...

Reid's leg brushes mine and I shift away, looking at the plate he put in front of me sceptically. Amusingly, I catch Gisselle gawking at his handsome, angular face. She looks like she can't quite believe that his good looks are almost royal even beneath those scars and gold jewellery. Prince of Lake Darling. What a stupid idea. 

"Why didn't you get me any?" Elias looks at the food, grinning. 

Reid arches an unamused brow at Elias, ignoring me, "You're getting fat." He snarks and Gisselle's lips pull into a cheeky grin. Elias gestures at me with his eyes but Reid disregards it, taking a bite of his food.  

His glare lands on Gisselle, but it notably softens as he raises a brow at the kid. "What're you doing here, Teacup?" 

Gisselle coughs a bit like she's been caught red-handed. Her mannerisms make me wan' laugh. "Him my partner." She jams a thumb at Elias, and Reid's face tightens. 

"Thought you was gon' show these Ghouls what a real pick pocket looks like." He passes the tension off, and Gisselle grins. Her wonky teeth are a cute addition to the crinkle that settles beside her eyes.  

"Oh so you not a Ghoul no more?" Elias parrots.  

Reid wrinkles his nose at him mockingly, like Elias is just some gossiping mother, before he turns his attention to Ellie with an amused glint. 

"I'm too scared to pick off her," Gisselle looks at me as she talks, but our eyes catch and she smiles a bit, trying to tell me she's only playing.  

"You can try," I quip back, and at first her face goes stricken like she can't tell I'm joking, but then she sees my grin and she relaxes.  

Reid looks at his food then at her. "Teacup." This time with a sombre voice, "You seen Bloom?" 

Gisselle swallows, casting her eyes downward, "I think the soldiers got her, but I haven't seen her in here." 

The mood dies, so I focus on shifting my food around my plate. 

"So did you guys already share a room?" Elias breaks the ice. He tries to sound serious, but then Reid and I turn our heads at him in presumably the same fashion because he starts snickering.  

I nearly smack him up the head like his Nona did when he burnt the cooking, but the mischievous sparkle in his eyes is so disarming that I just look away with a grin. 

To my dismay, Elias catches me smiling so he barks a laugh and pokes me in the ribs, "First grin you've cracked all night." 

"Oh," I complain, grabbing my side, "Bro I'm all beat up." Though a little smile pinches my lips.

He pouts, "Mickems, you wan' me to kiss it better...? Myers?"

I bark a laugh, smacking his arm as I give him my best attempt at an outraged glare, "You done?" 

He chews his fork, sharing a devilish look with Gisselle who fails to stop a mischievous smile from spreading over her face, "Mhm." Elias agrees, but his brown eyes twinkle. "You gon' tell me about the city?" 

My smile slips, "I already told you." I would tell him more but not with Reid here. 

"Barely, you told me Mal followed you, then you woke up at home. What happened?" His teasing lapses when he sees my sombre features. 

"Mal?" Reid snaps and I cringe, nearly burying my head in my hands. Reid opens his mouth, but then he looks between us, realising that I don' want people to know anything about my last fight with dad, before he grits his jaw, "Curfew is soon, you should eat." 

I have to hide my shock. Did he intentionally keep my secret? I catch his gaze, silently asking him why he just had my back. Or was it self-preservation? He probably doesn't want to get involved. His dark hair is pushed back, revealing his perfect hairline and sculpted features. I glimpse a tattoo on his neck and three gold piercings dotted throughout his right ear. 

His style is the perfect mix of Manic and Lake Darling. 

"Eat, Vi." Reid drawls, holding my eyes darkly like he's warning me that he'll tell Elias everything if I don' do as he says. 

It infuriates me, but I take a forkful of potato and bite it, glaring at him as I chew slowly. His calculative eyes slip to my lips before he grins smugly. 

"What about Bloom? All I heard is you shot a soldier and destroyed a few tents before they chased you off." Elias asks, but the hall makes it hard to hear. 

