First Meeting VII
"Tell. Me." The Grim growled.
Lyvia didn't dare so much as glance at Deserea. This was definitely a moment where a subtle touch of emotional allomancy was needed. In truth, Lyvia would have preferred a soother in this situation as she looked into the Mistborn's wild eyes, but hopefully rioting the man's curiosity and sense of honor would be enough, or whatever it was Deserea could find to pull on to keep him in check.
Lyvia met his gaze and spoke calmly.
"It would hardly be prudent of me to tell you right now, as I rather think you would go running off after him this very moment. As it happens, I don't know where he is. That's one of the pieces of intel I intend to find from Anders. And before you think about going after Anders," she said hurriedly, as The Grim span towards the window, "He doesn't know where Ives is either, and the only location you know currently is 'an abandoned workshop in the Sootwarrens,' which is both impossibly vague if you know anything about the number of abandoned buildings in that area of the city, and also probably not where Anders is right now anyway."
The Grim stood, his shoulders heaving with heavy breaths.
"You are talking in riddles! Just tell me where I need to go!"
"Where you need to go is to the meeting with us, as our secret bodyguard, tomorrow night as we discussed. So may I suggest that you sit down or at least lean back against your wall so we can discuss matters? Otherwise you can fly out into the night to either search every abandoned workshop in quarter of the city or crack heads or whatever it is you do to try and find Anders."
The Grim still didn't turn round.
"Forget being a bodyguard, just send me to the meeting, I'll get him to talk."
"As I said, Anders doesn't know where Ives is, and you don't know the right questions to ask, nor do you have the necessary intel to turn what Anders knows into a lead on Ives. Believe me, if you want to find Ives, you want me to be the one who talks to Anders."
The Grim strode back over to the wall and fell against it heavily in a sullen posture. He doesn't like working this way, but he's beginning to see that it's his best option, thought Lyvia.
"I do this job," he said distastefully. "And I get paid by you telling me where Ives is?"
"Almost," Lyvia admitted. "If you assist us with this operation… and two other minor contracts, we'll have the intel needed not to say where Ives is, but where he will be. So quiet any concerns you have about needing to act with haste lest he flee from his current location. You won't need to chase him, you will be able to lie in wait for him to come to you."
And hopefully by then we'll have either learned more about what you're after to help us find more secrets to pay you with, or you'll have recognised the value we can offer in your search, Lyvia thought to herself.
The Grim was mulling the offer over. He obviously didn't like the way things were escalating, with talk of other contracts. They hadn't even discussed what they would involve. But he equally obviously was desperate to find this Ives, and would be willing to take whatever steps were needed.
"Do you know why I'm after this man?" he asked.
Lyvia considered if a bluff would be a wise move. She had some educated guesses, but even pulling together as much as she did had been difficult. The Grim was an enigma. If this had been a singular meeting, she probably would have rolled the dice to see how much she could tease out of him. People are less tight-lipped when they think you already know their secrets. She decided that honesty was a better basis for a long term relationship.
"I don't have a clue why you are looking for Ives, but I would be interested to know. The more you tell me about what you're looking for, the more I may be able to help you…"
The Grim didn't respond. Instead he straightened up and turned to close the windows. Then he pulled up a chair, span it backwards and sat astride it at Lyvia's desk.
Impressive feat to pull off in a mistcloak, Lyvia thought.
"Alright," said The Grim. "I'm in. Let's talk about this plan…"