Chapter 16: Entering MIST
The carriage rolled through the streets of Belarius District, Caelus watching the city pass through the window.
The district was loud.
Not unpleasantly loud, either. It was the noise that came from too many people trying to make money in the same place.
Vendors shouted over one another.
Mercenaries occupied tavern entrances.
Nobles’ carriages squeezed through streets that seemed designed to punish anyone driving anything larger than a horse.
Even the expensive shops had something questionable sitting next door.
Caelus smiled faintly.
This was exactly the kind of place a black market would survive in.
Too many people.
Too many transactions.
Too many reasons not to notice another one.
A black market didn’t need darkness. It needed noise.
And Belarius had plenty of it.
He didn’t remember the Viscount’s name.
He hadn’t written it down either.
The man had been important enough to own an entire district and unimportant enough for his author to forget him.
Caelus almost felt bad.
Almost.
The carriage slowed as they approached the district mayor’s office. Caelus stepped out, straightening his clothes.
He could have hidden his identity.
He deliberately didn’t.
MIST dealt in information. Hiding his identity would only make things more complicated.
House Vespera had spent generations building a reputation for knowing things other people didn’t.
Why not use it?
Let them wonder how much he knew.
Sometimes reputation was more useful than a sword.
He walked in without slowing, wearing the sort of expression that made people move aside before he asked them to.
The office was exactly what he expected from a district government building.
Clean enough to impress visitors.
Plain enough to avoid attracting attention.
He barely reached the office door before it opened.
A man in his fifties stepped out and immediately bowed.
"Young Master Vespera."
The mayor bowed quickly.
"It is an honor. Please, come in."
Caelus stepped inside.
"I heard House Vespera had business in Belarius. I didn’t expect you personally."
"Neither did I."
The mayor blinked.
Caelus looked past him.
"What brings you here?" the mayor asked carefully.
Caelus said nothing.
He stared at the mayor for a long moment. Then his gaze drifted to the young maid standing behind him.
The maid behind him hadn’t bowed.
She hadn’t greeted him either.
She hadn’t even looked nervous.
Caelus’s attention settled on her.
A servant in the presence of a Vespera should know better.
Unless she wasn’t a servant.
The mayor was clearly trying to establish himself as the authority in the room.
The maid wasn’t trying at all.
That was enough.
Caelus’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. "I’m here on business."
"Of course, of course!" The mayor bobbed his head. "Anything House Vespera needs, we are happy to provide. If you require accommodations, I can arrange—"
The maid laughed.
Caelus looked at her.
She covered her mouth lazily, but there was no apology in her eyes.
"You’re surprisingly observant."
The mayor’s mouth snapped shut.
Caelus turned to the maid.
She stepped past the mayor with an ease that didn’t belong to someone who was supposed to serve him.
Her voice shifted as she spoke, lower and less deferential.
"How did you detect me?"
Caelus glanced at the mayor.
"Was I supposed to pretend I didn’t notice?"
The maid smiled.
"Most people do."
Caelus smiled. "You didn’t bow."
She tilted her head.
"Neither did the receptionist."
"True."
"But she wasn’t watching me."
The maid’s smile widened.
"You were."
Caelus had spent years writing characters who were supposed to be intelligent.
Meeting one in person was considerably less convenient.
She laughed again. This time there was genuine amusement in it. She stepped past the mayor and pressed two fingers against the wall.
Something clicked.
A section of stone shifted inward.
A staircase appeared behind it.
Caelus looked down.
"Real subtle."
"We try."
Caelus followed.
They descended.
The deeper they went, the less the building above seemed to exist.
Voices drifted through the stone.
Conversations stopped whenever they passed.
A man carrying a stack of documents stopped when he noticed the Vespera crest.
His eyes lingered on Caelus for a moment before he hurried away.
"You’re making people nervous."
"Good."
"Why?"
"Because nervous people make mistakes.
She smiled faintly.
"You really are a Vespera."
Caelus caught a glimpse of weapons, sealed documents, and enough locked cabinets to make him reconsider how many secrets one organization needed to survive.
Files lined the walls. Doors disappeared into the darkness on either side.
It was an information network.
The maid stopped at the bottom. She turned to face him.
Her smile disappeared.
Something shifted beneath her skin.
Her shoulders narrowed first. Her jaw shifted. Then her entire frame began to change, bones quietly cracking beneath her skin as her height altered.
Her hair lengthened, darkening into a deep violet.
When it stopped, the maid was gone.
A young woman stood in her place.
She looked barely twenty despite the confidence in her eyes.
Violet hair framed sharp features, while a small scar rested beneath her left eye.
Caelus stared at her.
Caelus stared at her.
"That’s disgusting."
One eyebrow rose.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing."
"You definitely said something."
"Then you should probably stop listening to things I don’t say."
She sighed.
Caelus looked at her.
She had the sort of appearance that would make most people underestimate her.
Caelus had already learned better than that.
"How?" she whispered, studying him.
Caelus shrugged.
"I research people who might become problems."
"And you decided I was one?"
"I decided you might be."
She raised an eyebrow. "You researched MIST?"
"You leave traces."
Her expression barely changed.
"Everyone does."
"Most people don’t know where to look."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"And you do?"
"I spent a lot of time studying people."
She stared at him.
Caelus smiled.
I’m an author. Noticing things was practically the job.
"Veyra."
She offered the name without explanation.
"That’s what you’ll call me."
Not her real name.
Probably.
He hadn’t expected anything else.
"So, why are you here?"
She gestured deeper into the basement.
Caelus followed her into the main chamber.
The chamber opened around them, revealing rows of desks, shelves, and sealed rooms.
"I have information."
She stopped, "And?"
"I want to sell it."
Her eyebrow lifted, "To MIST?"
"Unless you’ve started selling information to yourself."
Her mouth twitched.
"You’re either very confident or very stupid."
"No." Caelus smiled, "I’m both."
For the first time, she looked genuinely amused.
"What kind of information?"
"Something personal."
Her amusement faded.
"Personal?"
"About you."
Her expression changed.
Only slightly.
But he noticed.
"That’s valuable," he continued.
"Depends on what you know."
"I know enough."
He turned to face her.
"I know who you were before MIST."
Her eyes sharpened.
"I know the name you stopped using."
Silence.
Caelus watched her carefully.
No reaction. Not outwardly.
"I know why you abandoned it."
Her fingers twitched.
There.
"And I know what happened to the people who forced you to."
The smile disappeared from her face.
She moved.
Caelus barely saw it.
Her hand stopped against his throat.
Close enough.
Killing intent flooded the room. Caelus’s chest tightened.
Every instinct in his body told him to move.
He didn’t.
Moving would tell her he was afraid.
Worse, it would tell her she had already taken control of the conversation.
His heartbeat accelerated.
He ignored it.
Her violet eyes had gone cold.
"Say that again."
Her voice was quiet.
Somehow, that was worse.
The conversations around them died one by one.
Nobody moved.
Everyone in the room understood what had just happened.
Every pair of eyes in the room had turned toward him.
Whatever he’d just said wasn’t something people heard often.
Caelus met her eyes.
"You heard me."
He could feel the edge of her fingers against the air near his throat.
He had absolutely no idea whether he could survive the next second.
Which was unfortunate.
He’d been hoping to leave with both his head and his information.
She stared at him for a long moment. Her hand didn’t move. Neither did Caelus.
His heart, unfortunately, had other plans.
She kept her hand there for another second. Then another.
Finally, she withdrew it.
"You have five minutes," she said.
"And if that information turns out to be worthless, I will personally ensure you never leave this basement."