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“Shelton Chase. He was—”
“A runner,” I remembered, envisioning the fresh-faced phoenix shifter. It was hard to imagine him as a father. “You stayed in the family business, I see.”
Lora frowned and stared at the table in front of her.
“There’s not a lot of options for females,” she explained. She jerked her head up and eyed me warily. “Not that I’m complaining. Lots of women don’t get the choice of being financially independent at all.”
My eyes became slits. “What are you doing here, Lora?”
She swallowed again. “Why did you come back?”
I pursed my lips and stared at her, pondering how to answer her. She appeared genuinely terrified. Maybe it was me, or maybe she was scared of Orson. I couldn’t say.
“If you know who I am, then you know Pario City belongs to me,” I told her coldly. “You should also know that I won’t let an attack like that go unanswered. Your boss tried to kill me.”
“He can’t kill you,” Lora said quickly. “I mean… can he?”
“I’m not answering your questions, girl. Tell me what you’re doing here and why I shouldn’t kill you for daring to come back.”
Her emerald irises popped. “Y-you offered me a job!” she sputtered. “Before…”
She trailed off, splaying her hands open on the table. “I didn’t come here looking for trouble.”
I sat back pensively and peered at her.
“You’re not very loyal,” I told her. “Jumping ship like that for a complete stranger. How do I know you’re not just spying for Orson?”
Lora’s eyes grew wider, as if she realized her mistake.
“I’m not the spy! Abigail is the one playing both sides here, not me!”
I bristled, rising onto my hands.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I spat. “And you’re not winning any points with me by being a rat. Get her out of here.”
“NO!” Lora shrieked as Silver moved to stand her up. “No, please don’t! I’ll be sent off like the other women!”
I held up a hand to stop Silver.
“What?” I demanded.
Lora trembled and exhaled. “Haven’t you noticed that there are hardly any young, single females in Pario City?” she whispered. “Not unless they’re doing favors for Orson.”
I glanced at Draven, who appeared perplexed. They didn’t know. My information was restricted to what I was finding on the interwebs—or whatever it was they called that thing.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I wanted her to spell it out for me, every word. This was the verification I had needed, someone other than Ash telling me.
Lora avoided my gaze, but I slapped my hands down on the table.
“What does that mean?” I barked again. “Look at me.”
She raised her head and exhaled. “There are hardly any young, unattached females in Pario City,” she reiterated.
“Why not? Where are they?” Lora shook her head once more.
“I don’t know for sure,” she mumbled. “I just know that if they aren’t working for Orson, or they offend him in some way, they… disappear.”
“Not Abby. Not you,” I pointed out.
