Book 3: Chapter 16 - I Solemnly Swear I Won’t Call You Competent

Men in positions of authority are easy to wound.
Especially if they are proud of the fact.

All you need to do is fail to be impressed, and they will never recover.
—Violet Asher

Violet understood why Demetri had been so amusing. He’d hardly had the demeanor of a person facing death. Or, he had. But he’d hidden it incredibly well. Better than anyone Violet had ever met. At least, as far as she knew. There were several people she hadn’t had the chance to observe in the right setting yet. She was willing to bet, however, that both Cyan and Abel would face such circumstances with far more trepidation and at least a little more piss. She certainly hoped they would, at least. She wouldn’t really be satisfied if their deaths weren’t as hopeless and pathetic as possible. The promise of that was the only way she was able to bear their arrogance. 

But as ever, Cyan’s subordinates were also his betters. By design, obviously. Violet realized it the moment Demetri said the word “funny.” It didn’t matter who Violet and Kiera captured. She would have had a similar experience with them regardless. Perhaps not an identical one. But it would have been novel. That was a certainty. These watchers of Cyan’s... he’d hand-picked them not by capability, but by temperament. Specifically to taunt her. 

She wasn’t certain what their precise purpose was. Cyan knew exactly who the Cruel Ivy Killer was. It wasn’t like he needed to investigate her to find out. He might’ve wanted to gather evidence, but he wouldn’t have his employees announce his involvement, in that case. That aside, he obviously had more than enough to ensure she was caught, if that was what he wanted. The fact that he apparently knew exactly who she’d be targeting and why was proof of that. 

There was really only one explanation that made sense.

The fucker was taunting her. 

He was letting her know he knew what she was doing and why. That had only become clearer the longer Demetri spoke. He hadn’t been ordered to record anything, and he was explicitly instructed not to intervene if something happened. His entire job was to observe and report. And not even in real time. He simply needed to contact Cyan if anything happened to Jacob. And he had Cyan’s blessing to tell Violet all of this.

It was possible Demetri was lying, of course. But Violet doubted it. It would’ve been incredible if he even knew to lie to her about that. There had been a laundry list of rumors and allegations against Cyan Asher over the years, of course. So it might have been blaming the boogeyman because he didn’t have a better answer. But hardly anyone actually believed Cyan was guilty of anything. Or if they believed it, they didn’t care. Or if they cared, they wouldn’t admit it. Mostly, Cyan was well-known as one of a handful of Category Violets in the world. Which ultimately meant he made people feel safe, so they held him above reproach.

Well. Most people felt safe. Except the ones who’d made the original allegations, obviously, but Demetri was unlikely to gamble on Violet caring about them. It wouldn’t make a very good lie, at the end of the day. That didn’t mean it wasn’t, of course. But Violet believed him. Cyan was a prick. Of course he would spend insane amounts of money to make sure Violet knew he was one step ahead of her.

She didn’t give a shit. He wasn’t the target of this particular campaign anyway. As much as she wished he was. He could pat himself on the head all he wanted. She would get to him when it was his turn.

For now, she was focused on Headmaster Bouvier.

So she waited in his office as he gave his little press conference. Or whatever word they wanted to use for it. Live TV was a thing of the past, but particularly important news would be recorded and uploaded to the public archives. Bouvier’s little speeches about how innocent he and his students were always made it there eventually. The man was so desperate to protect her that he was getting in her way. He obviously really hated Cyan, if he was putting so much work into this. Or perhaps some part of him understood that he was protecting himself more than her.

Violet wanted the police on campus, and she was getting tired of waiting for them to show up. Bouvier’s interference would have made her murderous if she wasn’t already. But in all fairness, she was planning to kill him when she was done with her current plans. So even if he was doing it out of idiocy, he was unintentionally extending his own life.

A little.

With the letter she’d gotten from Cyan, she was going to need to end this farce sooner rather than later. Especially now that she had Demetri locked in a storage unit. Bouvier was going to be a bit cross with her, but alas. She never had cooperated with authority well.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the disorder of Bouvier’s office as he waited. Somehow, he made all the colors of the visible spectrum look like they didn’t belong together. She wondered why making natural beauty look ugly was a talent reserved for men like Abel.

But the door finally opened, and the future corpse himself shambled in.

“You’re late,” Violet replied. “That’s impolite.” She didn’t look at Bouvier as he made his way to his desk. Instead, she eyed a stack of disorganized papers and files on his desk. The office had always been messy, but the man had really been letting himself go. He must have taken on some sort of stressful project recently. Poor guy.

Abel didn’t answer immediately, instead making his way to his desk and sitting down. He buried his head in one hand and released a nearly theatrical sigh, which put a smile on Violet’s face. She was going to miss him a little after she killed him.

“Violet. We are running out of time, and I need the truth. I’m done with this game. Is it mist or blood that has helped you advance this far?” 

“Blood?” Violet asked. “Abel, sweetie, are you accusing me of something strange again? I thought we talked about this. Whatever you are imagining, I am perfectly innocent.”

Abel Bouvier looked entirely exhausted. Like each half-assed denial was stealing a few years off of his life. “Miss Asher. I am protecting you to the best of my ability. Because I have to. Because what is at stake is bigger than you. It is bigger than me. And it is bigger than... whatever sickness drives you to do what you do. So please. Can we drop the act and just speak openly? So we can both get what we want more quickly?” he begged.

