“Del is…”

It felt so wrong. The memory of him pleading to her not to get him involved replayed in her mind more vivid than any movie they’d shown in the town square.

[i]”They'll take me in for interrogation. Take my family in. They can’t handle that. They’re quiet, Aura. They’re dishwashers. They can’t take that shit.”[/i]

At this point though, it was only to clear his name. There was no other option.

“He’s my next door neighbor. My friend. My [i]only[/i] friend.” Aura sighed and leaned forward, rubbing her temples. “He just covers for me. He doesn’t know what we do, what I do. The runners we work with only tell him what he needs to know. The cause doesn’t even know.”

Shooting up from her chair, she darted for the refrigerator and grabbed another one of the bottles Kieran brought and plopped back down. While Aura had been involved in enough nefarious shit, being a rat felt the worst on her conscious so far. Whether it was the impending feeling of punishment from the cause for what she was doing or the fact she was turning her back on all she knew, it felt like shit. At least she had enough ale to stave off the feeling until the next morning.

“Gregor…” a deep breath and a sip was needed before continuing, “he’s been our shot caller since Santo died a couple years back. He’s organized every major event since.” 

Subconsciously, a hand lifted to her face to press on the scab on her bottom lip, wincing as the scab separated under pressure. 

“There’s a… party or something in Sub A. Loor’s house.” 

Another deep breath was taken, this time shaky in its exhale. 

“I’m going undercover with a group of prostitutes. I have to take a folding computer, I forget the name.” 

Aura took a few gulps from the brown bottle, and this time, politely set it down on the table next to her. 

“If I fail to grab it and get out, and if his drink doesn’t knock him out in time, I’ll have to fuck him, then leave in the morning with the rest of the girls. Gregor wants the information on it. Something about more restrictions in F.” 

For the first time in a few minutes, Aura lifted her head and looked at Kieran. “I don’t wanna do it. But this is my punishment from running away from the fight. This is his retribution. He coulda [i]easily[/i] paid one of the other girls to do it.”

A hand ran through her hair as she took a moment to let the wave of anger run through her, then she returned her attention to Kieran. 

“What else?”