I went to the room I shared with Isla, wiping myself down with a damp rag and getting dressed. Below me, the soft hum of muffled voices had died down. The meeting had started, and I was late.

  I stalked down the stairs, leaning over the railing to get a better view of the main floor.

  Everyone was here. Reed sat in the middle of a rectangular table on the raised platform her servants built. On her left was Kateen and the Lagos brothers. On her right was Arwen and a swollen-faced Tom. Mining crew leaders and other important cartel members sat in the rows of chairs in front. I spotted Lira’s braided ponytail in the front row and a man in a long brown coat who looked like one of Kateen’s men. Reed's guards lined the walls and stood near the entrances. Their enchanted black uniforms made them easy to miss.

  I joined Isla and the others at the bar, keeping our distance. So many personalities in one room was dangerous.

  "Do you take us for fools?" Kateen asked.

  Van Lagos let out a clipped laugh through the sneer that plastered his face.

  "You shut down the mines because of rock monsters. That’s difficult to believe, Special Inquisitor."

  Finnick crossed his arms.

  "You've overstepped. The power to shut down the mines was never in the Compact."

  Reed tapped the head of her metal club on the platform.

  THUD! THUD! THUD!

  The left side of the table quieted down. Reed stared from Kateen to the Lagos brothers with eyes that revealed nothing.

  "You're right, Finnick. I did overstep.”

  She snapped her fingers with her free hand.

  One of her guards appeared from a shadowy corner, walked up the platform and rested a stack of papers in front of Reed.

  She picked up the first page, presenting it to the seated crowd.

  "This is the Steeltown Compact… It's not worth the paper it’s written on."

  Low grumbles rose from the onlookers. Tom looked more confused than usual through his swollen face. The rest of the Compact members looked wary.

  What was she planning?

  "Lady Kateen, your control over all trade into and out of the Dellends is ridiculous."

  Kateen's mouth dropped as the Lagos brothers smirked at each other.

  "And let's not forget the Lagos Brothers. You two have grown too comfortable here. Rumours are being spread in the capital about Dahlgeshi openly walking our streets. The royal court only tolerated you when you stayed in hiding. If you continue this behaviour, soldiers will be sent. The Southern Lords are already lining up to volunteer. Who knows? You may get a visit from the Brass Hand herself.”

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  “I walk where I wish, Special Inquisitor,” Van Lagos said.

  “Yes, but for how long?”

  Finnick pointed across the table to Arwen and Tom.

  “What about them?”

  “What about them? They meet their quotas despite their tendency to make trouble.”

  “Trouble? They tried to kill my brother!”

  “What?! What kind of hogwash is that?” Tom asked.

  “The true kind, you overgrown farmer!”

  “Careful, Finnick. I’ll beat your face in.”

  “Then we’ll have matching black eyes, and I’ll still be prettier.”

  “Stop it—all of you. This is a meeting,” Arwen said.

  “Meeting? This is madness. Only a fool would sit across from his poisoner.”

  “I didn’t poison anyone!”

  Reed leaned her club against the table, taking her right hand to grab the other side of the raised sheet of paper and tear it in two.

  RIP!

  Gasps erupted from the crowd. Shocked faces turned to the Inquisitor and the torn halves of the Compact’s first page hanging loose in each hand.

  "I have your attention. Good. The Compact no longer works for us."

  I raised my eyebrows.

  That was bold... or suicidal.

  Once the shock wore off, anger bloomed in the faces of the Compact members.

  "Y-You can't do that!" Tom said.

  Arwen touched his nephew's wrist, shaking his head, his voice grave.

  "She can..."

  "Thank you, Arwen. You're right. The Sanctifiers reserve the right to renegotiate the Compact during times of emergency. It's what allowed us to adjust the Compact after the Lagos brothers disposed of the last cartel leaders."

  Van Lagos smiled—all teeth and menace.

  "The problem, Special Inquisitor, is we don't see your emergency. You can manufacture whatever story you want—whenever you want and cut us out of the Compact. Does that sound fair to you?"

  Reed smirked.

  "The Sanctifiers are beacons of fairness."

  "Hah!" Kateen said before covering her mouth as Reed glanced at her.

  "My apologies, Special Inquisitor."

  Reed smiled.

  "I understand your concerns, Van Lagos. Which is why I brought witnesses."

  Oh no...

  Reed pointed to our party at the bar.

  "Would you accept the eyewitness account of the man who saved your life?"

  The Compact and cartel members turned to look at us.

  Van Lagos clenched his jaw in a forced smile.

  Well played, Reed. So this is why you wanted us at the meeting.

  "Dugan, is my claim about Nostrand Del and his stone men true?"

  From my view of his back, Dugan squirmed from the sudden attention.

  "Yes, i-i-it's true," Dugan said.

  “Is it an emergency?”

  He nodded his head.

  Finnick scowled.

  "What were you doing at the mines?!"

  "I-I... Um... W-We..."

  I stepped forward.

  "We-"

  "They've been working tirelessly to end the curse that has plagued the Dellends for over a century," Reed said.

  Eyebrows raised. Faces twisted in shock. Jaws dropped on the floor.

  Reed, what are you doing?!

  She’d blown our cover!

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