Phoenix had just returned from Walker's to his motel room when the burner phone rang. The call wasn't from the number that texted him previously, which he assumed had been Sharmistha's. This was someone else. He answered and held the phone to his ear, waiting.

After a bout of silence, laughter came through. "You're being too damn careful," Evan said. "Not even a hello? Nick? Are you listening?"

"Sorry," Phoenix said quickly. "Yeah, I'm listening."

"Are you busy at the moment?"

He felt his throat closing up. "No," he said. "Why? Are we going to do something?"

"Come down to the credit union on 31st and Clark. I'll be on the sidewalk."

Evan hung up. Since he wasn't given a time, Phoenix assumed he was wanted there as soon as possible, and he couldn't disappoint. In record speed, he was ready and running out of his room.

His motel was on 31st and Archer, only one intersection away from 31st and Clark. He didn't want Evan to know that, so he left the motel lot through the back path, looped around a few blocks, and went to the credit union from the opposite direction, slowing down beforehand so it didn't look like he was anxious.

Evan was sitting with Liling on a bench just outside the doors, and they both stood when they saw him. Liling jabbed her thumb toward the coffee shop at the end of the block and said, "Sharmistha's sitting in there alone. I think she's waiting for someone, and we're going to find out who."

Phoenix was relieved—spying was better than robbing the credit union, which was what he was thought they were doing. "Okay."

"We go in quickly," Evan warned, "and sit before she notices us."

They waited for a big group to come by and enter, and they followed them inside, quickly sliding into a booth against the window and holding the menus in front of their faces. Sharmistha was in a booth against the side wall, staring blankly at the empty seats across from her.

"I can't see," Liling hissed, "and it's loud in here."

Phoenix and Evan were on one side, Liling on the other. If Phoenix lowered his menu a little, he could see about half of Sharmistha, but Liling would have to turn her head in a very obviously stalker-ish way to see her at all. Only Evan had a good view. Sitting down quickly meant suboptimal spying.

"Someone sat down across from her," Evan whispered.

Phoenix carefully peeked over the menu and saw that a man was now sitting in Sharmistha's booth, but he couldn't see his face from this angle. Based on the look she was giving him, though, Phoenix could tell she was not happy.

.....................

Sharmistha glared at Azure. "Can you lose the glasses?" she snapped. "I don't know if you're looking at me or not."

He took off his sunglasses and set them on the table, and he adjusted the black Yankees cap on his head. The bruising around his eye had healed a bit, but she could still tell it was there.

"I'm trying to hide," he said. "Violet and Crimson are in the city, and I don't want them to find me. Why'd you call me here?"

"I've been trying to meet for several days. Where have you been?"

"You know I'm not going to answer that." Azure grabbed the salt shaker and played with its cap. "I'm here now. So, what is it?"

"Ladock is suspicious. If he realizes I'm not carrying out his orders, he'll fire me. If he finds out I'm listening to someone else, he'll kill me. We have to do something."

"Don't worry about it," he replied calmly, leaning back in his seat. He seemed unconcerned about the fact that his plan, whatever it was, wouldn't work without her cooperation.

"Don't worry about it?" she repeated, as harsh as she could sound without yelling. She'd chosen this place to meet because he was less likely to kill her with so many people around, but the downside was that she couldn't loudly or obscenely express her frustration. "If you're not worried about it, why don't you return to whatever hole you slithered out of and leave Jethro to the people who know how to run it."

Azure didn't seem the least bit insulted. He only sighed and propped up two menus along the edge to hide them from view. Then he placed his elbow on the table, his hand in the air.

"If you win," he said, "you can let the Nameless accomplish some of their tasks to get Ladock off your back."

Sharmistha's face twitched with fury. He was taking this—he was taking her—so unseriously. He wouldn't stake her cooperation on an arm-wrestling match, and they both knew she would lose. But if this was how he wanted to move the conversation forward, there wasn't anything she could do except go along with it. She leaned forward and clasped his hand.

"One," Azure said.

"Two," she said through gritted teeth.

He smiled. "Three."

Sharmistha was expecting to lose. She wasn't expecting him to suddenly squeeze her hand so tight that she couldn't move her arm. She felt his fingers pressing into every bone in her palm, and she tried desperately to free herself only to fail.

Azure squeezed even harder. Her arm trembled from the pressure, but he was unnervingly still. Sharmistha was hit with an immense pain, but it wasn't just the force on her hand, it was everywhere. She felt every thud of her heart as if it were a bomb counting off its final seconds. To her horror, the veins in her hand were turning black, and they started snaking down her wrist.

"This. Is. Not. A. Game," Azure said, taking time on each word as if she needed any more emphasis.

Sharmistha wanted to scream, but she couldn't open her mouth. She couldn't move at all.

"If you don't listen to me," he said quietly, "forget Ladock. I'll kill you."

