Chapter 4: The Delivery
Marrow didn't explain the job like a villain.
He explained it like a man who hated surprises.
"Take this," he said, tapping the sealed envelope once, "to a woman named Varrik Sain."
Kairo blinked. "Varrik is a woman's name?"
Marrow's eyes were flat. "In the Veil, names are tools. Don't get cute."
Selene's gaze sharpened. "Where."
Marrow slid a scrap of paper across the counter. An address, and beneath it: a time window.
Midnight to 12:20.
Kairo stared at the numbers. "That's specific."
Marrow nodded once. "Because she's specific."
Kairo's skin crawled faintly. The static under his ribs tightened, warning.
Selene leaned in. "What's in the envelope."
Marrow's mouth curved. "Not your business."
Kairo didn't like that answer. But he understood the rule behind it: less knowledge, fewer leaks.
"Who's hunting us," Kairo asked.
Marrow shrugged. "Maybe nobody. Maybe everyone. You're new. New lights attract insects."
Selene's voice went low. "You said 'real hunters' earlier."
Marrow finally looked directly at Kairo again. "The ones who collect gifts. The ones who turn people into equipment. They don't like guide-types, because guide-types make groups."
Kairo's jaw tightened. "Groups survive."
Marrow's expression didn't change. "Exactly."
He pushed the Veil-damp wrap toward Kairo. "Wear that. Keep your leakage down."
Kairo picked it up. It felt like normal cloth in his fingers, but his skin read it differently. Quiet. Heavy. Like putting a blanket over a ringing bell.
"How do we get paid," Selene asked.
Marrow leaned back. "If you deliver clean, you get a Wrought tool each. You also get one answer."
Kairo's eyes narrowed. "One answer about what."
Marrow's mouth twitched. "Anything you're brave enough to ask."
Selene looked at Kairo, eyes flickering. That was worth more than money.
Kairo tucked the envelope inside his jacket and wrapped the damp cloth around his forearm like a bandage.
"Midnight," Kairo said.
Marrow nodded once. "Leave now. Get there early. Don't loiter."
He paused, then added like a man annoyed with his own conscience, "And if you feel the static spike, don't fight it. Use it. Guides who panic become corpses."
Kairo didn't thank him.
He simply turned and left with Selene, back through the corridor, out into the ordinary street where the Veil world pretended not to exist.
Outside, Selene kept her voice low. "He's using you."
Kairo's gaze scanned the corners. "Yes."
Selene frowned. "And you're okay with that?"
Kairo's mouth barely moved. "I'm okay with surviving."
They walked for a while, sticking to streets with enough light to discourage casual violence. Kairo didn't know the city well, but the static gave him tiny nudges. Not full paths, but little corrections.
Avoid that alley.
Cross now.
Don't look at that window.
It was exhausting. Like holding a compass in a storm.
Selene noticed his breathing changing. "It hurts."
Kairo blinked. "What."
"The thing you do," Selene said. "It hurts you."
Kairo didn't answer. He didn't want to give his weakness a shape.
Selene's voice softened anyway. "My brother said Veil gifts always charge interest."
Kairo glanced at her. "He knew a lot."
Selene's jaw tightened. "He knew enough to die for it."
They reached an abandoned parking structure with a view of the address Marrow had given them: an old building with a ground-floor clinic sign that looked closed, but the lights behind the curtains weren't.
Selene crouched behind a low wall. "That place?"
Kairo nodded. The static under his skin tightened toward it like a needle finding north.
He whispered, barely moving his lips. "North."
Nothing dramatic happened. No star. No ribbon.
Just a faint sense of timing.
Wait.
Not yet.
Now.
Selene watched him. "You're doing it."
Kairo exhaled slowly. "Quietly."
They moved, not like thieves, but like people with business who didn't want to be noticed. It was almost more unsettling than sneaking.
At 11:58, they reached the clinic door.
A small bell hung above it, but it didn't ring when they stepped under.
Kairo's skin prickled.
Selene's hand hovered near her pocket like she wished she had a knife.
Kairo knocked once.
A slot in the door slid open.
An eye looked out. Sharp. Old.
A woman's voice, calm as a blade. "Name."
Kairo kept his voice steady. "Delivery for Varrik Sain."
The eye blinked once.
Then the slot shut.
Locks clicked in a sequence too smooth to be cheap.
The door opened.
A woman stood there with silver hair pulled back tight, her posture straight, her gaze flat. She looked like a doctor until you noticed her hands.
Not soft hands.
Hands that had held tools meant for people.
"You're early," Varrik said.
Kairo swallowed. "We were told to be."
Varrik's eyes slid to Selene. "And you brought company."
Selene lifted her chin. "He guides. I follow."
Varrik's mouth twitched faintly, almost a smile. "Honest."
Kairo stepped forward and produced the envelope.
Varrik didn't take it immediately.
She looked at Kairo's forearm wrap. "Wrought damp cloth."
Kairo didn't answer.
Varrik's gaze sharpened. "Who gave you that."
Kairo hesitated.
Then he said, "Marrow."
Varrik's eyes narrowed. Something like irritation crossed her face. "That rat still breathing."
Selene's eyes widened slightly. "You know him."
Varrik's voice stayed calm. "Everyone knows Marrow. The question is who he belongs to this week."
Kairo's stomach tightened.
Varrik finally took the envelope, weighed it in her hand like she could feel secrets through paper, then broke the seal.
She read silently.
Kairo felt the static under his skin spike once, hard.
Warning.
Varrik's eyes lifted, snapping to his face. "Interesting."
Selene tensed. "What."
Varrik didn't answer Selene.
She stared at Kairo like he was a tool she hadn't decided to buy.
"Your gift," Varrik said softly. "It's not just navigation."
Kairo's throat went dry. "It's… not?"
Varrik stepped closer until Kairo could smell antiseptic on her clothes.
"A true guide doesn't only find safe paths," she murmured. "A true guide makes them."
Kairo felt the static tighten, and for a heartbeat, it felt like the world was waiting for him to choose a direction for more than his feet.
Varrik looked over her shoulder toward the dark hall behind her.
Then back to Kairo.
"Come in," she said. "Both of you."
Selene swallowed. "Why."
Varrik's voice was flat. "Because Marrow just handed me a problem."
Kairo's pulse kicked once. "What problem."
Varrik held up the letter.
"It says," she replied, calm, "that someone is looking for a new Pathmaker."
Kairo's blood turned cold.
Varrik's eyes stayed on him.
"And it also says," she added, "they think you're already one."
Astral Pathmaker.