Emma's gaze was icy as she looked at me, but behind the steel in her eyes was a storm of memories, eae heavier tha. I could tell she was deg whether to trust me—just how much to reveal.

  "Chat…" she said slowly, as if just saying her name called something painful to life. "Yes, I'm looking for her. But it's not what you think. I didn't get into all this for power or trol… at least, not at first."

  Her voice had lost some of its cold, practiced authority, softened by something deeper, something raw. Her hands twitched in her p, restless, as though trying to keep herself from falling pletely into memory.

  "We weren't always like this," she murmured, eyes narrowing as they fixed somewhere beyond me, as if watg ghosts from her past. "Chat and I… we were just two girls, struggling to get by. No family, no pce to belong, only each other."

  Emma let out a soft, humorless ugh. "We got into trouble, the small kind, at first. Pickpocketing, some minor s. Chat always hated it, but she stuck with me—she was loyal, maybe too loyal. But then came the night we tried for something bigger. We didn't mean for it to go that way. But that night… that night ged everything."

  I listened in silence, watg the flicker of her expression, the way she ched her fists a her voice steady even as the pain of memory leaked through.

  "We were just going after some big shot who looked like easy prey. He was rich, bored, and ripe for the pig. But when we crossed his path… that's when we found out who he really was. Bakuto."

  I'd heard the name before. Bakuto—one of the leaders of The Hand. Ruthless, patient, and as unfiving as a bde.

  Emma's hands balled into fists, her knuckles going white as she tinued. "We didn't eve close. He saw us ing from a mile away. At first, we thought it was just bad luck, that we'd been sloppy. But we never even stood a ce. I felt something—pressure, darkness—closing in on us before we could do a thing. I'd never felt fear like that. I didn't know it then, but that was when my telepathy began to wake up, spurred on by sheer survival instinct. And still, it wasn't enough."

  Emma's voice dropped, her face grim as she went on. "Bakuto's men closed in fast, surrounding us. Chat grabbed my hand, and whispered to me to keep calm, that she had a pn. And she reached out—she always had this gift with animals, you see."

  Her lips curled into a bittersweet smile, her voientarily softening. "Animals loved her, followed her wherever she went. She could seheir emotions, and unicate with them in a way that always amazed me. When we were kids, she would sit in the park and have flocks of birds per her arms, ras scurry from the shadows to greet her… and that night, she called them to help."

  Emma's eyes grew distant, and it was as if she were seeing it all unfold before her again.

  "I'll never fet the way she stood there, pletely still, pletely calm, as I felt her calling out into the dark. Suddenly, they came. Stray dogs, alley cats, and even crows from the rooftops, all answering her call. They poured in from the shadows, snarling and screeg, a force of sheer chaos. I watched as they swarmed around Bakuto's men, biting, g, and tearing at them with an iy I'd never seen before. She was like a ductor of some wild orchestra of nature, holding them back just enough to give me a ce to escape."

  Her voice trembled, just for a moment. "But I was too slow. I… I wao pull her with me. I was shouting her name, but she wouldn't e. She just kept tellio go. 'Run, Emma,' she said. 'I'll keep them back. Just run!'"

  Emma's face hardened as she ched her fists. "I was still green, a fledgling with a power I didn't even uand. My telepathy had barely sparked. I tried to pull her with me, but… Bakuto was stronger. He came at her like a shadow, slipped past the animals somehow, and reached her. I barely remember it; everything happened so fast. There was a fsh, and then—darkness. When I woke up, I was alone in an alley. She was gone."

  The silehat followed was thick, filled with a kind of dread that only deep loss could bring. I watched Emma's expression, her gaze hard as stone, yet hiding the paihought she'd long since buried.

  "I spent weeks looking for her," Emma whispered, her voice raw, betraying how close this wound still was to the surface. "Every night, every lead, I followed it. But no matter where I went, The Hand always stayed two steps ahead, leading me in circles, making sure I was lost. Eventually, they started to send messages. They told me Chat was still alive. That they had her… but only if I did what they said. They dangled her life in front of me, taunted me with glimpses of hope, and I was too powerless to fight back."

  Her jaw tightened, her eyes bzing with anger and grief. "That's when I found Shaw. He was ruthless, ing… a man who promised power, who gave me the tools to keep fighting. I joined him, worked under him, and did things I hought I'd do. All to gain a foothold in this world, all for the power I o go bad rip The Hand apart from the i. Shaw knew I had my own reasons for joining him, a me use his resources because I was useful to him. And in exge, I pyed along. This club, this whole setup—it's a farce. A way to build the power I o find Chat. I'll tear it all down if it brings me even a step closer to her."

  She turo look at me, her gaze intense, full of a fire that hadn't dimmed sihat night. "So now you know. My goal isn't to rule over anyone et ed up in this underworld. This whole act… it's just one more yer of armor I wear to get what I need."

  She stopped, letting her words settle. For a moment, her eyes softened, as if the storm within her had calmed, if only just enough for her to look at me with something other than suspi.

  "But now Shaw's dead. His es, his leverage… gone. And without him, my path just got a whole lot harder." Her eyes searched mine, a mix of doubt and a faint glimmer of hope. "So, why help me? Why offer to give me what Shaw never could?"

  I took a breath, keeping my own voice steady. "Because I'm not here to py Shaw's games or take over his world. I'm here to put things back where they belong, starting with myself. I need my inal body and answers. And for that, I need someone who knows this world, who lead me to those trolling it. So, I help you, you help me. That's simple, right? We both get what we want—and maybe, we both get what we need."

  Emma stared at me for a moment, her gaze searg my face, as though she was still trying to decide if I was telling the truth. I could almost see her weighing the decision, sidering the possibilities, before finally giving a slight nod.

  "Let's say, I tell you everything you want to know. How are you going to find Chat? I tried to find her for three years, and all I got were dead ends and traps. The Hand has es everywhere, and if they have her, they won't be easy to get to. If you're pnning to start a war with them, you'd better bring yame," She said.

  "I know someone who pinpoint Chat's location. Someoh the power to find people, and the tech to narrow it down," I replied.

  Emma arched a brow at that. "Who?"

  "Wanna find out? e with me," I stood up.

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