inclined his head in an almost-bow before starting for the door. Garen, after hefting one of those bags Vanning usually put money in, followed. He cast a smile towards them as he approached though. "Guys," he offered in what seemed both a greeting and farewell.

"Garen," Evan answered with a short nod. Lily didn't say anything, but instead just cast him a return-smile. In the next moment Garen had passed them and was out the door. Lily could sense both he and Payne making their way up to the street. Turning her attention back to Vanning, she saw him beckon towards the group, and as one the five of them approached the throne.

"I have a job for the five of you. I consider it a very important task, so I'll be paying you a sizeable bonus for it," Vanning told them as the group came to a halt near the foot of the throne. "About seventy miles from here, in the city of Glenwood, there's a freak who's in possession of a larikin. A knife that has a black handle with an eye design on each side. I'll give you the address of the apartment building where this freak resides. Your job is to find him, kill him, and bring the larikin back to me. Upon delivery of the knife, you'll receive two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."

Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing. That Vanning would really be willing to go that far. To order a freak killed wasn't beyond the scope of what the leader of a city could do, and even though they weren't supposed to have that kind of power over the freaks of other cities, that still hadn't stopped it from being done before without retribution. But to kill a freak solely to collect a larikin they possessed went against one of the laws of their kind that was firmly etched in stone. It was an infraction that would get you killed by the next True Mind you came across.

Larikins were as close to a sacred thing as you could get. They could be given freely, and they could be purchased between freaks. But they could not be stolen. A freak could not be blackmailed, harmed, or otherwise compelled to give one up. And under no condition could a freak be killed for one. You could only try to gain possession of a dead freak's larikin if you'd had nothing to do with their death, and at least a month had passed since that death.

It was true that any larikin that could easily be used as a weapon would be worth millions, but Lily couldn't believe that Vanning would go so far even for something that valuable. After all, the guy had money, so he didn't need it to sell. Perhaps he wanted such a weapon for himself, but what use would it be if a True Mind found out? Even the strongest weapon in the world wouldn't protect you if a True Mind wanted you dead.

"I'm sorry sir, but... You know we can't do that," Evan stated for all of them.

"Oh, but you can. You see, you're not killing this freak for his larikin. You're killing him because he revealed what he was to a human, and then left that human alive. He recently finally killed said human, but only after leaving him alive for a time during which that human could've told who knows how many others. The freak has violated the law, and so deserves death. As for the larikin. You're not taking it for my personal possession. Rather you're taking it and delivering it into my care for safekeeping. I will watch over it and see to its safety for the required month, after which I'll make sure it's claimed by someone deserving," Vanning informed them.

Of course what he didn't say was that that someone deserving who hadn't been involved in the killing, once they'd claimed the larikin, would then give it right back of their own free will to Vanning. And since he was then taking possession from a willing freak, his connection to the previous owner's death wouldn't matter. Or so he obviously thought. Vanning actually seemed to believe he'd found a loophole in the rule.

"I'm not so sure a True Mind would agree with your interpretation of things, sir," Evan replied.

"Afraid, are we? So be it. In that case, consider your entire team ordered to do this job. And because you're under orders, full responsibility for the job rests with me. If a True Mind decides they're bothered by it, I'll be the one to blame. But I'm not asking you anymore. I'm telling you, you will do this job," Vanning told him firmly. Strangely that played into another rule of their kind, active in those regions and cities that had freak leaders. A freak could not be held responsible for following the direct orders of such a leader. Responsibility for all actions taken under the leader's orders rested solely with the leader himself. And since no one could successfully lie to a True Mind, they would know whether you'd really been under orders or not.

Lily could tell just from the way Evan held himself that he really didn't like this situation, but then neither did the rest of them. Except maybe Kade. Now that the element of risk was removed, it probably didn't bother Kade in the slightest, but she wasn't going to look over at him to find out.

For several seconds they just stood there, with Vanning staring at them. But finally Evan spoke. "We'll do the job, sir. On your orders. And only because of your orders."

"Excellent. Here's the address," Vanning said, holding out a piece of paper, which Evan reached out to take. "Now, I want this job done tonight, so I suggest you get going."