Deep in the Lanes, in the dense, bustling flow of people, Logan carried Jinx on his back. Even with her face buried into his shoulder, just that long blue braid alone made her impossible to miss.
In Zaun's Entresol and other places, maybe people didn't know who Jinx was.
But down in the Sump—especially around the Lanes?
Please. They knew exactly who Jinx was.
Silco kept her hidden well and rarely sent her out to handle jobs, but her reputation was no weaker than Sevika's—if anything, it was even worse.
Sevika was ruthless. If a deal couldn't be settled, she'd throw hands. Over the years, plenty of dock gang bosses and Sump merchants had died by her hands.
But compared to Jinx?
Not even close.
Because this little menace was the type who could finish a deal, then kill you anyway because some tiny thing annoyed her.
A madwoman was scarier than a brute, because you never knew what she was thinking.
And then there was how much Silco doted on her. Everyone in the Lanes knew how spoiled she was. People who lived here had watched it with their own eyes outside Forgen Tavern—Jinx pointing at Sevika's face and cussing her out, while Sevika shook with rage and still didn't dare swing back.
So now, seeing her asleep on the back of some black-haired young man…
The shock on these people's faces was something else.
"Am I seeing things? Is that Jinx?"
"It's her. Hair can be faked, but that body and that vibe? No way."
"How the hell did he pull that off?"
Logan ignored the stares around him. One hand supported Jinx's soft, rounded hips as he walked toward territory that used to belong to Finn.
He didn't need to hide Jinx from the Sump's eyes anymore.
He had the strength now.
And Silco had handed that turf to Logan as well, expanding the Spirit Blossom Gang's power.
Once the Firelights merged in, the Spirit Blossom Gang plus the Firelights—
Logan would become the second-largest force in Zaun, right beneath Silco.
Chem-Barons?
Please.
Just a bunch of trash who hired a few dozen thugs, opened a factory, and started calling themselves kings.
As for why Silco gave the turf to Logan, it was simple. Sevika might have been the one who killed Finn, but Silco didn't intend to take Finn's territory for himself—not only because of what he'd agreed to with Logan, about strengthening the Spirit Blossom Gang, but also because of "public opinion."
Yeah. Public opinion.
Chem-Barons or ordinary people in the Sump—once they knew what happened that day, once they knew Finn didn't attend yesterday's Baron meeting, they'd all guess that Finn's death had Silco's hand behind it.
But Silco wouldn't admit it.
And if he didn't admit it, who the hell would dare run their mouth and claim it was him?
Unless Finn rose from the dead and pointed at Silco himself, guiding the crowd, no one was going to stick their neck out and accuse Silco at a time like this.
And besides—Finn's turf didn't even go to Silco.
It went to some newly rising gang. The Spirit Blossom Gang—what kind of name was that?
Right now the word on the street was that Finn got killed by this gang, some violent clash between a Baron and a crew. But everyone understood the truth:
This "Spirit Blossom Gang" had a connection with Silco that nobody could really explain.
"Mmm…"
Jinx yawned and pushed herself upright. From draped over Logan, she shifted into sitting astride his back, one hand braced on his shoulder while the other rubbed her eyes.
"How long was I out? Are we going back now?"
"You slept for almost two hours," Logan said with a smile when he heard her groggy voice. "How do you feel?"
Jinx stretched her arms and legs like a cat, a long, lazy full-body stretch. Her braid dangled all the way down near Logan's ankles, just barely not touching the ground.
She nodded. "Pretty good. But I feel like someone pinched my nose while I was asleep. So annoying."
"…That's because you were sleeping facedown on the couch. Your face was buried in it—of course you couldn't breathe."
"Oh!" Jinx blinked, surprised. "Is that what it was?"
"Yup."
"Where are we going?" Jinx looked around. Whenever she caught someone staring at her and Logan, she'd glare back. Anyone who got hit by that stare immediately looked away—no one wanted to meet the eyes of Zaun's crazy little demon.
"We're going to the new turf we just set up. Vi and the others are already there. Ekko's there too—he's waiting for me," Logan answered.
That morning, Zeri had helped deliver Ekko's response—he agreed to bring the Firelights into the Spirit Blossom Gang.
Thinking about it, Logan adjusted his grip, lifting the hand supporting Jinx's hips a little higher. Since Jinx hadn't asked to get down and walk, Logan certainly wasn't going to volunteer it.
Besides, she wasn't heavy. A girl around a hundred pounds was nothing for him.
And there was another reason.
Being close to Jinx, there was a smell on her that Logan really liked—laundry powder, machine oil, and something he couldn't describe, a faint milky sweetness.
All of it together should've been weird.
But somehow, Logan liked it.
Was it because the person it belonged to was Jinx?
He didn't know.
All he knew was that the scent made him feel at ease.
"Logan… I hate Ekko."
Suddenly, she wrapped both arms around Logan's neck. She leaned her head against his, voice muffled and low.
"Why?"
"Because he hates me too. If he hates me, then I hate him," Jinx said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He thinks I changed—changed into something wrong—and he keeps messing with me."
