Silence hung in the air as Nina stepped into Svanda’s shadow. It wasn’t far enough to block her view of the smirk underneath Saela’s hood, but the physical presence between them was comforting enough. Had they been caught? Not necessarily. Saela was also outside after all, although that wasn’t exactly a surprise. She had her reasons, as inappropriate as they were, but Nina didn’t think that a similar excuse would be enough to sweep their appearance under the carpet.

“Something tells me that Reina would also love to hear about you being out here, drunk in the quarantine zone at such a time,” Svanda replied after taking a nonchalant glance at the empty bottle by Saela’s feet. “There’s nothing wrong with being outside. If anyone here is in the wrong, it’s you.”

Nina felt a tinge of relief at Svanda’s response, although it quickly evaporated as a crisp chuckle escaped from Saela’s lips. The laughter seemed to echo down the dark and deserted street, and the subsequently eerie atmosphere reminded Nina that their escape wouldn’t be so straightforward. Saela may have been a loose cannon at times, but she wasn’t stupid. ‘Fresh air’ wasn’t about to cut it as an explanation, and unless Svanda had a more convincing pitch up her sleeve, there would be very little that they could do to prevent Saela from raising the alarm.

As though their situation wasn’t bad enough already, the car that Svanda had organized appeared from around the corner. Headlights illuminated the darker patches of the street where the lighting didn’t reach, and the trio watched in an awkward silence as the sleek black vehicle glided towards them. This time, even Svanda was lost for words. The fact that the car had stopped right before them was all the evidence needed to prove that they weren’t simply out for a walk. Turning back to Saela, the pair saw that she had now pushed back her hood. A raised eyebrow and an even larger smirk were all that they were met with, but all three of them knew that words weren’t required. This was disobedience, and Saela wouldn’t even need two guesses to nail exactly what it was about.

“Oh, it just gets better,” she finally said to break the silence, her eyes darting back and forth between Svanda, Nina, and the car beside them. They were fully armed too, if everything else wasn’t convincing enough, and Nina realized that panic was slowly building up inside of her. Not only had they been caught in the act before they could take a single step towards their goal, she had also thrown her relationship with Reina in the trash for it. A dismal defeat considering what she had put on the line, and the fact that Svanda had dragged her into it further soured her mood. For a brief moment, she wondered how things would have been if she’d simply said no. Svanda might have been annoyed for a while, but at least she would have been able to fall back on the excuse that she was simply doing her job. Hindsight, however, was useless now, and no amount of apologizing would be able to paper over the cracks that would form between her and her superior.

“Get in the car,” Svanda said, keeping her eyes on Saela while motioning to Nina with her hand. Nina glanced at the waving hand for a moment before numbly processing the instruction. Were they really about to be so flagrant?

“Where are you going?” Saela asked, her eyes moving from Svanda to Nina.

“Out,” Svanda replied in a cold tone, taking a glance behind her to see that Nina remained rooted to the pavement. A tinge of frustration crossed her face, although it was quickly hidden as she stepped towards the car before opening the door. Internal lights flicked on in response, and the three stared at the plush cream interior for a moment before the tension enveloped them once more. Facing herself squarely in Saela’s direction once more, Svanda reached back to place a hand on Nina’s shoulder before giving her a small nod.

“Everything’s fine,” she said, patting her twice before motioning once more towards the door. “Remember, they can’t follow us once we’re out.”

Nina nodded in response, considering her options as she did. Regardless of whether she left or stayed, she had already landed herself in hot water with Reina and the realization nudged her in the direction of flight. If the cat was already out of the bag, all that was left was to see what kind of value she could get out of her admittedly poor decision. As for Reina’s reaction, she would only find out if she was forgiven, fined, or fired once they returned, and for that reason she needed to produce results. Pushing the future implications to the back of her mind, she stepped towards the open car door before taking a glimpse at Saela, her glance met with a mix of amusement and contemplation.

Rucille was now her priority.

“Stop.”

Nina paused with her hand on top of the car’s roof, her head turning in Saela’s direction to see that she now stood with her arms folded. A sour expression had appeared across her face, and Nina wondered if it was because Svanda had treated her presence with such disregard. It was hard, Nina admitted, to look past the drunken girl with a hood to see the backing which stood behind her. If that mattered now or not, however, Nina didn’t know. Saela was a loyalist, sure, but Svanda’s earlier comment had reminded everyone that it was in fact them that held the upper hand. Saela, quite frankly, had no cards to play. By the time she reported anything to Reina it would be too late to stop them, and she didn’t have the means to keep them from leaving either.

After thinking it through, Nina gave her an apologetic smile before placing her foot on the thin carpet which lined the car’s floor, pulling herself inside before Saela had a chance to continue. It wasn’t her problem if Saela was held responsible for letting them escape, and she wouldn’t be staying around to find out if she was either.

“I’m coming with you.”

Nina almost tripped over the seat when Saela’s comment reached her ears, the surprised cough from Svanda outside showing that she felt the same way. Nina had just been thinking that Saela was without any cards left to play, but in reality, the thought was wrong. She did have one, and while it seemed like an unimaginable scenario, she had played it. A joker of sorts perhaps, but a card was a card and Saela’s declaration had now tipped everything upside down.

“You’re drunk, Saela,” Svanda chided. “Go back to the apartment, there’s nothing in this for you.”

“I have my reasons,” Saela replied before withdrawing her small pistol from a pocket. Slinking over towards the open car door which Svanda now blocked with her body, she glanced at the car’s exterior before returning her attention to the obstacle in front of her. “If you try to leave without me, I’ll put a few holes in the bodywork. Won’t look so good when the damage shows up on the detectors, will it?”

Svanda watched as Saela lightly tapped the barrel of the pistol against the smooth black paint, frowning as she weighed up her options. Not only was Saela making life difficult for them, she also had to consider that their absence from the apartment could be discovered at any moment. The agenda that Saela brought with her wasn’t that difficult to work out for the most part, but she also had the ability to become a shackle which would drag them down. Saela was, however, seemingly adamant in her decision, and whether it was intentional or not, her digging in of heels was costing them time that they didn’t have to spare.

Svanda needed to make a decision, and she needed to do it quickly.

“Get in,” she finally said with a sigh, stepping aside to allow Saela to climb inside the car. Her drunkenness was evident enough as she stumbled over the edge of the seating, but eventually she flopped down beside Nina before flashing her a smile. Placing her feet up onto the table which sat in the centre of the interior, she pulled her hood up once more.

“You’re going to the clan, aren’t you?” she asked as Svanda stepped inside the car, watching as the door was closed behind her. “Reina said that there’s no point.”

“As much as she seems to, Reina doesn’t know everything,” Svanda replied as she set their destination, quickly glancing out the window as the car peeled away from the curb. “But you’ll report that to her anyway, won’t you?”

“If I feel the need,” Saela said with a nonchalant shrug, placing her pistol on the seat beside her before easing herself backwards. “Sometimes a leash has its uses.”

Watching the conversation play out with a frown, Nina glanced at Svanda to see that she was met with a shake of the head. She knew that it wasn’t Svanda’s fault, but Saela tagging along was more than they had bargained for and she didn’t know where it would take them. Saela had not only played a joker on them tonight, the rash and unpredictable girl was also a joker herself. The Daerx Clan wasn’t a group of people to be trifled with if anything she had heard was to be believed, yet now they would be bringing a liability straight through the front door with them.

Watching the street lamps glide past from her seat by the window, Nina’s mind receded into her own world. What exactly had she just gotten herself into?