With a gesture, Silco invited you into another room.

A man sat at a table, bend over small pieces of metal and plastic.

He was so invested in his work that he didn't even notice people watching him. Or he didn't want to pay any attention to them.

Either way, he seemed like a shady guy with questionable work methods.

"Singed.", Silco introduced him. "You asked for a helping hand."

He gave you a push.

Unsure, you stumbled into the room.

Your eyes were glued to his hands.

They worked insanely fast, with these long fingers and slim wrists.

It was easy to tell that this man was chronically underweight, with many more health issues than the bare eye could see.

But he was damn good at what he was doing.

It kind of impressed you to just watch him.

Your attention was caught by the things he was working on.

It looked like a small bottle made of glass, but the bottom and the top were metal made with screws to twist and release pressure.

Bright, violet liquid danced inside this pipe made of glass.

The sight alone was enough to make you swallow hard. It made you feel like whatever this stuff was, you didn't want to get too close to it.

Maybe it was poison.

Or something way worse.

With bated breath, you stepped closer.

"Sir?", you asked and leaned down to get into the corner of his field of vision.

His fingers froze.

A deep breath escaped him.

The dim light made it hard to tell, but he was old, with deep wrinkles running through his face and the corners of his mouth hanging low.

Eyebrows knitted together and a dark shimmer in his eyes, the man moved his head to look you up and down.

Another breath escaped him.

He smelled of chemicals.

"You don't look like someone who would understand my work.", he just said and turned back to ignore you. "Get me another."

Arrogance hit you.

With an annoyed expression on your face, you leaned back and crossed your arms in front of your chest.

"I've seen bigger geniuses work like this.", you replied.

Curiosity lit up inside the man's eyes.

"Is that so?", he asked, slight offence audible in his words. "Then I would like to meet that person."

Goosebumps crawled all over your body.

"He's... not going to be here long anymore.", you said.

One eyebrow of Sevika rose.

She knew that Viktor existed. She had seen him at the Last Drop.

One word from her and you'd be done for. She had warned you that lying would be something idiotic to do when you wanted to work for these men.

With bated breath, you threw a glance over to her.

She just smirked. Not a single word left her lips.

The man, Singed, put his work down and let out a deep, exhausted sigh.

"That genius of yours.", he started with curiosity burning on his tongue. "Why will he leave?"

A silent curse chased through your head.

Now you needed to feed into the lie.

What were you suppose to do?

Tell him the truth?

No, that would have put Viktor into danger. Getting him involved into your business wasn't what you wanted.

So what else was there to tell?

Viktor's father had always said that a good lie had to have a hint of truth in it.

"He's sick.", your tongue said without permission from your brain. "He'll be gone soon. At least that's what I hope. That's why... why he can't work for you. I will have to be enough."

It wasn't a complete lie.

Viktor really was sick, just not dying from it. And you really wished from the bottom of your heart that he'd be gone soon, up in Piltover, working for people with enough money to pay him well.

A little sceptical, Singed eyed you for a moment before lowering his head.

"Very well. This one will do.", he said over his shoulder to Silco. "For now."

A slim smirk appeared on Silco's face.

"We will see about that.", he said and lowered his head to eye you in a strangely intimidating kind of way. "I don't have to tell you that this won't be a job to talk about?"

You swallowed hard.

Only the weight of his gaze on you was enough to make you feel like murder was about to knock on your door.

You didn't like these men.

But their money was something to like a lot.

"My pay...", you dared to ask in a low voice. "How much?"

You had to force yourself to speak calmly, otherwise you feared your words might start to shake.

A hint of fear started to crawl up your throat.

Silco's orange eye met your gaze. It felt so evil, so rotten, like something the Undercity hasn't seen before.

"Of corse we pay.", one of his slim hands reached into his pocket to pull out a bag filled with coins.

With a clang, it hit the ground before your feet.

Small, copper coins fell out. They danced over the tiles, hit the tips of your shoes and fell to the side.

Your own expression greeted you in the reflection of the polished surface.

Slowly, you bend down, reached out and grabbed one single coin to let it dance between your fingers.

The bag wasn't huge. Sure, compared to what you would have made with a few small robberies up in Piltover.

But considering that it served to compensate you for putting your life on the line it seemed only like a small silver lining.

"That's not enough.", all at once, your fingers froze and trapped the coin in a sharp angle.

Warning, Sevika shook her head.

Silco frowned.

"You didn't earn the privilege to be greedy yet.", he bared his teeth.

"I'm not.", you met his gaze. "But I have a high risk of dying for your cause. And for that I need to get payed."

"Get your hands dirty first."

"I'll even get them bloody if you want me to. But not without some money in my hand."

A dark shimmer crossed Silco's face.

"Fine.", he hissed. "Prove me you're worth it and I'm willing to negotiate."