Chapter 73: A B rank

Abby opened her mouth. A short breath caught in her throat.

Before she could get a word out, the revolving doors turned. A tall woman in a dark crimson coat stepped out onto the granite landing.

Abby straightened. Her shoulders came back, her chin came up an inch, and the tiredness left her face so fast it looked wiped off. Her hands went into her coat pockets and stayed there.

The security man from the annex came out half a step behind the woman, charcoal suit and slicked-back blond hair, hurrying a little to keep his place at her shoulder.

Celestina Rebecca Ratchford came down the steps without touching the rail. Her blonde hair, streaked with silver, was pinned back in a tight knot the river wind couldn’t move. Her pale, narrow face showed nothing. Her heels clicked on the stone at an even pace, and at the kiosk, the guard dropped his cigarette, ground it out under his boot, and stood with his back flat against the wall until she’d passed.

"Abigail." She said it at normal volume, and it carried over the street traffic anyway. "The car is at the private gate."

Abby stayed where she was. Her eyes went from her mother to Rain and back. "Mother, this is Rain. He..."

"I know who he is."

Celestina still hadn’t looked at her daughter. Her eyes were grey, the same shade as Abby’s, and they settled on Rain and stayed there.

The security man stepped up beside her left shoulder and pointed a finger at Rain’s chest. "Director Ratchford, this is the one I mentioned. The boy from that C-rank video. Unattached independent. F-rank. He’s been sitting in the public annex across the street for over four hours. I advised him to head back to campus, and he told me his train leaves when the Miss Ratchford comes down."

He leaned on "F-rank" when he said it.

Celestina’s nostrils thinned. A crease formed between her pale brows and held for a second before her face went smooth again.

"Mother, he waited because..." Abby started.

"Abigail."

Abby stopped talking.

Celestina’s eyes stayed on Rain. They moved from his hoodie down to his scuffed boots and back up, slow enough that he could follow where they went.

"I am speaking to your..." She let the pause sit. "...acquaintance." She took two steps closer and stopped at the turnstile. "Young man. Red Dragon is a private guild. Our towers are not public parks, and our cadets are not charity projects for anyone hoping to climb a few rungs by standing close to them."

Rain kept his hands in his hoodie pocket and his weight easy. He let her finish.

’She’s strict,’ he thought. ’She runs a whole department, she just sat through four hours same as Abby, and some stranger’s hanging around her gate next to her kid. Of course she’s protective. She doesn’t know me.’

"Yes, ma’am," Rain said, with a small nod. "Understood."

The corner of her mouth pulled down. "You understand nothing. An F-rank standing at the gate of a Red Dragon tower is an embarrassment. Abigail has a career ahead of her. It requires focus, the right connections, and nothing whatsoever from the lower wards."

She turned her head a few degrees toward Abby. Abby’s hands were fists inside her coat pockets, the fabric pulled tight over her knuckles.

"The car," Celestina said.

Abby held still for three seconds. Her jaw worked. She looked at Rain.

"Go on," Rain said quietly. "It’s late. Get some sleep."

Abby let out a long breath that shook at the end, gave him one short nod, and walked toward a black sedan idling at the side gate. She slid into the back seat. Through the tinted window, Rain saw her turn her head and look at him. Then the door shut and the car pulled out into traffic.

Celestina was already heading back up the steps. The security man trotted after her and caught the revolving door before she reached it.

"Thank you for your time, ma’am," Rain called after her.

She went through the door without turning around.

Rain stood at the gate a moment longer, then started back toward the station.

---

The train back toward the campus district was nearly empty. Rain took a seat by the back window and watched concrete rail supports flick past in the dark.

His phone buzzed.

**Abby:** I’m so sorry about her.

**Abby:** Please don’t take any of that personally. She’s like that with everyone.

**Rain:** Nothing to apologize for. She’s your mom, she’s looking out for you. You did good tonight.

The typing dots came and went twice before the next message landed.

**Abby:** About the Channeling lessons. I have to put them on hold.

**Abby:** I need to find people for this run and I don’t even know where to start. Nobody in the guild is going to volunteer. Not for this.

**Abby:** I’m sorry. I really wanted to teach you.

**Rain:** Don’t be sorry. Focus on gathering a team. The mats aren’t going anywhere.

**Abby:** Thank you. Goodnight, Rain.

He locked the phone and rested it on his thigh.

’She has to build a party from nothing,’ he thought. ’No guild help. No assigned team. Just her.’

He thought about his own. Nyra, Theo, Peter, and him. Registered, licensed, and still sitting on zero clears, because every rift worth anything on the exchange board got bid up by crews with more money and longer records. Then there was Peter’s debt to Corwin, still hanging over all of them, and a run that size would pay more than anything they could hope to win on the board.

’She needs a party,’ Rain thought. ’We need a rift.’

