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“I have to find this guy and make him pay,” said Leo. “Whatever power he’s using, it’s obviously too dangerous to be left alone.”

Roman nodded. “Alright, well, sounds like you’ve got your hands full. I’ll just--”

“My man! You saved me! I can’t just let you leave without repaying the favor!”

“Oh, uh, no, that--that won’t be necessary. I didn’t really do anything, so--”

“Don’t be silly, big cat. Just tell me who, and I’ll take care of it, ya dig?”

“Excuse me?”

“C’mon, no need to be coy. We’re friends now. You came here ‘cuz you want someone whacked, right?”

“That’s not exactly what I--”

“It wouldn’t happen to be the same fella who wrote ya that letter, now would it?”

“What?! No! Definitely not! He’s one of my closest allies!”

“Ya don’t say? Well, that’s a relief. But, um, I gotta be honest with ya, big cat... seein’ as this Hector guy has access to a Courier, well. That alone is reason enough for me to investigate further. In fact, protocol kinda obligates me to, see? So how’s about we go find him together?”

“How’s about we don’t do that?”

“Why not? You weren’t planning to leave him hangin’, were ya?”

“Wouldn’t you rather go find your mystery man?”

“Sure, but I don’t exactly have any leads on that, do I? I mean, the guy hasn’t been here in years, and I don’t even know what he looks like. Or his name, for that matter. Which reminds me. I still don’t know your name, big cat.”

“Ah...” Roman held back a sigh. Certainly, he wanted to believe that this could be an extremely positive development. With as much power and influence as Leo had at his fingertips, protecting Atreya would, in theory, be very easy now.

And yet, somehow, Roman was getting the distinct impression that that wasn’t going to be the case at all.