"When I saw him the first time, I didn't even recognize it was him. If I'd known, I wouldn't have gone after him. We used to play together all the time when we were kids. I'm not that crazy, Logan."
"He recognized me, but he still wouldn't acknowledge me. Just because I'm with Silco now?" Jinx's voice turned angry.
"Vi, Ekko… they're all the same. They always say they like me, they care about me, but the moment they found out I was with Silco, they started being scared of me. They started hating me."
"But they could've just tried to talk me into leaving him," she said, and the anger drained into something smaller. "They could've."
This meeting with Silco—this was the first time Jinx had seen him since leaving, a full month. Before that, she'd never been away from Silco for so long.
Did she miss him?
Yeah.
Did she understand what happened between Silco and Vi and Ekko?
She did.
Jinx wasn't stupid. She could feel who treated her well and who didn't.
Even as a kid, she'd been sharp.
She knew Silco killed Vander—no… not just Silco.
Me.
Silco and I killed Vander together.
But Vi abandoned me, and then Silco came to me, and I… what was I supposed to do?
Vi leaving shattered her mind. The instinct to survive made her lunge toward the nearest adult, desperate for protection.
I… I just wanted to live.
Back then, Powder didn't understand all those reasons and rules.
But in the end… she really had been the one to make mistakes first.
Thinking of that, Jinx's mood sank again, that familiar low-pressure heaviness creeping in.
Logan could feel it clearly—
Because the Emotion Value was skyrocketing like crazy.
"So do you think it's Ekko and Vi's fault?" Logan asked after a moment.
Jinx suddenly opened her mouth and bit lightly at Logan's neck.
Then she flicked her tongue out and licked the spot twice.
The wet, soft sensation made Logan shudder—an electric, hard-to-name thrill shooting straight up his spine.
He pulled one hand off her hips and covered the place she'd licked. It was warm… and a little damp.
When he turned his head, Jinx was staring at him with a troubled expression.
Both hands gripped his shoulders to steady herself. That worried little face looked ridiculously cute.
Logan looked at her and realized she'd become more normal. It had been a while since he'd seen her truly spiral.
But that wasn't strange. Now she had Isha, Vi, and Logan—everyone she cared about was beside her. Of course her emotions would stabilize.
"You're bullying me," Jinx said.
"I'm just asking," Logan said flatly.
"I know," Jinx admitted. "I know I did a lot of things wrong. It isn't their fault, but… I just want them to tolerate me like before. To protect me like before."
"But they changed!"
She blinked those bright blue eyes and continued, "They keep saying I changed. Bullshit. They're the ones who changed!"
"If they could just tolerate me and protect me like before, I'd be the same little tagalong I used to be. I'd follow them, listen to them."
"But you saw it. They're scared of me. Especially Vi."
"She says she loves me. She says she stayed in the Spirit Blossom Gang for me. She says she'll protect me."
"But last time I went to see her in secret—I stood by her bed and watched her sleep—when she woke up and saw me, she freaked out."
"Oh my god, she shrank into the corner of the bed," Jinx wailed, grabbing the hair at her forehead and shaking it like she was shaking the thought itself. "Am I ugly or something? I'm pretty! I'm so pretty!"
Then she blurted out, "Logan—am I the prettiest?"
"Yes," Logan answered, completely serious.
He'd seen Jinx with her hair down and wild, seen her asleep, seen her quiet with no exaggerated expression—just Jinx, still and present.
And Logan could say it without hesitation:
She really was the prettiest girl in Zaun.
Especially when her blue hair was messy and loose, and she sat there half-asleep, blankly staring…
Logan couldn't even describe her properly.
Cold. Fragile. Melancholy.
Maybe those were the closest words.
"I still don't want to see Ekko."
"That's fine," Logan said. "If you don't want to, then we won't."
"But aren't you supposed to talk to him about something important? Aren't you trying to bring the Firelights in?" Jinx blinked.
"It's fine. There'll be other chances," Logan said, then changed direction, no longer heading toward Finn's old turf.
Instead, he turned toward the Spirit Blossom Gang's place.
Jinx suddenly flopped forward onto Logan's back, her small chin pressing on top of his head as she said, "Silco isn't that bad. No—he's bad, he's super bad, a huge villain. He's killed a lot of people."
"But Logan… he really is good to me."
"I'm not stupid. I can tell who's good to me and who's not."
"He really did raise you like a daughter," Logan said. "Don't worry, Jinx. Silco won't be our enemy. He'll be fine."
"I wasn't thinking that far," Jinx muttered.
Logan carried Jinx, step by step, back toward the Spirit Blossom Gang.
Jinx lay against him, her face pressed into the hollow of Logan's shoulder.
Then she moved—just a little—rubbing her forehead against his shoulder like a cat.
"You're different…"
"What?" Logan asked. He caught the sound immediately—his hearing was that good.
But Jinx didn't answer. She just kept nuzzling his shoulder.
You're different.
Really.
Logan…
They all just want Powder back.
They all hate Jinx.
Silco likes Jinx, but he hates weak, useless Powder.
But—
You're different.
You only want me.
Jinx lifted her head, eyes narrowed, and hugged Logan tighter—like she was afraid letting go would make him vanish.