Reid looks away and flexes his scarred knuckles, "They chased me to the reservoir, I took another one down but then they set more on me. I don' know what happened to Bloom, I told her to hide but... the soldiers already knew everyone's locations so they could've found her anyway." He killed two soldiers? 

"Maybe she got lucky man, nobody has seen her." Elias rubs his face. Gisselle looks at her hands which sit limply in her lap. 

Reid looks at nothing, unable to blink, and we all share the same thought. Leaving a girl like Bloom in Lake Darling would be worse. So much worse. "What about Binnie? And Shell." He rasps, and it strikes me that he used their nicknames like I did—was he close with Elias's family? 

Elias shakes his head, sobering, "Them brutes ripped Binnie outta my arms." For the first time, I notice the black rings under his eyes and the scratches on his neck, "I put up a fight, but they put a gun to Ibis's head and said if I arced up too much, they'd pop him. First time I seen that kid cry in years... couldn't risk it so I put my hands in the air." He wipes his eyes and sniffs, struggling to admit what's next, "Worst bit though was when they took Shelly down... She done got herself thrown off the Cut by mistake." 

I gasp and Gisselle stiffens, eyes still trained on her slender little fingers. Reid shifts in his chair. "No," I croak. 

When the city was bombed, a lot of the damage spread and only worsened with time. The sewers in broader Sydney collapsed, and it spread to Lake Darling. Elias lived in a nice suburb called the Cut... except for all the collapsed sewers and gaping gorges in the roads. A fall from the Cut is a death sentence. 

"Fuck, E." Reid mutters, but Elias tries to smile it off. 

I take hold of his elbow and he glances at me with dark eyes, "I..." The thought of my mother intrudes and I find myself unable to console him without blinking away tears. 

He smiles sadly, running his thumb over my knuckles, "I have to get Ibis. I don' know what I've got if not for him." 

"Of course," I murmur, pulling him into a tight hug, before I redraw, "Why would they take an eight-year-old? He can't make a baby." I croak, floored. 

Reid frowns, "Where did they take him if not here?" 

Elias cracks a knuckle, "Fuck if I know. You think it's even possible to get out of a place like this?" 

"Think it's possible to get stuck in a place, that's for-." Reid is mid reply when his dark eyes fixate on someone ahead, "Thai!" He shouts, shoving his chair back so abruptly that I jump, but then a slender young woman spins around in the bustling hall as he weaves past a group of people. Her narrow features are carved and beautiful and she naturally breaks into a dazzling smile when she sees him. 

Reid pulls her into a hug and she presses her cheek to his chest, saying something before she asks him a question. He shakes his head. 

She looks directly at me, her features narrowing before she nods stiffly. "Who is that?" Elias purrs, but I don' reply. 

"Thaila. Ex-Princess of the Yakuza." Ellie answers. 
Ex?

As they approach us, I get the impression that they're discussing me and the hair on the back of my neck raises. Reid just grits his jaw before gesturing for her to sit next to me. 

My skin prickles when she takes a seat, glancing around like she's worried she'll be caught sitting with the wrong gang. It captures my intrigue—talking to me would be a mark of disloyalty, so what does she want that's worth risking her honour? 

She's not a Princess in the same right as me. Her father is an important general, but her name fell into gossip only because she dated the Yakuza heir... meaning I nearly married her complicated ex-boyfriend. Yikes. 

Like all of the city girls, Thai has kohl blended around her eyes in a perfect display of smoky allure.  Guess they have makeup here.

I glance at the Yakuza section, then back at her, sceptical and unconvinced. Reid is a traitor. I'm heir to the Ghouls... I nearly squirm with intrigue. 

Thai blinks at me through feline eyes, her pink lips gnawed and split. The menacing gash under her eye and the rigid black war paint on her forehead contradicts the feminine lilt of her Korean features. 

"This is Thai," Reid mutters when he catches Elias's expectant look, but I glare at the both of them, turning my attention to my food. 

Elias is such a man-whore. So, of course he will ignore the fact that she's from the Yakuza because she's pretty. 

"Oh hey Teacup!" Thai bends to rough the kid's hair up, flashing a grin at her before bumping Reid's shoulder as if to say no way.  

