No matter how this ended, it wasn't going to be good for Ace. If the C.I.B. agent won, Ace would be in trouble. He knew all too well how the agency dealt with "accidental witnesses" who stumbled upon the hidden world of curses. Their motto when it came to preserving secrecy was simple: leave no loose ends. Ace would have little choice in this matter.
On the other hand, if the agent lost—or worse, died—it would be a disaster. Even if Ace managed to kill the deranged curse user who wanted to skin him and save himself, it would only land him in the middle of another C.I.B. investigation. And this time, he wasn't sure he'd get lucky like he had with Layla, a rogue agent operating solo without backup.
Ace swallowed hard, his jaw tightening as his mind churned with contingency plans. Every possible scenario led to a dead end. All he could do now was wait and hope for an opening, but deep down, he knew he was walking a tightrope, and one wrong step could unravel everything.
"Astrid, stand down," a sudden feminine voice called out from the direction of the Chrysler. The voice was young but carried a sharp edge. It caused the curse user's smile to freeze and sharply turn to find its source.
From the corner of his frozen vision, Ace managed to make out the source of the voice—a teenage girl with striking gray hair stepping out of the vehicle. His deduction was quick, and so was his confusion.
What puzzled Ace even more was the little amount of chaotic, unrefined curse energy emanating from her. She was clearly a novice, yet she dared to speak to the female curse user with a commanding tone, addressing her by name as if she were her subordinate. That, coupled with her body language—relaxed yet purposeful—made it obvious that the two knew each other.
"Sonia?" Astrid's tone shifted, disbelief flickering across her face. "What are you doing with a C.I.B. agent? Don't tell me she's one of the dogs the Guild Master has on payroll?"
Astrid's eyebrows furrowed as her initial shock morphed into suspicion. Her stance stiffened slightly, the earlier air of confidence now tinged with unease. Though the sight of Sonia Everhart—of all people and here—was unexpected, her faith in the Guild Master was so resolute that she instinctively tried to rationalize the situation. It had to make sense somehow. Was this C.I.B. agent one of the guild's paid assets?
Astrid's gaze darted between Sonia and the agent, trying to piece together what felt like a very misleading situation. Still, the fact that Sonia was here, issuing orders in that commanding tone, was enough to make her hesitate.
"Yes, she is. I'm guessing you already heard," Sonia replied, her tone calm but guarded. She then continued, gesturing subtly toward the middle-aged woman, "She's the one who tipped off my father about the C.I.B. raid on the Weasly Winery. Thanks to her, he and I managed to escape in time—though, unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky. Father sent me with her to lay low in this town until the heat from the C.I.B. on our guild dies down."
Astrid's expression shifted, her brows knitting as she fell into deep contemplation. Her fingers tapped rhythmically against her thigh, a sign of her inner conflict. After a moment, she raised her head and locked eyes with Sonia, her gaze sharp and searching. "Where's the Guildmaster?"
"He's heading to the guild's hideout outside the country," Sonia answered evenly, her voice steady. "He plans to rebuild the guild there while investigating who leaked the operation at the Weasly Winery to the C.I.B. He's expecting all surviving members to join him soon."
Astrid's jaw tightened as she processed the information. Then, narrowing her eyes, she asked, her voice low and dangerous, "And can you trust her?" She shot a glare at the middle-aged C.I.B. agent, her curse energy suddenly surging forth, creating an oppressive pressure that bore down on the agent.
The agent appeared unaffected and remained completely composed, her arms crossed as she smirked with a mocking gaze.
"You know my father. What do you think?" Sonia replied, shrugging slightly as if to say the decision wasn't hers to question. Her body language conveyed compliance, a subtle message that she was simply following her father's arrangements.
Astrid held Sonia's gaze for a moment longer before finally retracting her curse energy. With a slight nod, she muttered, "Fair enough." Then, a faint smirk tugged at her lips as she added, "I'll leave on the next flight. Until then, I plan to enjoy this one."
Without warning, Astrid moved swiftly, appearing beside Ace in an instant. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace and burying his face against her chest.
Ace, still under the curse user's control, could do nothing but endure, his thoughts racing in a mix of confusion, annoyance, and sheer disbelief.
"No, you will leave him alone," the middle-aged C.I.B. agent suddenly interjected, her voice firm and cutting through the tension like a knife. Her piercing gaze shifted between Astrid and Sonia. "We came here to lay low. This is a small town. If a teenager goes missing, it'll make big news and completely undermine my mission to keep her out of the C.I.B.'s radar."
Her stance was clear, her tone brooking no argument.
But the duo acted as though she hadn't spoken at all, her words seemingly holding no weight in their decision-making.
Astrid smirked, tightening her grip on Ace possessively, while Sonia's head tilted slightly as if she had caught a faint scent in the air. She sniffed again, her sharp, calculating eyes narrowing. Slowly, Sonia stepped forward, her movements deliberate and curious.
Stopping beside Ace and Astrid, Sonia leaned in closer to Ace, her gaze scrutinizing as she sniffed him audibly, her nose wrinkling slightly. Astrid's brows furrowed in confusion as she watched the odd display.
Sonia finally straightened, her expression thoughtful, and remarked, "He smells familiar. Where did you pick him up?"
Her words hung in the air, loaded with suspicion, while Ace, trapped in Astrid's grip and still unable to move or speak, felt her scrutiny alarming.