He let go, and Sharmistha yanked her hand back. The black veins on her skin faded until there was no trace of them. Her heart was still pounding, but she no longer felt like she was about to explode. All of the pain had vanished in an instant. Her hand didn't even hurt from the squeezing.

Azure was once again leaning back in the seat. He didn't look angry anymore; the threat was over, and it was back to business. "Are we clear?" he asked flatly.

Sharmistha's ego wanted her to lunge across the table and slam his head against the wall. Instead, she said, "Yes. The Nameless will remain paused."

"Is that all?"

"No." She took a deep breath. "I accepted a new member."

Azure shook his head as he put the menus back down. "What part of do nothing did you not understand?"

"I've kept our activities paused, but he's a superhuman, and I couldn't pass it up. I haven't told Ladock yet, and I'm only telling you so you don't think I'm going behind your back."

"What can he do?"

"He's telekinetic, but it's very weak," she said, downplaying it with a shrug. She didn't want Azure to come after her for adding Nick, that was why she was telling him at all, but she also wanted to keep Nick under the radar for now. She didn't want to lose him before the Nameless got to use him. "I wasn't impressed, but I thought he might have potential. I may come to regret it."

"Telekinetic," Azure repeated quietly, an unreadable expression flashing across his face. "What does he look like?"

Sharmistha didn't want to answer, but she was too scared to lie. "Around twenty. White. Brown eyes, brown hair." She paused. "Why? Do you know him?"

Azures hook his head. "No. I was just curious." He stood. "I'll be going now."

He waited a second, to see if she would stop him, but Sharmistha had nothing left to say. He exited the coffee shop, and she let out a deep breath. It hadn't gone the way she wanted, but at least it was over.

And then came more stress.

.............................

"He's leaving," Evan reported.

Phoenix pulled the menu away from his face, hoping to catch a glimpse of the visitor, but he only saw the door closing behind him, and he was enveloped by passersby on the sidewalk too quickly to make out his features. Sharmistha was sitting alone.

"Confronting her is a bad idea," Liling mused.

"Yeah," Evan responded. "It probably is."

They looked at each other, seemingly made a decision, and grabbed Phoenix and raced to her booth and took the empty seats across from her. Phoenix slid in first, then Liling, then Evan, and Sharmistha glared at them.

"How much did you hear?" she asked.

"Nothing," Evan said. "Unfortunately."

"Who was that?" Liling asked.

Sharmistha raised her eyebrows at her. "I almost expect this from you, but—" she looked at Evan "—you? You're supposed to be my right hand." She turned to Phoenix. "And you. You've got a lot of nerve, new kid."

Phoenix kept his expression neutral. Was this why Liling and Evan brought him, so her anger would be divided into thirds instead of halves? He needed to stay on their good side, but he had to stay on Sharmistha's good side, too, and this didn't bode well.

"Don't change the subject," Liling said. "Who was that?"

"Nobody."

"If that was nobody, you wouldn't look like a deer in headlights right now. Who was that?"

"I don't need to answer you, Liling. You work for me."

"And you work for Ladock. Not only have you not given any of us anything to do, but you've also told us to stop the things we were in the middle of, and there's no way he's okay with that. You're working on your own agenda. What is it?"

Even against the noise of the coffee shop, their silence within it was deafening. No one spoke for what felt like forever. Finally, Sharmistha relented.

"That was Azure. He's an old contact of ours."

Phoenix gripped the seat tightly. It was confirmed: the Azure Snake was in Jethro.

"He's asked me to pause our activities," Sharmistha continued.

Evan blinked. "And why are you doing what he says?"

"Because he isn't someone we want on our bad side. That's all I'm telling you, and you three are not going to say a word to Ladock or to anyone, got that? Or, I swear to God, I am going to make your lives so miserable, you'll regret being born."

Liling's jaw clenched at the threat, but she didn't ask anymore questions.

"Let's go, Evan," Sharmistha said. "Now that you know, you're going to help me keep the pause."

Evan sighed as he stood. He followed Sharmistha out the door, and Phoenix and Liling were alone at the table, along with a misplaced salt shaker and a pair of sunglasses someone must've left behind.

Phoenix waited. His end of the booth was pressed against the wall, so he couldn't leave unless Liling got out first. She stayed where she was, jaw still clenched, mulling it over. Eventually, she rolled her eyes.

"Guess you're going to have to wait a little longer to prove yourself," she said, exasperated. "Later, Nick."

She slid out of the booth, knocking over the salt shaker as she did so, but she didn't notice and left. Phoenix slid down the seat and fixed it, gathering the fallen salt in his palm to throw out. His hands were shaking. Azure was in Jethro. He was working with the Nameless. Sharmistha was mad at Nick, and she would be watching him more closely when it came time for him to do things. At least she hadn't fired him.

Phoenix got out of the booth and turned toward the door, coming face to face with Azure.