Chapter 28: Socrates

I should be nervous. I've been through so much since this started, know better than to stir up more trouble for us. But in this instant, staring into those flat, dark eyes of a boy who has to look up to meet my gaze, I can't bring myself to feel intimidated.

"You can thank Dauphine," I snap back, sliding out the coin and throwing it at him. "She's the one who sent me here. Thinking you would be able to help me. She told me you were different." She hadn't, but I figure he doesn't know that.

I expect the ego stroke to affect him. No luck. He studies the silver dollar carefully, eyebrows pulling into a frown, more thoughtful than angry.

"She's calling in her favor, I see." Socrates meets my gaze again. "Did she tell you the original promise was never fulfilled? She supplied the information I needed, but not the final product." He tosses the coin back to me. "Without the merchandise she was hired to find, the deal is null and void."