“We have a lead on Benjamin.”
Water sloshed over the sides of the tub as I pushed myself to stand, stepping out of the bath and wrapping a fluffy towel haphazardly around myself. Still dripping, I hurried out of the bathroom, only to stop short when I saw Violet standing beside West.
“Oh, sorry!” She turned to face the far wall with pink cheeks. “I didn’t know you were in the bath.”
If they’d gotten here thirty minutes ago, I would have been in a much more compromising position than in the bath.
“I’ll just put on some clothes real quick. Not another word until I get back,” I said awkwardly.
“Call Emilia and Lavinia too. They’ll probably want to hear,” West told Mercer.
“On it.”
I vanished back into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. Fresh clothes waited on the counter for me, prepared before I got into the tub. Drying myself off as fast as I could, I put on the comfy evening clothes and went back out into my bedroom.
Lavinia showed up at the exact same time, Emilia in tow. “How did you find Benjamin?” she demanded. “Emilia can’t even find him.”
Violet cleared her throat, raising a hand like she was asking to speak in a classroom. “Um, it was me.”
“How?” Lavinia asked.
“Maybe let’s sit down,” I interrupted. “Before we get too deep into it.”
I was probably the only one whose legs would tremble when Benjamin was mentioned, but Violet looked like she could use a seat too. Going over to the couch, I sat down on it with Violet and Emilia. Conrad hovered behind the couch, a hand on my shoulder, while West and Mercer stood across from it with Lavinia.
“So, how did you manage to find Benjamin?” Emilia asked Violet. “Are you a secret hacker or something?”
Laughing, Violet shook her head. “No. Nothing like that. I just… know some people and asked them for help.”
Mercer cursed. “Are you talking about Cal’s Diner?”
“Yes.”
“Vi, we warned you not to trust those people.”
“I know.” She stared down at her hands. “But they helped me. They help omegas. I wanted to see if they could help Talia too.”
Emilia reached out and grabbed Violet’s hands. “Wait.TheCal’s Diner? The shadowy organization helping omegas and righting wrongs all across Banfield?” Her volume rose with every word, her excitement obvious in her eyes.
“I think so, yeah.”
“You’re so lucky! They’re untouchable. You can’t get on their contact list unless they want you to. I’ve been trying for years with no luck at all.”
I’d never seen Emilia get this excited about anything other than books and computers. “Can you tell me what you know about them?” I asked. “Are they reliable?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they have information on Benji O’Connor,” Emilia said. “Their hacker is about on par with me, skill wise, but the resources they have?” She whistled. “Damn. Immense. I just hack existing cameras to find people. They have their own cameras, planted by skilled operatives so no one knows they’re even there.”
“Why go to all the trouble?” I asked.
“So they can knoweverything.” Emilia was very clearly in awe. “Which they kind of need to if they want to complete their ultimate mission: keeping Banfield omegas safe, and killing alphas and betas who abuse their power.”
West growled. “Wait, are you saying my sister has been making contact with a fucking assassin’s guild?”
Violet avoided eye contact with everyone. I had a feeling she’d already known about that part.
“Calling it an assassin’s guild would be going a bit far,” Emilia said. “They don’t accept any assassin who comes to join, and they only take on contracts if their code says the person to be killed deserves it.”
“Great, an assassin’s guild with a moral code,” he scoffed.
