When I heard the cook’s voice behind , I spun around quickly to find him standing at the entrance. I tried to rge with the room’s shadows to escape, but he raised his hand and a massive ball of yellow fire appeared in his palm, flooding the room with light and erasing every shadow I could use to escape. I hadn’t expected him to possess any extraordinary abilities either. For all these past months, he’d never shown anything special. I should have anticipated it; the man running a group like this must have a few tricks up his sleeve.
I looked around the room, searching for any exit or any shadow I could use to escape, but the cook’s broad body blocked the way. I knew my scrawny fra wouldn’t be able to push past him or dodge. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the end. In my final monts, the only regret I felt was that I wouldn’t be able to see Diana’s face again.
But instead of burning , I heard a long sigh escape him before he spoke in a low, tired voice:
"It looks like you read all the ssages, didn’t you?"
I opened my eyes to see the fire gone from his hand, and the room returned to its normal state. He quietly approached the table, gathered the scattered letters, then flicked a small fla from his fingertip and burned them all at once, ash swirling into the air.
"You’re not going to send those ssages to the Bloody Fang’s leader?"
He didn’t look at ; he just sat down on the wooden chair in front of , laced his fingers together, rested his elbows on the table and covered his eyes with his clasped hands before saying:
"What’s the point now?"
"I don’t think it’s too late to expose that information."
He laughed without even lifting his head, then replied sarcastically:
"Do you want to bring trouble on yourself? Why don’t you just run now and go back to the rest of your Night Wolves... especially your vice leader you never stopped sending reports to?"
"How did you know all that?"
He smirked as he lowered his hands and looked at :
"It’s easy to figure you out when you leave the ssage open inside the restaurant every ti, while you spend hours staring at Diana instead of doing anything else."
I cleared my throat, trying to regain my composure before I said:
"Then why did you let work with you all this ti when you knew who I was?"
The cook stood from his chair, turned toward and smirked:
"I wanted to know your real goal... what makes you act like an idiot next to Diana instead of sending the intel your vice leader asked for."
"I was just verifying the information."
He stepped closer until he was right in front of :
"It’s obvious you were ’verifying the information’ by giving the person you’re supposed to capture eyes full of affection and acting like a fool. On top of that, you didn’t even try to find the stolen files since you ca here."
I tried to hide my irritation as I replied:
"I didn’t get the chance."
He shook his head:
"Right, you didn’t get the chance for all these months."
"And during all these months you kept here and even offered to join you. Why would you do that?"
"I was trying to go off script, but every attempt was useless."
"Script?"
"We’re all stuck on a stage belonging to so insane demonic being with a lot of power who enjoys playing with people’s lives."
He grabbed his head with both hands, screaming and grumbling:
"All I ever wanted in my whole life was to own a small food stall. I didn’t ask for much. But now I’m stuck in all this madness. For God’s sake, why didn’t Garrod listen to and keep that damned book closed."
I watched him acting like a lunatic. I didn’t understand most of what he said, but the na Garrod caught my attention. That’s the na of the Bloody Fang’s leader. What’s strange is how this man ntioned it as if Garrod were an old friend, not the leader of the gang he supposedly works for.
He turned to after finishing his rant, walked up to and placed both hands on my shoulders:
"Anyway, the play is almost over. Enjoy the few days you’ve got left. You can even confess to Diana or propose to her or whatever at least do it before you die."
I shoved his hands off my shoulders sharply, saying with total annoyance:
"What the hell are you talking about?"
He laughed before replying:
"The play is practically over, and when it ends there’s no use for extra actors like us. Haven’t you heard about the fall of the Bloody Fang?"
"What nonsense are you spouting? The Bloody Fang fell?"
"Looks like you didn’t hear that? Strange. But yes, that’s what happened. They were wiped out by the Claw. It won’t take long before they send people to finish off the rest of us surviving Bloody Fang mbers."
The words he’d just spoken shocked . What he was saying sounded illogical. Why would the Claw break the latest agreent? Even though I knew the relationship between the Bloody Fang and the Claw was never good, I hadn’t expected them to take such a crazy step. And not only that, but it seed they succeeded. Yet the cook didn’t look like he was lying. Maybe that’s what drove him insane and to speak such nonsense just now. It also explained why he’d burned those letters. After all, there’s no point sending them now if the Bloody Fang had been annihilated.
I asked, trying to keep my voice steady:
"Then why don’t you run? I don’t think they’ll be able to find you. Or even try, if you hide deep in this district. You’re under the office’s protection in theory."
He let out another mocking laugh, more irritating than before, as if he’d heard a joke instead of a question, then slapped my shoulder hard while wiping tears from his eyes with his fingers:
"Forget all that about the damned demon. Do you really think as a criminal and gang mber you can hide in this district? On the edges maybe. But in the core you’ll be interrogated before they even let you in by the police officers working for the Investigation Office."
"How would they even detect that?"
"They already have a list of all gang mbers in the Lower District with what you might call special abilities."
After he said that, he gave one last slap on the back before turning and walking away, waving his hand:
"Enjoy your last days in life."
I tried to follow him quickly I had more questions to ask, like what that demonic being he spoke of was but as soon as we left the hidden room I ran right into Diana, who was standing at the door. I stepped back while the cook kept walking until he stood beside her, then turned to and said:
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I asked Diana to co for a certain assignnt."
After saying that he turned to go on his way, but Diana grabbed his collar and tugged him slightly back, forcing him to stop. She stepped closer until their faces were almost touching:
"What were you two talking about in there just now?"
The cook lifted his hands slightly and slipped out of her grip easily, then smiled, turning his back to her as he said without looking back:
"You can ask Adam about that."
He left her standing at the door and walked away after saying that. For the first ti since I’d co here, I saw him leave the restaurant. Diana and I were left alone. My eyes shifted between her and the door; she just stood there without doing anything else. We were both waiting for the other to start talking.
In the end, I spoke first, running my hand over the back of my head as I said:
"Is there sothing you’d like to ask ?"
She took a deep breath before saying:
"Has the Bloody Fang really fallen?"
"I’m not sure about that, but from what he told just now, it seems that’s what happened."
I saw her rub her temples with both hands before asking:
"Are you really a spy from the Night Wolves sent to capture ?"
I couldn’t answer. I didn’t want to lie but I couldn’t tell the truth either. Maybe that’s why my face showed an expression of confusion I couldn’t hide. When she saw that expression she smiled mockingly and said:
"So it’s true, huh? Who would’ve thought a clumsy man like you was a spy?"
She wasn’t angry or upset like I’d expected. She looked like she was mocking herself and at the sa ti. This woman is still hard to read. I like that.
As I was thinking deeply about the recent events, I rembered I had co here to retrieve the files. Maybe I was late, but the important point wasn’t the files. The important point was what would happen next. I had dozens of things to think about. Like escaping before the Claw’s n arrived, securing my route, thinking about what I’d do after that. Sure, I could escape easily. But...
I raised my eyes toward Diana again and said:
"Do you... do you want to escape with ?"
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