Gisselle roughs her hair up a bit more like it'll somehow make the mess more hers than a mistake.  

Elias collects his plate, "Yo, Vi. Watch our seats yeah?" 

I try to grab his arm, but then Gisselle bounces up too, flashing me an awkward and close-lipped grin. She follows Elias, who's already sauntering down the tables to fill his gut with probably a third plate of food. 

Not even a second later, Reid takes Elias's spot, sandwiching me between them. Although, to my relief, he looks away, practically ignoring us. 

"So, you're the lucky bitch who got out of marrying my Ex." Thai grins and I look at her sharply, shifting away, but it sparks my intrigue. So she wan' talk about it? I was gon' go with tiptoeing. 

I stuff a mouthful of food in my face, bored, "Real lucky." 

Thai grins, amused by my dismissal, "I was meant to be your guide when you arrived." She remarks. 

"Is that so?" I shift away from her, but it only puts me closer to Reid. 

"It was my punishment for dating Hito. I disobeyed Akimitsu so I was to escort Hito's wife around while she told me stories of how good of a fuck he is. I would've hated you if things went like that." She continues pointlessly, and I squint at her. 

"Sounds like you're whipped." I scoff, "Look, if this is some long-winded threat, then don' worry. I'm never gon' talk to your lil' boyfriend and I don' want a problem. Alright?" Whether her boyfriend is Hito or Reid, I still mean it. 

She laughs, scratching the nasty cut on her forehead which makes me cringe because the angry wound practically pulses at me. "You're ruder than I thought you'd be..." It annoys her that I was looking at it, but it's satisfying to get under her skin. 

"Why you sitting with us?" I narrow my eyes. She's not very shy.

"Saw a side of the Yakuza I don' want no part of." Her lips quirk but her eyes take this cold sort of irritation like she's angry at herself... but why? 

"What side?" 

"Ask him tonight... you know, when you're sharing his bed." She lowers her voice. 

I go hot with irritation, "You can have my spot if you want, sweetheart." 

She barks an annoyingly contagious laugh, "I don' wan' fuck my cousin." I nearly cough, "I mean, I was Kade's cousin, and I'm second cousins with Bloom... not technically related but it's a bit too close for comfort." 

I raise my brows in understanding, "Right." I look away. Absently I try to trace his family tree. Still, my only conclusion is that his mother had several children with several men.

"I saw that soldier givin' you shit before the plane. Didn't realise his leech cared so much about you."  Reid's leech? Sorry?

"What?" I ask, monotone.  

"That Cola chick. Cried pretty bad for seeing how that Sergeant was roughing you around." Cola was the girl crying? What in the hell? "Don' get me wrong though, I mean it looked like you needed the healing machine." Her tone pricks me like a needle and I grit my jaw, dumping my fork. 

Does she think I owe the army something? I didn't need them to shoot my mother. 

"I didn't need nothing." I turn on her. 

Thai's brows twang, the cocky grin broadening like she actually likes my threatening demeanour. Her canines stick out, which is probably the only flaw in her genetic engineering, but they make her look like a vampire. "We all need something." We sure as hell do. I realise she's surveying me for some sort of reaction but I don' give anything away. 

"So, what do you need, Thaila?" I condescend, and she snickers, catching gazes with Reid behind me before she bounces her eyebrows in approval? 

I catch him make a face like he's unconvinced, so I scowl at him. "Problem?" I snap, fed up with his scrutiny. 

He rolls his eyes and Thai swallows, grinning slightly as she tries to shrink away from our brewing argument. "Drop it, Vi." He spins his fork in his hand smoothly, which is the only sign that I'm getting to him. 

"Yeah never mind, they shut the machine down." Elias re-announces himself, shimmying between Thai and I so he can sit on the table. But I just glare at Reid, kissing my teeth as I try desperately to reign myself in. Thai sips his water, but he doesn't even notice. Arguing with him is just going to lead to a prickly silence tonight. "No, Reid. If you gon' look at me like I single-handedly ripped you from your sister then maybe you should have the balls to call me on it. Instead of throwing nasty looks at me like one of the city bitches you like to string along." 

