Chapter 10 · Pretty Comes With a Price

The door locks behind me with a click that sounds expensive. Lila doesn't look up from the ledger spread across her desk. She's got that Core Zone posture—spine straight, fingers relaxed, like she's never had to wonder if someone's going to hit her from behind.

"Sit." She taps a chair with one lacquered nail.

I don't sit. The room smells like leather and something floral I can't name. Probably costs more than a month's rations in the Outer Ring. There's no window. The walls are soundproofed panels, the kind that swallow screams.

Lila finally looks up. Her smile doesn't reach her eyes. "You walked into the east gate last night. Alone. Either you're stupid, or you wanted to see who'd come for you."

"Maybe I got lost."

"Don't." She closes the ledger. "I've brokered deals for girls who tried playing dumb. They're all in the Outer Ring now, or dead. You're not stupid, Ivy. That's the problem."

I stay by the door. My hand's close to the handle, but I already checked—it's locked from her side. Lila leans back in her chair and opens a drawer.