Tares City

85. Xylia

ARROW BERLIN

Arrow had never been to Xylia. She'd heard about it, about the type of tourist destination it was, but she'd thought she'd end up there. Especially not in the parts her half-cooked plan led her to.

She was in the outskirts, where criminal activity flourished and was the norm. Groups dictated the land, the building, and even the parking spaces. Turf wars frequent with only but one neutral ground, and even the peace held there was tentative.

Arrow sat in this no-man's-land center, at a bakery that offered chairs for sitting outside. She sat with her legs crossed, back straight, and chin high. She eyed everyone who stared at her, holding her own against locals who wanted to intimate and scope her out.

She was meeting someone here. Throughout the lonely plane ride here Arrow organized with someone who could double as a source of information to her and an ally to walk in with.

Sitting alone in the aircraft, she realized she jumped into her situation with the thought of too much else. She'd told herself she and Nicholas were enough; that they'd be able to handle any firefights...besides, there shouldn't even be much of that. All they were to do was find Vincent and his cure.

But without Nicholas, Arrow realized she needed to secure company. It was a risk, pulling someone in on such a high-stakes, information-sensitive situation, but it had to be done. She didn't have the luxury of running this solo, not when she wanted results now.

Many times her mind went back to Nicholas, what it would be like if he were here; how their mission would go if she'd never let the information slip in the heat of her frustration.

She regretted it deeply, being alone in a foreign territory. But she had no time to waste, now more than ever. Quinn's comm had to have picked up her entire conversation. She and the Kennedy organization knew now that she was turning. They also knew why she wanted Vincent. Everything she'd been keeping under wraps was now exposed to the very people who would use it to bring her down. Her life depended on this cure, in more ways than one.

The Kennedys would be after her now, Quinn undoubtedly leading them. The pressure was on, and now she had no one to stand by her side.

She hated that once again Nicholas was at odds with her. It seemed their alliance with each other never lasted longer than a couple of weeks.

But Arrow told herself she would right the situation once she saved them both. Once she has the cure in her hands, everything will be fine.

"You have grown. Last I saw you in a picture, you did not have this much hair on your head." A male voice says snapping her out of her thoughts. Tilting her head at the large burly man who walked up from behind her, a small smile formed on her lips.

"I don't remember much of how you looked back then, but it seems as if you haven't changed." She replied to him. "Thank you for meeting me."

"Don't thank me yet. We're not sure how much of what you want I can give." He states, grabbing the chair and spinning it around before sitting on it backward; with his legs on either side and arms folded atop the back as he leaned against it. "Sorry to hear about your father, brilliant man."

Arrow nods her head in thanks, a soft sigh escaping her.

"Let's get to business, little one. Tell me your demand and I will see what I can give you. Tell me the truth, I will not send my men into a lie."

~

Arrow told him what he needed to know. She told the truth and only what was necessary. They both knew she held back information, but he didn't need all the details, just the important parts that affected him.