He sat up.

He found Nyra’s name in his contacts and called. It rang four times.

"Do you know what time it is?" Nyra said.

"Ten-something?"

"Ten-twenty. Some of us have..."

"I might have a way to get us our first raid," Rain said. "Without bidding on anything."

A pause. He could hear a TV going in the background and a fork scraping a plate.

"How?"

"Can we meet? Tonight. It’s easier in person."

"Rain."

"Twenty minutes. I’ll explain everything."

She let out a long sigh into the phone. "I’m at Dell’s. The all-night place on Fourth, across from the municipal yards. If this turns out to be stupid, you’re paying for my food."

"Deal."

"I’m ordering pie right now."

The line went dead.

Rain got off two stops early and walked the rest of the way into town.

---

Dell’s smelled of grease, fried onions, and coffee that had been sitting on the burner too long. The linoleum was scuffed black around the base of the red vinyl booths, and a neon sign in the front window buzzed and flickered every few seconds.

Nyra was in a booth at the back, her dark hair tied up in a loose knot, a mug of coffee at her elbow and a slice of cherry pie already half gone. She pointed her fork at the seat across from her.

"Talk."

Rain slid in. A waitress came by, and he ordered a coffee. Nyra watched him the whole time, chewing slowly.

"You know Abby?" he asked.

"No."

"Girl from my Krav Maga class. First-year. Abby Ratchford."

Nyra’s fork stopped halfway to her mouth. "Ratchford. As in Red Dragon Ratchford?"

"Her mom’s a director there."

"Oh, perfect." Nyra put the fork down. "Keep going."

"She had a guild review tonight. Her mother and three senior officers going through her whole record." Rain wrapped both hands around the mug when it arrived. "They didn’t bench her, but they gave her a condition. She has to clear a qualifying rift with a party she puts together herself. The guild won’t give her a team."

"So she needs bodies."

"She needs a party. We’re a party."

"We’re a party with zero clears."

"Which is the other half of it," Rain said. "She needs people. We need a rift. We don’t bid on anything, because the run’s already hers."

Nyra leaned back against the vinyl and folded her arms. "Does Red Dragon even let outsiders run a cadet’s qualifier?"

Rain opened his mouth, then closed it. "I don’t know."

"Who assigns the rift? Her guild? The exchange?"

"Probably the guild."

"Probably." She picked the fork back up and pointed it at him. "And what does Red Dragon think when they see four independents attached to a director’s daughter?"

"Her mom’s already seen me."

"What?"

"Long story."

"Rain."

"She wasn’t a fan." Rain added.

Nyra stared at him. Then she pressed her fingers against her eyes and laughed once, without much humor in it. "Of course. Of course she wasn’t."

Rain pulled out his phone and opened his messages.

**Rain:** You still up?

**Abby:** Yes. Can’t sleep.

**Rain:** I might have a way to put a raid party together for you.

Nyra lowered her hand. "Are you texting her right now?"

"Yes."

"While I’m asking you whether this is even legal." Abby said with a disbelieving look on her face.

"I’m asking her if she wants it." Rain said.

"That’s not..." Nyra waved her fork. "That’s the wrong order, Rain."

His phone buzzed against the table. Then again. Then a third time.

**Abby:** What?

**Abby:** What party

**Abby:** Whose party??

**Rain:** Mine.

The phone stayed quiet for a few seconds. Nyra leaned sideways, trying to read the screen upside down. Rain tilted it toward her.

**Abby:** You HAVE a party???

**Abby:** Since WHEN

**Rain:** couple of days. Four of us. Registered independent.

**Abby:** Rain.

**Abby:** Why am I only hearing about this now

**Rain:** You never asked.

**Abby:** I’m going to hit you.

**Abby:** Yes. Whatever you’re thinking, yes. I’ll figure out the guild side.

Rain turned the phone all the way around and slid it across the table. "She’s in."

Nyra read the screen and pushed it back. "Of course she’s in. She’s got nothing to lose. We’re the ones putting our licenses on the line next to a Red Dragon..." She shook her head. "Theo and Peter have to hear this before anybody agrees to anything."

"Tomorrow. First thing."

"First thing." Nyra cut off another piece of pie and pointed the fork at him again. "And say they agree. Say all four of us sign up to babysit a Red Dragon nepo kid through her qualifier. What’s our share?"

Rain opened his mouth. "We’d... work that out."

"You’d work it out."

"With her. Once we..."

"Okay." She set the fork down and picked up her coffee. "Easier question. What rank is this rift even?"

She lifted the mug and took a long sip.

Rain scratched the back of his head and laughed. "Umm... B?"

Nyra choked. Coffee went down wrong, she slapped the table with one hand and pressed the other against her mouth, coughing hard, her eyes wide and watering as she stared at him across the booth.

"B?!"