INDIGO

I peered out the window. The Rebel's base wasn't in the busiest parts of the city, but there was still substantial foot traffic most days. Today, however, there seemed to be more bustle than usual.

Children played on the streets. Vendors called out the deals for their products and tried their best to attract others. Pigeons swooped in and out and attempted to snatch spare food from unsuspecting pedestrians. A few children stood on the roofs and fed them while others tried to hit them with rocks.

I backed away from the window before anyone spotted me. We couldn't let the outsiders see too many residents in the base and I was especially risky. Many assassins would recognize my face after being an Alpha, especially one that managed to defeat an Alpha, and then disappeared with no trace. If they saw me, I would be an immediate tip-off.

I took a deep breath. The others at the base avoided me like the plague. Nydia was in her room and up to some strange scheme. I tried to hang out with her, but she practically closed the door in my face. I hadn't seen Wolf since the trial this morning and the others who were in the room were doing the necessary to run the base.

I continued walking through the metal-lined hallway—wondering how the hell I would befriend people and find the mole if I was shunned upon wherever I went—when I heard voices emerge from down a hall that I was near. I couldn't make out the words very well which sounded tense and heated. I inched closer and listened to the argument taking place around the corner.

"...you've been doing nothing these past few months," a man's voice said. I recognized it as Laine's.

"I know. I'm sorry," a girl whispered.

"Sorry? Just sorry?" Laine scoffed. "Sorry doesn't change anything. You need to work harder."

"I'll try harder now."

"You say that every time."

"And I try. I do! I swear! But I don't know what to do more. I'm doing my best with everything. I try taking on more tasks and missions. I help as many people as I can. What more do you want?"

"You're average at everything. You need to find a specific niche or something. Brianna is an amazing fighter, despite her missing eye and hand. Or you could be tactical like Nisa and Wolf. You need to be good at something."

"I'm good at plenty of things."

"Not good enough."

The girl said nothing. After a moment Laine added, "You need to do better if you want me to move you up. Got it?"

"Yeah," she whispered.

After a moment, I heard Laine shuffle down the other end of the hallway and leave. The girl made no move. I was mostly certain that she was his daughter, though no one told me he even had one. From what I just heard, their relationship wasn't very picture perfect.

As she continued to stand all alone for a moment, I had two options: approach her and try to befriend, but let her know that I was eavesdropping or leave her alone and walk away with the information I already had. But, I was positive Wolf would've already known about something like this. I needed to find something more and blend in. I took in a deep breath knowing the following interaction could go a number of different ways.

Turning around the corner, I took slow steps toward the girl who must've been a few years younger than me. Her dark blonde hair—a feature neither Nisa nor Laine carried—hung down in waves as she hunched down on herself, wrapping her arms around herself, her shoulders shaking. With a start, I realized she was shedding silent tears.

I hesitated and wondered if I should've left and pretended like I never saw anything. But I was already here, no turning back.

I took a gentle step toward her. "Hey, are you okay?"

She looked up, glossy brown eyes wide, shoulders tense. Right in front of my eyes, in seconds, her eyes went dry, her frown turned into a smile, and the tears wiped away.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, giving a sheepish laugh. "Just a really crappy day."

I was a bit offset by her immediate reaction, but I still pushed.

"I can relate," I smiled and offered my hand. "Indigo Fluor."

She hesitated before shaking it. "I know. I'm Lily."

"That's a nice name," I remarked, unsure of what else to say as I smiled viciously.

"Not nearly as nice as yours," Lily replied. "I could practically tell you're an assassin just by your name."

The reply stung a little after facing a week of hate towards me simply because of my class, something which I had no control over. But, I refused to walk away. It was my turn to laugh sheepishly.

Lily blinked and after a second she added, "I didn't mean it that way! Just that your name sticks out. I swear, I'm not trying to be mean or anything."

"Scared I would slice your neck?"

