Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
He didn't, though. Rissa slept through him parking the car.
When Trent opened her door and saw she was still asleep, he knew she needed it.
Cradling her long limbs, he pulled her against his chest, letting the girl's limp head rest on his shoulder.
As he carried her through the complex's breezeway, he couldn't help but think she weighed almost nothing.
Sin had mentioned she was just a rack of bones. Initially, Trent hadn't believed him. He'd assumed the man was simply trying to push off any suspicion of her being a temptation. This? If she was anyone else, he would say she was being intentionally starved.
It didn't take long to reach Sin's apartment, and the girl never stirred. Just one problem: he couldn't exactly knock with his hands full. So he kicked softly at Sin's door with his foot, five beats, then two, his usual rhythm.
It took a minute, but eventually, a woman's face appeared at the gap in the door. "What the hell," she asked, pulling it open for him to carry the girl inside.
"She's just asleep," Trent assured her. "Rob, I need that chair."
"Fuck," Rob said, looking up, and scrambling to his feet. "Sorry, Brother."
"Not a big deal," Trent assured him. "She weighs fucking nothing. And keep it down, because I think this little angel needs some real rest."
"What's wrong?" That was Sin, from the back of the room.
"Do not move," said the silver-haired guy leaning over him. "It's just a girl."
"She's fine," Trent assured him. "Davis, keep an eye on her."
When Davis agreed, Trent made his way to Sin's side. Shirtless, the broken priest lay across the bed, the false spine along his lower back shattered, and the college kid was still picking pieces of it apart.
"You're a fucking mess," Trent teased.
Sin didn't bother responding to that. "How's Riss?"
"Passed out. She tell you that shit hurts?"
"The transfer?" Sin asked.
"Whoa," the guy said, looking up. "That's the Ingénue?"
"Yeah," both men said, getting back to the point they were discussing.
"From the look of her, it was like they were skinning her alive," Trent explained. "She braced for it, and took it for a while, but then it became too much. She also didn't want me to tell you."
"Ah, fuck." Sin shifted, and the guy shoved him back against the bed, holding him still.
"No. I've never been allowed in the room.
Once, I heard her scream, but she's always weak—well, weaker than normal—afterwards, so I knew it wasn't good.
She never complained about it, though." He paused.
"Unless that was what she meant when she said it had to be the ports malfunctioning? "
"No idea," Trent said. "I just know it's fucking inhumane. Yeah, and your girl said she needs a data connection and, I dunno, a machine that's not online." Trent shifted his attention to the young man repairing Sin's back. "Can you help with that, Zan?"
"Yep," Zan said. "Illegal as shit, though."
"I'm not the cops," Sin muttered.
"I know, Brother. That's why I said yes." Zan patted his shoulder. "Ready for legs?"
"Past ready," Sin groaned.
"Then hold on. This is gonna hurt."
***
The teen connected the last wire. Pain seared up his back, radiating down to his toes, and the sudden shock of it made him yell and jerk. Trent grabbed his shoulders as Zan held his legs. It was only a flare, and then the pain subsided.
"When you can, test each bit first. If something's off, I need to fix it." Zan patted his calf.
Sin sighed in relief. "I felt that."
Then, slowly, he moved each part of his lower body, starting with his toes and working up to his hips.
When they all appeared to work, he sat up carefully.
The first thing he did was check on his angel.
Across the room, Rissa lay in the chair, her silver eyes open, looking directly at him, but she still wore the hood and the lower half of her face was covered by that mask.
She didn't seem to care if her long legs dangled across his chair or that her pants were filthy with dust.
"Good morning, Princess," he said. "Didn't mean to wake you."
Her answer was soft. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt."
"God's will," Julie said, making the girl jump.
"They're all Fallen," Sin assured her, gesturing to everyone in the room. "It's ok, Riss. Everyone in here is safe. Means you can take off that mask."
She just shook her head. "I'd rather not." And to prove her point, she reached up to make sure it was secure.
Sin sighed, but what could he do? Asking her why not would only embarrass the poor thing. Most likely, she was worried about her employers hearing about this, so he decided to try one more time.
"No one here will tell OutLink, Riss. These are the people I trust. They're the ones helping me, but it's your call."
