Wildcard (Warcross #2)(33)

“I owe Tremaine a debt,” they finally say, skipping any formal greetings and instead fixing their green eyes on me. “He went into my records once and deleted a citation from the police.”

“They’d gotten caught drone racing,” Tremaine explains. “Jesse’s one of the best in London’s underground scene.”

“I remember you,” Roshan says, eyeing Jesse with his arms crossed.

“Same,” Jesse replies, returning the look. “You’d earned quite the name for yourself in the underground, Ahmadi.”

Asher lifts an eyebrow at him. “You never told us you used to race drones.”

“Why would I tell my Captain I was doing something illegal?” Roshan replies. “I wanted you to pick me for the Riders.”

“No wonder I never had a chance against you at Mario Kart,” Hammie adds. “You know I used to bet on drone racing? Maybe I’ve put my money on you before without even knowing it.”

Asher massages his temples. “Would anyone else like to share their illegal activities with their Captain?” he says.

Hammie ignores him and nods at Jesse. “You owed Tremaine a debt?”

Jesse cracks a subtle smile. “Well, now Tremaine tells me he’s calling in his debt to me for this one’s sake.” They tilt their head at me. “Emika Chen, isn’t it? Yeah, I know you. You’re the bounty hunter who first reported me to the police a couple of years ago, for drone racing.”

I flush. So, this is one of the people I’d tracked down in the Dark World during my past hunts. Now I remember this specific target from several years back, when I’d broken into a drone racing name directory. I’d won a thousand-dollar bounty for that. “Sorry,” I reply.

Jesse shrugs. “Don’t say stuff you don’t mean. It’s fine. Because of Tremaine’s request, I’ll call the beef between us settled. Lucky you.”

Roshan makes an irritated sound. “Way to make this situation even more uncomfortable, Blackbourne,” he mutters at Tremaine. “But that’s always been your specialty.”

Tremaine holds his hands up. “You think you can do better, you go ahead.”

I shift awkwardly in my seat, but under the table, I touch Roshan’s hand once. “I’m okay,” I reply before I turn back to Jesse. “Tremaine tells us you have some info we could use.”

Jesse nods, then waves a hand in front of them and brings up the symbol from Sasuke Tanaka’s sleeve. “You want to know where this is from, right?” It hovers over the table before us. “But, first,” they say, “you’re going to tell me why you need this info.”

I hesitate. Being at the mercy of a former mark isn’t exactly ideal. Beside me, Tremaine offers a helpless look.

“Fine,” I reply, nodding once at Jesse. “Then we’re even.”

Jesse folds their arms. “After you.”

Asher pushes himself out of his chair and onto the sofa, then turns his full attention onto me. “All right, spill. Are you okay? What really happened to you out there?”

I take a deep breath. “I’m okay. Mostly. I got into some trouble.”

“How bad?”

“An assassin saved my life from some other assassins.”

There’s a heavy pause from everyone. “O-kay,” Asher replies warily. “What, like the Yakuza or something?”

“Don’t be silly,” Hammie says with a snort, even as she instinctively drops her voice. “The Yakuza has too much political cred. They’re not gonna be so crass as to run around shooting people in the middle of the street.”

“No, not the mafia or anything,” I say, shaking my head. “At least, not a mafia I knew existed.” I meet my friends’ concerned gazes. A part of me still wants to turn inward, to keep what I know from them. But it won’t make them any safer to keep them out of the loop—I’d learned that the hard way when Zero first attacked our dorms.

So instead, I tell them everything that’s happened since the last time we saw each other. I explain in a low voice about the assassination lottery and the hunters who came after me. About Jax. About Zero, and Taylor. About the Blackcoats. Finally, I tell them about what I’d overheard between Hideo, Kenn, and Mari.

An ominous silence falls on the room. Roshan’s face looks drained of color, while Asher runs a hand through his hair and stares out toward the door.

“Damn,” Hammie finally whispers as she tosses a loose braid behind her shoulder. In the dim light, her eyes are wide and liquid-dark, full of all the same uncertainty churning inside me. “Innocent suicides. This is unraveling fast.”

“The Blackcoats are actively working to stop Hideo’s algorithm,” I add. “They seem like vigilantes, although I don’t know enough about them to agree.”

“And Zero hasn’t said anything about his past to you?” Roshan asks.

I shake my head. “He refuses to answer any questions I’ve asked him. But I was able to gain access to one of his old memories. I shouldn’t have been able to get it so easily.” My attention goes to Jesse, who has been listening quietly the entire time. This must be news to the newcomer, but if it’s stunned them, they don’t show it.

Jesse whistles once. “You got yourself into one mess of a situation, girl.”