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“I understand that one must die first,” said David.

She smirked. “Oh, and how do you know that?”

“I have informants of my own,” was all he told her.

David’s alliance with Hector proved very enlightening. He knew of reapers now as well. He’d already suspected that there was some kind of hidden force behind the Abolisher’s ability to “hear through walls,” as some people had called it. That was one of the first things Hector had told him, in fact, as the young man wanted David to be careful with what he said when he thought no one was listening. It also meant that their correspondence had to be performed largely via text message, though Hector also insisted that David use coded voice mails to confirm that he was the true sender.

Nola laughed. “Are you asking me to kill you?”

David forced himself to grin. “I would kindly request that you wait until I am certain of my conviction.”

“Heh.” She threw a candid look around David’s empty dining chamber. Looking for her reaper, perhaps? After a moment, she said, “It wouldn’t work if I killed you right here and now, anyway. You need a willing reaper for that sort of thing, otherwise your soul would decay too quickly, and then you’d just be dead.”

“I see. Reapers, yes. I have heard tell of that as well, I think. But truthfully, I was more curious about how one joins Abolish in particular. As in, what sort of oaths one might have to take, and especially how one might be able to prove oneself.”

“Oh, that’s all boring stuff.”

“Is it? I feel that it is paramount for me to earn the trust of your comrades and superiors. Would you know of a way I might accomplish that?”

The mirth in her face lessened somewhat. She was thinking now.

One more push. “I was hoping there might be an opportunity for me in whatever you and your friends have planned next.”

“So that’s why you’ve been asking me about it so much.”

“Indeed.”

She hesitated still. But he could see that she wanted to tell him.

“I apologize for not being more forthcoming earlier,” he added. “As I said, I was afraid you would think me foolish.”