“Buy me some time?” Transfer complete. Zorch’s entire face lights up with glee.

“You just did.”

A minute later, I’m inside. Without a security badge, someone will spot me at any minute. But it doesn’t matter. This time, I'm getting the answers I came for. I barge right in to find Lyrenne dressed in street clothes with a bag in her hand. The bruises on her arms tell me she’s not sticking around for long.

“You,” she says with disgust. “What the fuck do you want now?”

“Looking for you, Lyrenne.” The sound of her name on my lips makes her shoulders drop.

“I take it you found Myra.”

“I did, no thanks to you.”

“I didn’t say shit.”

“Exactly, Lyrenne.” Stepping closer, my seven-foot frame creates a shadow over her face. Still, she doesn’t budge. She’s back to packing, shoving things frantically in the bag. She’s not scared of me, butsomethinghas her on the move.

“You’re off in a hurry,” I say, grabbing her wrist. She whips back to face me. This time, I can see the panic. She’s terrified, but of who? “What did you do with that comm, Lyrenne?”

“How do you –” She stops. “I don’t have time for this. He’s coming for me.”

“Who is? Brev?”

“No, you stupid fuck.” She is off to the bathroom, carelessly throwing bottles in the bag.

This is my last chance to get what I need from her, so like an instinct, I rip the bag from her fingers and grab her by the shoulders. Face to face, she can decide for herself if I’m a threat or not.

“Tell me!”

“Vorra’s coming for me! I have to go!”

“What’s he want with you? And what does it have to do with Myra?”

“Okay, fine!” Out of options, she starts talking, her eyes full of terror, “ I took the comm from Boris’s room that same night Myra hooked up with you.”

“I figured, but why?”

“Why do you think?” she says, pushing me backward and grabbing the bag. “To get the fuck out of here! I’m sick of being Brev’s prize whore.”

“So it was you. You set Myra up.”

“Not really, that was Jason. His big mouth blabbed to Brev about Myra being in one of the guest rooms. Brev just put two and two together and got five.”

“And you let him. You could’ve kept Myra out of it!”

“Why would I do that? I took the comm, and Myra ran. I didn’t knowwhyshe ran. When you came looking, I figured it would be better for both of us if she were never found.”

The rage inside me knows no bounds, lit by her callousness towards Myra. I can’t believe it. I take a step closer, unsure of what I’ll do next.

“What happened to the comm-pad? Without it, I can’t undo this mess you’ve made!”

“Vorra has it!” she yelps. “I took it to Vorra, thinking he would buy it off me to save face. Vorra’s the biggest anti-human bigot alive, so I figured evidence of his son with a human would motivate him to pay. I just wanted enough to buy off my contract from Brev. But he didn’t do shit. He just took the comm right off me and treated me like trash. Let his thugs rough me up on the way out. I don’t need to be told that if I stick around, he'll kill me. I’m out of here. Now get out of my way!”

“Not until you tell me what happened to the comm-pad. Does Vorra still have it? Did he destroy it?”

Lyrenne smiles, looking down at her bag. “No, he didn’t destroy it.”

“Then what happened to it?”