"No, I'm being honest," she shook her head and looked away. "I think it's wrong that they locked you up just because of who your parents were. You don't get to choose. And from what I can tell, you seem pretty nice and didn't do anything after you joined. The entire base would've known if you did."

I relaxed a little, the stiffness in my shoulders easing. I was still a bit wary of the sudden kindness, but her words seemed genuine. Still, I would be on guard.

"That's... new," was all I said.

"Yeah, well, many of the Streeters here only joined because they were abused by the assassins. They can be a bit wary."

"'They?' Not you?" I asked.

Lily shook her head. "I haven't really interacted with any assassins besides you."

"Oh," I tilted my head. "Then why did you join?"

"Family," she replied, her voice suddenly quiet. "Laine's my father so I'm sort of automatically in."

So my predictions were correct. But why am I only learning this now?

"I've never heard of you before," I said. "No offense."

"That's because no one wants to gossip with you besides Nydia, but she's too nice to mention me in detail."

I furrowed my eyebrows.

Too nice? How can ignoring someone be nice?

"Most of the others only talk about me to feel good about themselves," Lily explained. "They pretend like they don't, but they do. Laine is so bent on not being like the assassins that he refuses to give me much recognition without earning it for myself. Says he doesn't want to make it seem like he was just passing the leadership down by last names. But he's always trying to push me harder, and I'm always trying harder, but I never amount to much. I'm still exactly where I've always been: at the very bottom."

Lily fell silent and, after a moment, she must've realized the weight of what she said. She looked up, eyes wide, trying to judge what I would do with the information.

After a moment, I responded with a smile. "Crappy parent? I can relate to that too."

She stared at me for almost a minute before a smile broke wide and a giggle escaped.

"Your dad too?" she asked.

I shook my head. "My mother. My father was the good one."

"Huh," she thought for a moment. "I don't know what my mom would've been like."

I blinked. "Nisa's not your mother?"

She shook her head vigorously. "No. No way. Nisa only met my dad when I was ten. She was kidnapped from the East and then sold to the highest bidder and brought back here. After a while, she made a plan to escape, but she needed my dad's help to do it. She reached out to him in secret and he risked his life to free her and other people. They've been close friends ever since."

"Oh. I thought they were-"

"-married? Nope."

I said nothing as I processed the information.

"So, what happened to them?" Lily asked. "Your parents?"

I looked down. "My father died when I was younger and my mother ended up in prison."

She smiled and shrugged. "At least your mom's not here to pester you about your awful decision to get arrested by a bunch of lunatics."

I laughed. "She would've been more concerned about my messy hair than my imprisonment."

"I'm glad she's not here then," Lily giggled.

I smiled and looked at her. I approached her merely to build friendships so that I could sniff out the mole, but perhaps I started to form a real friend. Still, she could've been the mole. I needed to keep my guard up, but it was hard not to hope.

A shadow slipped around the corner and approached us, clearing their throat.

"Ladies," Wolf greeted.

Lily's eyes went wide and she looked down, covering her face with her hair as she blushed.

"Hi," she muttered and gave me a quick glance. "I need to go... find Laine. See you later."

We watched as she scurried down the hall and around the corner, in the direction Laine left. I looked back at Wolf who had a hint of amusement in his grey eyes.

"You appear to be making progress."

I shrugged. "Only a little."

"Don't worry, you'll get better," he replied. "In the meantime, why don't we engage ourselves in something you are good at?"

I tilted my head. "What am I good at?"

"Murder," he said. "You're an assassin, after all."

"After this afternoon's trial, I was under the impression that you didn't want me killing people."

"Were you? That's quite strange."

His lips curled into a smug smile and the amusement in his expression only grew.

I sighed. "Who am I killing?"

"Not sure yet. Depends on who shows up."

"Shows up to what?"

"The Championship," he responded. "Rest up today. Tomorrow night, we get to crash the Streeters' favorite pastime: the Blood Battles."