"And why can’t I do that?" I asked. "It’s not like I can even convince them to help me anyway. I’m just saving time."
Gennady hesitated. He looked like he still had something to say; he opened his mouth, but was cut off before he could even speak.
"Why can’t you do that?" Lisa said, stepping into the room. She nodded at Gennady, smiling as she did. "Can I come in?"
"Oh, of course." He moved aside, letting her walk past him.
The young woman turned to face me as I raised an eyebrow.
"I just wanted to tell you something since you decided to leave. Give you a heads up."
"What is it?" I frowned.
Lisa strode on over to my side and took a seat; she placed both her arms on the bed, using them to support her as she leaned back slightly. "I went to Luke this morning to see if I could dig up any information on Lilith. How long she has been here, and what groups she has managed to get under her control.
"Apparently, she has been in the city for over a month. Roughly as long as you have, maybe a few days to a week later. She has been searching for you for a while— well, not you you."
"Aria," I said, remembering what Lilith had called me. "She’s looking for an ‘Aria’."
"She is. And while that is a pretty common name, she wasn’t always looking for one." Lisa stood up, finally turning to face me as she explained. "When Lilith first came to Luke, she was looking for someone that simply fits the description of you. She had no idea what your name was or anything like that. She was simply looking for a ‘little girl with black hair and silver eyes’. She already had contacts in the city and they led her to some people who have seen someone that exactly fit this description."
"The Lightbringers Vessel."
"Their crew, yes." She nodded. "And at this point, I just met you— the companion of the Dwarf who was seen with this exact same girl."
I paused, looking up at Lisa wide eyed. "You sold me out?"
"No—" She raised her hand up placatingly. "I didn’t do anything with this information. I was in desperate need of money and you were definitely a curious client, but I wouldn’t have sold your information to anyone as it would compromise my contract with you… at least, until our job with you was finished, of course."
"Wait, but The Lightbringers Vessel was…" I trailed off, frowning. They were following us, of course; at the time, I had thought it was the Elise looking to force Lisa and Jack onto their side. But if Lilith had already gotten control of the ship at that point, it would not make sense for them to do that.
And since they were after me, that meant Lisa and Jack’s own crew were after me too. Which meant—
"Your crew sold me out?"
"Our men did," Lisa corrected me. "And they were probably going to betray Jack and myself too, tired of our stubbornness, I guess. That’s why they didn’t tell us of their plan.
"They’re sailors, so they must’ve heard somehow that someone in charge of The Lightbringers Vessel was searching for a little girl accompanying a Dwarf. And when I told them you two were our new clients, they must’ve decided that all the years they spent working with us was worth less than the gold Lilith and the Church was willing to pay them."
"I… see." I had a hand on my chin, tightly gripping it as I considered this information. "And you’re trying to say that people would be on the lookout for not just me, but Gennady too, right?"
"Yes and no," she said, sighing. "I wasn’t finished just yet." She turned to Gennady and stuck a hand out. "Can I have a drink please? This next part is hard."
"Uh, no."
"Ugh fine." The young woman rubbed at her temples before looking back at me; her brows arched darkly over her forehead as she began, "Well, the thing is, they aren’t just on the lookout for you anymore. Someone— he had been happily taken care of by Jack, don’t worry— told Lilith that I was working with Ginah’s Crew and you, and they were trying to bribe and threaten me into revealing where you were hiding."
I froze as the smuggler— former smuggler?— quickly continued.
"Of course, I don’t plan on selling you out. I don’t think it’d be very good on my conscience to be responsible for the death of a child like you. But if I’m placed under the blade and forced to talk, I can’t promise I won’t leak anything."
I stood there for a moment, unable to speak and staring at her. Finally, I regained my sense and snapped at her. "How could you do that?"
Lisa backed up quickly, putting both her hands up. "I haven’t done anything! I was just saying—"
"That you’ll just betray me later! That you’ll be fine leaving me for dead!"
I was angry. I didn’t know why I was angry— didn’t I expect this? That Lisa was actually a traitor for the Elise?
"No!" she quickly said. "That is not what I said! I didn’t say I’ll be fine with it—"
"But you’ll still do it!" I pointed accusingly at her.
"And that’s why I came here, Melas. Because I don’t want to do that. I don’t want it to come to that."
I wanted to say something; I almost couldn’t resist the urge to reject whatever she came to tell me without even hearing it. But I knew I was just frustrated. I would simply be laying my grievances with the situation on her, and that was not
