Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
Cleo
One month later
After once again making sure she wasn’t being followed, Cleo turned onto an abandoned street, hurrying slightly as the last rays of the sun faded from the horizon. Buildings lay half demolished around her. Their piles of rubble obstructing her path in places.
The city of Whistler, so named for the whistling sound that the wind made over the rocky plains to the south, had once been a flourishing metropolis before the Tsavitee laid waste to it and half the planet.
Other cities on Paxus had been rebuilt in the time since, but not Whistler.
It was why Cleo had chosen it as the location of her safehouse. One of many she had.
After Titan and the loss of Belladonna, Cleo was forced to go to ground and wait for things to cool off.
Word was Roake had put out a bulletin for her arrest and apprehension. If they were involved, so was Kira.
That meant Mars hadn’t taken care of her as promised.
Stupid man.
Cleo had practically handed the battle to him by using her moles in the Order to get that idiot Sariah to advocate for the use of the inhibitor and etav. The least he could have done was cripple their sister before passing on.
His loss was regrettable though. If only because Cleo now had to find a new partner.
Seeing the entrance to her hideout up ahead, Cleo slipped into the empty building, making her way to the basement and the hidden room there.
Opening the door, she came to an abrupt halt at the sight of a woman sitting at her table drinking a cup of tea.
“How did you get in here?” Cleo demanded, her gaze flicking around the room in search of others.
“I came alone. No one is with me. I promise.” Augustensis gestured to the chair across from her. “Would you care to take a seat? I think it’s time we had a little chat. I brewed chai.”
After a moment of consideration, Cleo let the door slam closed behind her. “Sure, why not?”
Chai was as good a last drink as any.