But Trent huffed at that. "You fucking told her?"
Sin tossed an exasperated look at his friend. "She wouldn't have gone with you otherwise. She's a fucking genius. She wasn't even shocked."
"Much," Rissa added, but she'd still made no move to remove her mask, so Sin decided to give up.
Then Rob groaned. "And I thought dragging Zan into this was bad. A fucking Ingénue?"
Rissa blinked slowly. "The path of the Legion has been changing.
I admit, I expected the revolution to start in the lower ranks, not the Legates, but that was before I got to know Sin.
His disdain for opulence colors his every thought.
From our limited time together, Trent appears to be the same.
It's only logical to assume the rest of you agree," she shrugged.
"Since you are the ones who risk your lives for those who are weaker, it isn't surprising you're also the ones willing to take the greatest risks for what you think is right. "
"Yeah," Julie said, agreeing with her.
"Those are some pretty big assumptions," Davis said.
Sin waved him down. "She doesn't make blind assumptions. It's more true to say she analyzes every possible option faster than we can even think them, and then calculates the probability of each one happening. She also tends to notice a lot of shit she doesn't say a thing about."
"I just have one question." She looked around nervously, but only her pale eyes moved. "Has there been any talk of increasing the Legates?"
"Yeah," Julie said. "Raising the number to fifty."
"What?" Sin asked, his head snapping over to her.
"Joshua told me it was a sanctioned decision yesterday," Julie explained, "but I'm not sure how it could be sanctioned if the Conclave hasn't met."
"So what's he doing, Riss?" Sin asked.
Her eyes dropped to the ground for a little too long. When she finally looked up at him, it sounded like she was changing the subject, but Sin knew better. He'd figured out her ways—finally.
"Did you tell the Praetor my answer?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. Partially because I haven't had a chance to go back to the Legion to speak with him. Partially because I've been nervous about how he'll respond."
"Tell him," she said.
"First," he told her, "I need to talk to your boss about those fucking robes they make you wear. Dressed like you are now? Yeah, you're not nearly as easy to pick out of a crowd."
"Yeah," Trent countered, "but we also had to do a little identity verification at City Hall. Seems they trust the robes more than a priest."
"I don't fucking care," Sin said.
But Rissa mumbled, "I do."
"Why?" he asked. She just shook her head, refusing to answer, so he looked over at Julie. "You want to tell them about the other problem?"
"What other problem?" Trent demanded.
Julie dropped her rump onto the worn couch. "Six men attacked Brother Sin and the Ingénue. I notified the police, showed my credentials, and made it clear this was a sanctioned defense situation." She paused to lick at her lips. "But one of those men was a Signifier."
"Shit," Rob hissed.
"How?" Trent demanded. "That doesn't make sense!"
"No, it doesn't." Davis pushed out a heavy sigh. "So you killed a priest. Now what?"
"Now I get to talk to Benedict," Sin told them. "Hopefully he'll have a few answers, because I can't begin to imagine why a priest would try to attack us. On the upside, that will cover for me giving him Rissa's answer."
"And the downside," Davis said, "is there will be an inquiry. How are you gonna handle that?"
"I'll handle it," Sin assured him. "We were attacked. I was simply defending my client, as I'm sworn to do. Besides, they were all wearing masks or hoods that hid their faces."
"Yeah," Rob said, "but there's no surveillance on that alley. It's your word, and we all know Joshua is going to try to spin this."
"I was there," Rissa said.
The priests all fell silent, turning to look at her. It was Zan who finally asked the question they were all thinking. "What good does that do?"
And Sin began to chuckle. "A Legion inquiry is a formal case. It allows me to bring evidence to support my case."
"And?" Julie insisted.
Rissa blinked a few times before turning her eyes to the woman. "I have just made a duplicate copy of my memory files. They are time-stamped. I could not see everything, but I believe there is enough to prove self-defense."
"Now," Trent said, looking somewhat smug, "we just have to subpoena her brain."
Rissa's eyes lit up. "I have always wanted to see if the cathedral is as impressive as the pictures make it look."
Sin just leaned forward, catching her eye. "More, Princess. It's the home of God. We'll add it to the list—even if I'm not formally tried."