‘We helped them!’ Jeff said smugly.

‘I was just helping myself,’ Roth muttered in his head.

‘Oh come on, admit it. You helped them and you feel good…or was that supposed to be we? Why are we sharing the same body?’

Roth felt himself getting a headache as they were being transported to one of the rebel’s safehouses. The carriage they were in was a jadelev carriage filled with plush pillows and goblets of wine for each of them, pulled by a rhinoceros through the streets. It was far too opulent for a rebel group, but one look at them and the carriage master opened the doors and shadowed the windows.

Across him, Nadia sat staring. She was wet from head to foot, dress clinging to her body. And she looked really nice. But of course, Roth pretended not to notice. After their ordeal, he needed a respite from dealing with her. He was a survivor, not a sadist. And he was still rightfully angry at her for not sharing information and not letting him do what he did best. He might be a thief and a killer, but he always honored his deals.

That was his redeeming factor.

“You could’ve run,” Dai said beside him, “but you didn’t. Why?” Wet as everyone else, he looked even more old and haggard with his dark hair flat and matted on his head.

“Is that why everyone is staring at me?” Roth raised an eyebrow. “Don’t thank me. There’s someone else in my head named Jeff and he’s controlling me sometimes.”

“We’re serious here. The least you could do is not make up a silly name.” Steele leaned forward, elbows on his knees. For some reason he looked more regal than Roth had ever seen him. And that was with his clothes hanging limply. The dark man stared at him and, for the first time, he saw how intimidating he was, even when he wasn’t standing a head taller than Roth.

Steele continued. “We are considering the ramifications of you being here with us.”

Roth snorted. Sometimes, the truth is stranger than fiction. They didn’t want the truth? Fine. He could tell a lie that they could swallow instead and mix a little truth in it. “Turn for turn. Law of survival. And I honor my contracts. You hire me, I see it through. I wouldn’t be in such high demand if I didn’t make good on my word. There is still honor in my profession.”

‘Did he just think my name was silly?’ Jeff said.

‘All that and that’s what you heard?’ Roth thought.

“For all we know, you could have set up your capture so we could trust you and bring you to one of the rebel bases,” Nadia said.

Roth laughed. “I may be a brilliant thief, but planning something that elaborate is way beyond me. But even if I were to use all my knowledge of the criminal mind, this wouldn’t make sense. I don’t think the Zobu family would be happy with me mutilating and killing some of their finest soldiers. Or busting their lab. I don’t think that will be worth the tiniest chance you would welcome me into the headquarters itself. A tiny safehouse wouldn’t be worth the damage we caused.” Roth paused. No, that wasn’t him talking anymore, but bravo to Jeff with an airtight analysis.

“And if we’re playing the long game, that would take me gaining your trust over a period of time, stealing back the armor thing, and betraying you. But that would also mean that you would have put me through so many jobs, cost the families both their arms and legs, and even if they have all the information, you would have all the tech and you would have sabotaged them enough to weaken them. Besides, why would they use someone who isn’t trustworthy like me to be a mole? If I were them, I would look at the most invisible person in the organization. Someone who has the ability to go in and out unnoticed. Important enough to be privy with information, but unimportant enough to not be in the spotlight.”

Dai grinned at him. “Now I don’t know if you’re trying to wheedle into our graces, trying to cause division in our ranks or you’re a criminal mastermind.”

“Hey look, get me out of this and I’d be out of your way,” Roth said. “I don’t want to have anything to do with this rebel nonsense. I like to live, thank you very much. I live adventurously, yes, but safe because I know what I’m going into first, and knowing where I can get out after a job or when things go south. You people are just too dangerous to be with.”

“And you would sell the information to the Magnate Families?” Steele asked.

Roth barked a laugh. “Are you kidding me? After what happened back there? They would kill me rather than reward me. Or, they would say they will reward me, then kill you all, then kill me too in the end. As much as it might get me a lot of money to give information on you, I think I value my life more. Especially with how scrupulous and mercurial the Magnate Families are.”

There was sudden silence in the carriage. Roth was used to silence, but in a scenario like this, silence was not exactly the best of signs. They were thinking of something. Something that pertained to him. Whatever it was, he had to be on guard.

“I think deep down you’re a good man,” Steele said.

