“What are you doing here?” Maphira asked, boiling rage seeping to the edges of her skin.
Her sister. Here. Now. This couldn’t be happening.
Rylee’s insufferable grin only grew at Maphira’s obvious dismay. She knew what a disgrace to the family she was – knew that ever since she left the police force, their father’s health had only gotten worse. Had she ever come back to let them know she was safe? Ever sent a message? No, of course not, because all Rylee cared about was herself and her leather jackets and custom boots.
“You’re not the only one interested in stopping the Mechanists, Mai.” Rylee slapped Maphira on the shoulder, leaving dirty sewer water all over her borrowed plumbing uniform. “I caught wind of the Conclave’s plans down in Hobart and decided to come and see what this solar power plan of theirs is all about. Told the locals I was there to do some boundary trap replacement for Melbourne homes and made my way into the sewers. Pure coincidence that we’ve bumped into each other, though.”
Maphira huffed out an exaggerated breath. “Coincidence or not, I’m not sorry to say this is where we part ways. I have a task force to get back to. There’s no point in telling you that you can’t be here, because you always just do whatever you want, but I can tell you to stay out of my way. I won’t let you ruin this for me.”
Despite Maphira turning and pacing away, Rylee’s footsteps followed behind her. “Nice outfit. Didn’t realise you’d quit the force. Here to clear out the blocked drains around Thornbury? I hear they get pretty bad this time of year.”
Whirling on her sister, Maphira kept her fist clenched, fighting the irresistible urge to slam it into Rylee’s face. “Would you just leave? You’re going to ruin this entire mission and the Mechanists will get away. Is that what you want?”
Rylee came to a stop and narrowed her eyes. “Oh, I get it. Fine. Good luck getting past the security without the codes I found.”
Maphira gritted her teeth. “I’ll take my chances.”