Chapter 250: Three Players.
"Melissa is very taken with the idea of going as your partner," Sinn said. "We’re going to use that. Getting her close to you is the only way we find out what the Veyrons are actually planning."
Something in the way he said it landed wrong.
He’s not worried about the families. He’s worried about his chair.
Two days into running a government and Sinn had already begun measuring everyone in the building by how much of his power they might threaten. The man who had once counted his dead in the sand outside the Fallen City was getting used to the view from the top.
"So you want to use Abram to spy on Melissa," Mercury said. Her face twisted as she worked through the implications, eyebrows knitting, lips pressing into a thin line.
Sinn gave a single, decisive nod.
"That’s bullshit." She leaned forward in her chair, eyes flashing with real heat, hands gripping the armrests. "Melissa isn’t the one we should be watching. Monica is."
I glanced at her.
You have Monica Veyron framed on the wall of your apartment.
But I kept the thought buried with everything else I was carrying. Everyone in this room had their own agenda. Sinn had his seat. Mercury had whatever scars Monica had carved into her since childhood. And I had a countdown no one else could see.
Three players. Three motives. One table.
"Listen to me, Mercury." Sinn turned to face her fully, his posture shifting from casual to commanding, shoulders squaring. "You don’t accomplish anything significant by ignoring the small details. Melissa is Monica’s shadow. Everything Monica knows, Melissa knows. This way we hit two objectives at once: we get close to Melissa, and we bring Mrs. Rivers over to our side."
"He’s right," I said. "On this."
Mercury shot me a look like I’d just crossed a line, jaw tightening, eyes narrowing sharply.
"So what’s the plan?" she asked, voice clipped.
"There is no plan." Sinn pushed off the desk, standing in one smooth motion. "I just want him near her." He glanced at Mercury. "You’re driving them."
"Okay." She perked up instantly, the objection already fading now that she had a role. A small, satisfied smile tugged at her lips, shoulders relaxing.
"They’re waiting in the mission room," Sinn said. "Let’s go over the details."
****
He led the way out. I followed. Mercury fell in behind me, then slipped up beside me the moment we entered the corridor, her steps quick and purposeful.
"Code is a psychopath," she muttered, still not done with the earlier thread. "There were other options. Sherry’s solid."
"I’m not dragging Sherry into this."
"So you’re protecting her." She said it with a sly little smile, testing for a reaction, head tilting. Sinn walked several paces ahead, not turning around. "It’s true what they say. Men lose all sense when they’re in love."
"Mercury."
The elevator doors stood open. We stepped in behind Sinn and positioned ourselves at his back.
"I don’t think Code’s a bad person," I said, voice low. "The outside was brutal. It changed everyone."
"Yeah, it was," Mercury conceded, matching my volume, her expression softening for a moment. "I’ll give you that much."
Then, as the elevator began its descent, she raised her voice just enough to carry.
"Even Sinn lost his mind out there."
"Stop it," Sinn said flatly, without turning around, utterly unimpressed, arms crossed over his chest.
Mercury let out a short, genuine laugh, the sound bright and sharp in the confined space, her shoulders shaking slightly.
The doors opened on the lower level. Sinn strode ahead again while Mercury kept pace beside me, offering running commentary on everything that crossed her mind between the elevator and the mission room—gesturing with her hands, eyebrows rising and falling.
We followed him through the door.
Melissa was already inside, sitting alone at the long table. She looked up as we entered, her posture straight and composed, eyes calm and unreadable.
"Good morning, General." Melissa greeted Sinn as he took the seat beside her. She offered the rest of us a brief nod and a quiet gesture toward the chairs—sit.
We settled around the long table.
Melissa leaned in close to Sinn, murmuring something low enough that only he could hear. Her eyes flicked briefly toward Mercury. They exchanged a few more private words while the rest of us waited in silence.
"Alright." Melissa straightened and raised her voice to fill the room. "It feels good to finally move into the field. This matters more than it appears on the surface. It’s our first operation as a government, and I want a clean start."
I watched her carefully as she spoke.
I still wasn’t sure how many people in this room knew she was a telepath. Sinn probably did. Mercury? Uncertain. Melissa hadn’t offered her hand to anyone since we’d entered, which told me she wasn’t fishing for thoughts right now. She was working.
"Mrs. Rivers has agreed to see us. At the naked mansion."
"Neutral ground would be better," I said.
"Yes." She turned toward me, and the ghost of a smile touched her lips. "That’s exactly what I pushed for. She refused. If we meet, it’s on her terms—at her place."
"Does she understand she’s negotiating with a government?" Sinn asked.
Melissa turned back to him and nodded, the faint smile lingering.
Mercury stayed unusually quiet through the exchange, something so out of character that it stood out like a warning light.
"This isn’t safe," Sinn said. "Not for the agents going in."
"I know." Melissa didn’t push back. "I considered that and agreed to the conditions anyway."
"Then you need backup."
A note of genuine worry colored his voice, sharper than anything I remembered from him. Mrs. Rivers had been many things when Becky and I sat in her house, but dangerous hadn’t been one of them. She’d been a woman in silk and expensive taste, running an establishment built on discretion.
"The naked mansion is a safe place," I said.
"You’re getting backup," Sinn decided, tone final. He looked back at Melissa. "What time are you leaving?"
"Now," she answered.
I met her eyes.
I wondered whether she truly understood how the naked mansion operated—what the rules were inside those walls, what Becky and I had walked into, and what we’d had to do just to gain entry.
If she didn’t know, this was going to be interesting.
And it was going to work in my favor, which was the part I couldn’t let show on my face for even a second.
Careful, I reminded myself. The system said don’t stay close too long.
Alright.