Roth paused then as the words sunk in, he barked a laugh. That was funny. Hilarious. Jeff, whoever, or whatever it was might be a good man, but he wasn’t. He was neither on the side of good or evil. His side was the only side that mattered.

“Why? Because I steal from the Magnate Families? I have you know I steal from common rich folk too. Both the honest and the crooked.”

“But you don’t steal from good common folk,” Steele insisted.

“Why should I? They have nothing.”

“Right. And the rich usually get rich because of their connection to the Magnate Families.”

Roth’s eyes furrowed. If riches still come from the Magnate Families, then why were they even riding something worth two lands worth in the Outer Reaches? “So why is your rebellion so well-funded, then?”

“The point is,” Dai stepped in, “we might need your help again. Can we count on you?”

Roth shrugged. “Look, I don’t care what the job is. As long as it’s survivable and I get a lot of money from it, why not? But of course, except for this one time, I check and double check the job before I agree.” He tried to look outside the carriage, but the darkened windows revealed nothing. He did notice one thing though. The rhino’s stomping changed. They had gone from hard-packed dirt road to paved cobblestones. He hated not knowing where he was. Even more, he hated not knowing a way out. “Look, it’s been nice knowing you all. If you need a job, ask around the city. Some people might point you right to my points of contact.”

Steele looked at Nadia and Dai. Nadia didn’t say anything, but Dai nodded. Steele pressed a button on his seat and the carriage slowed to a stop. The door opened and Roth stepped out, surprised that he was in the rich side of town. The very rich side of town. This was where the mansions of Magnate Families and their cronies had their mansions and townhouses.

“I think you’re a good guy too,” Dai said quietly just before the door closed.

Roth shook his head and instead looked at where he was. Every building looked more opulent than the last, and each representing the countries they came from. Taisao was the melting pot of Miralai, and here, people were so proud of where they hailed from, their culture bled through every pore of the architecture of the mansions. Calcedonian mansions were entirely geometric and covered in brick with gilt detailing, and every door has depressed arches. The Roku-Shinlai houses were raised at least a foot above the ground and used the most expensive hardwoods, topped off with tiled roofs and doors that slid, rather than swung open. Kandani architecture was made from hewn stone enhanced with limestones, and rounded rooftops that sloped pointing upward. And finally, the Mauans were the boldest of the lot as their featured openness that let the sun, the winds and the public have a view of its interiors dominated by lavish interiors of bamboo and wood, taking advantage of Taisao’s year-long temperate climate.

In the middle of it all, Roth looked out of place wet and grimy. He quickly slunk to the shadows and kept to it as he walked the streets back to the more “commoner” area of the city that surrounded the lavish mansions here. Mid-Town served as a buffer against the poverty-ridden area of the city that ran around the outskirts, with decent houses that were a mix of the different architectures of Miralai. And the area where the poor were? The Outer Reaches was massive, with so many people struggling. Those were the people who thought that Taisao was the city where they could be rich, only to find that they were nothing but slaves and pawns who could never get back to their own countries because an airship out of the city would wipe clean even the middle-class.

‘Maybe that’s why you agreed to helping them,’ Jeff mused. ‘Maybe you see the injustice being done here at the expense of the poor and you’re hoping the rebels could change that.’

‘I do not!’ Roth growled. ‘A job’s a job. Now, keep quiet.’

‘I thought the rebels were too risky?’

‘Now that I’ve worked with them, whether or not I take another job, I’ll be linked to them. Best if I can take money from it too.’

‘Uh-huh…keep telling yourself that.’

The voice in Roth’s head was so smug, he wished Jeff would materialize physically so he could bash the blind man’s face.

‘Even I know you’re a good guy deep down,’ Jeff added. ‘And I have it on good authority. After all, I know what’s in your head as much as you know what’s in mine.’

‘You do know that could just be you mixing yourself with me.’

‘Hmmm…maybe you have a point there. But that’s awesome, isn’t it? Combined, we could be the hero of this city!’

‘Go away!’

‘Oh, I’m sure you’d like that.’ Jeff said, and in Roth’s silence, he added. ‘Maybe that’s why I died and got here. I have to turn you into a hero.’

Roth paled. A hero. That was the worst thing he could be. Heroes died. Heroes always died, because if they didn’t, they became rulers and famous people who would never have peace. No. Being a hero was the worst thing he could be.