“I don’t know what put these silly ideas in your head,” Violet complained. “It’s not like you blackmailed a teenage girl into stalking me, and she didn’t survive the experience. If that happened, I could understand the suspicion. But that would be more your sin than mine, wouldn’t it? You need to get more sleep and stop imagining things.”

Abel’s second hand joined the first, and they ran down his face in tandem. The exasperated expression didn’t faze Violet at all. She sat with perfect posture, her legs crossed as she waited for him to reply.

“Fine,” he said. “Then I will have to put it to the test myself. I didn’t want to do this, but you are forcing my hand. It’s for the best, anyway. If you aren’t on campus when the police finally start their investigation here, I mean.”

“Your latest interview didn’t go well, huh?” Violet asked. “Did somebody throw tomatoes? Poor baby. Always having to deal with spoiled Nightshades.” 

Bouvier stiffened at that. She’d been all but confessing to him for months now, but only with thinly veiled jokes. It seemed to drive him even more insane. Which, honestly, served him right for wasting her time. “I’m sending you on a mission into the mist. You and one other team. If that is truly what you need to advance, then you will finally reach yellow while you are gone, and I will know for sure.”

That was cute. He wanted Violet to think this was a punishment again. But it only displayed his impotence. It didn’t help that Cyan had given her a job to do while on this very trip. It had obviously already been decided. Abel wouldn’t be able to send a bunch of students on this particular type of mission. Not without filing a lot of paperwork and making a significant case for its necessity. But Bouvier couldn’t be blamed for the attempt. The pathetic man was trying so hard to manipulate her. It was like watching a turtle on its back. She almost wanted to flip the little fella back over and help him walk again. 

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Violet asked. “The good people of Prism are already a bit miffed with you, and you want to send a bunch of teenagers into the hellscape outside the city walls again?”

“This has always been a possible measure, when we are so low on available lancer teams and there is an emergency. I’ve had to use it before. Besides, reporters and police are barred from campus, so they won’t even notice. Not if I only send teams whose families don’t live in the city. And if they do make it on campus, well. They will be preoccupied looking for you,” Abel answered. He almost looked smug about it. This was the most confident expression he’d worn in a while.

He was about to be so bummed.

“Ah. Well, alright, then. Everyone has to do their part, I suppose,” Violet asked. “I leave in a week, right? And this nest we’re going to is pretty far, isn’t it? What other team are you sending with us? Angelo’s, right? So we have a healer. I’m sure Kassie would be better, but her family would be pissed if she were sent, right? Gotta choose a useful but expendable team to avoid backlash. Anyway, I’ve already made several arrangements, but I’ll let the rest of the team know we have to go do some child soldier things. You know. Since I’ve only just now forced your hand into sending us.”

Bouvier’s brief confidence deflated with every word. He was glowering by the time Violet’s chipper response reached the end of her taunt.

“You’re supposed to report to me when you’ve had contact with Cyan. If you are not going to do that, there is little point in this arrangement. Remember, I have not turned you in to the authorities because there is a greater threat than you, and I need your help. That only matters if I am actually getting your help,” Abel rebuked.

“Oh, my bad. I thought it was because a huge part of your evidence against me was the dead child you were blackmailing into committing crimes. I failed to consider your magnanimous intentions,” Violet responded. “Next time I get a letter whose only contents are your own plans, I will alert you to them immediately.”

“You’re testing my patience, Miss Asher,” Abel growled.

“And if I thought you were actually the one in charge, that would really worry me,” Violet replied. She knew he wasn’t, by now. She watched his hand tense and waited for the talent to be used on her. She hated it, but she was prepared. She wanted to know where his breaking point was. 

Yet, as usual, she failed to find it. Once again, he managed to hold himself back despite the rage running down his face like sweat. And once again, she maintained a smile despite pouting internally. “But message received. I suppose it’s possible you didn’t already know Cyan had a spy. In which case, the report would have been useful to you. I’ll try not to overestimate your competence again.”

If she hadn’t been sure before, she was certain now. Abel Bouvier was just a pawn. She could treat him however she wanted. Torment him as much as she liked. And as long as the Society he was working with still found Violet useful, he couldn’t touch her. 

It wouldn’t save him, of course. She was going to kill him. But it did mean she’d need to kill his sponsor quickly afterwards.

“Just get out. I’ll have the details of your assignment prepared in a full briefing on Friday. I’m done with you,” Abel growled.

Violet smiled, stood, brushed her skirt off, and curtsied. “Sure thing!” she agreed. She turned to leave before pausing. “Oh, but just a heads-up. Cyan wants me to kill one of the students you're sending with us. I would never do something so horrible, of course. I’d sooner stab an innocent girl and leave her bleeding in a fountain. But I am supposed to report that sort of thing, right?”

Abel was quiet for a long moment, and his response was a whisper when it came. “Which one?” he asked.

Violet put a finger to her lip as if she didn’t understand why he would ask. “Does it matter? They are all expendable, right? That’s why you chose them? Or is there one you value enough that you’ll cancel the mission?” Abel didn’t answer, simply looking down at his desk and clenching his fists instead. 

“Yeah, I thought that might be the case,” Violet teased.