Thai chokes on her drink and Elias's eyebrows shoot up. It was probably outta pocket to check Reid for a single nasty look, but living with Manics teaches you that there's rarely such thing as too much honesty. 

"I don' blame you for the abduction." Reid's deep voice rumbles with thinly laced sarcasm, and I ball my fist on my thigh. 

"Then what? What do you blame me for?" 

Gisselle scratches her head awkwardly, taking her seat on the other side of Thai this time. Reid drops his fork, the muscle in his cheek flagging. Elias clears his throat soothingly, "Oi, oi," I expect him to take my side and tell Reid off for being purposefully antagonising, but then he moves my plate and smooths his hands across the tabletop diplomatically, "Vi, honey." 

I look up at him, "Mhm?" I try to be civil, but I quickly realise the tides are turning against me...  okay so it was out of pocket.

"He don' blame you for nothing," Elias soothes, "But it'd help if you told us why you were leaving the walls." 

I grit my jaw, shifting so I'm as far away from Reid as naturally possible, but that pushes me closer to Elias's legs which hang off the edge of the table. 

"While she's here?" Thai is going to report back to Hito. 

Thai grins, her brows bouncing sarcastically. 

"She gon' sit with us from now on, so yeah." Reid mutters. I grit my jaw. 

"What did you know about the outside?" Elias asks, and his tone sets me at ease. 

I turn away from Reid, trying spitefully to bar him from the conversation as I look up at E, "When Tokyo left, mum started relying on me for food. So I started hunting outside the walls, when I met Scor—." 

"The Manic boyfriend?" Elias clarifies, but his cheeky tone sparks a bead of irritation. My hostility finds a home in Thai when she bites her lip like she wants to grin. I squint at her because it's such an odd reaction—does she know something? 

"Half-Manic," I mutter, "We were leaving for Holder's Bay. I was meant to hike out Friday, but it was delayed to the morning of the abduction. I didn't mean for any of it to happen but then dad heard me at the party and it just blew up in my damn face." 

Reid scowls, "Why'd you stick around for the soldiers if you knew they were comin-." 

"Is that what you think this is? That I knew?" I accuse. 

"Curfew is in ten minutes." Gisselle leans forward, effectively lifting the attention off me. We catch eyes. I know she saved me from another argument on purpose, so I remind myself to thank the kid later. 

"This is meant to make you trustworthy?" Reid continues. 

I grit my jaw, unable to bear another condescending accusation any longer. Fuck this. 

Elias neutralises the situation by jumping off the table and walking around my chair before ramming between us and plonking his ass on Reid's muscular thigh. 

"Cunt are you-." Reid tries to argue but Elias flips him off. 

"You remember when Ibis said he'd sack whack you?" Elias threatens. I have to stop myself from snorting when I imagine Binnie, the skinny, mullet-having eight-years-going-on-fifteen gangster, threatening to sack whack Reid. Elias gestures to keep going, his brown eyes a warm mixture of curiosity and trust.

I chew my lip, holding Elias's gaze with every tonne of honesty I can muster, "If I had known about the army coming then I would've been long on my way to Holders Bay. That's why I kept asking where Binnie was, why I didn't wan' talk to none of the others. Because I didn't wanna say goodbye to you." 

Elias nods, but his brows tighten like he doesn't want to imagine what would've happened if the soldiers hadn't come. Would he have woken up to the news that I was missing—just, gone, like Tokyo? It makes my stomach twist with guilt so I avert my gaze to the floor, "Scor and I had been planning it for ages, it, I swear I didn't know anything." 

E takes my hand, nodding as he starts spinning my rings around my fingers aimlessly, "What's Holder's Bay?" 

I forgot how isolated Lake Darling was. "The army-city that supplies Newcastle with resources... it's where most of our trade comes from." I try to explain. "Scor had contacts with one of the black-market gangs, we hit Crippy's tent as initiation." 

"You hit Crip?" He coughs a laugh and I give him a guilty grin.

...

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