I swirled the ice in my cup, thinking about all the possible answers. Things that would paint an accurate picture for him, but wouldn’t scare him or piss him off any worse than I probably already had with the whole black-market Skills operation.

“Well, there’re the classics, of course. He does huge trade in black-market blood samples and names. That’s where he got his start.” And those were the common-knowledge kind of things I was legitimately allowed to talk to Ian about.

“Whose names and blood?”

“Everyone’s. Anyone’s. Politicians are big business. Right before a big vote, we typically get an influx of requests from various lobbyists.”

Ian shook his head slowly and set his empty glass at the edge of the table. “I’d heard rumors… So they, what? Bind a congressman to vote a certain way?”

“Or to speak to certain key individuals whose opinions carry sway. Or to mention or avoid certain topics in interviews. Or whatever. There are about a million different ways to wag the dog.”

He started to ask another question, then waited while the waitress set down our fresh drinks and took the empty glasses.

“And Tower just sells these names and blood samples to whoever wants them?” Ian looked horrified. Again.

“Of course not. You can’t even get in to see him unless you have significant cash to flash, or some other resource he values. Usually important names and blood samples, or partial names and locations of potential new recruits.”

Ian sipped from his fresh glass, and I could smell the whiskey from across the table. “Don’t any of them notice that they’re being…compelled to do things? Or not to do things?”

I shrugged, swirling the ice cubes in my glass. “Anyone who knows what a binding is would recognize the symptoms, but if you don’t know who’s bound you and the Binder was strong enough to seal a nonconsensual binding, there isn’t much you can do to fight it, especially considering that resistance pain of just about any kind would keep you out of the big vote, or off the radio, or out of whatever spotlight you need to be in. So, worst-case scenario, whoever’s being bound won’t be able to push their own agenda, even if they manage to resist pushing yours.” I shrugged and finished my second glass. “And, of course, all transactions are nonrefundable, so Jake’s been paid either way. Win-win.”

“Unless you’re the one being bound.”

“Well, yeah.”

“And your sister’s the one who seals these bindings?”

“Most of them. She’s the best.”

“The best Tower has?” Ian said, looking up from his glass to meet my gaze in the shadows.

“The best I’ve ever seen. The best Tower’s seen, too. That’s why he keeps her so close.”

“So no one else can steal her?”

“Yeah.” But it was more than that. The seals Kenley had put in place were kept in place by her blood and her will. If those stopped flowing—if and when she died—any binding she’d sealed would be broken. Most of Jake’s indentured employees would go free. His deals with local politicians and businessmen would be void. His entire kingdom might very well collapse.

That’s why he kept Kenley close, and under twenty-four-hour armed guard.

But I couldn’t tell Ian that. I couldn’t tell anyone that. Unfortunately those with the most potential to hurt my sister already knew exactly what she was worth.

I shrugged, then motioned for the waitress to bring me a fresh drink.

“Is drunk the goal for the afternoon?” Ian asked.

I glanced at him in surprise. “Is three drinks enough to get you drunk?”

His brows rose. “Lush,” he accused.

“Lightweight,” I returned, and his eyes narrowed.

“I’ll have one more, as well,” he said to the waitress, when she picked up my empty glass. Then he met my gaze again as she left. “Your sister’s not his only Binder, though, is she? Surely he has a fail-safe. A redundancy, in case of system failure?”

I laughed. “Spoken like a systems analyst. And yeah, of course there’s another one.” But the truth was that Jake rarely used him. Barker was in his mid-sixties and already having health issues when Jake started the search for a new Binder seven years ago. In fact, Barker’s failing health was why Jake had started looking. He needed a new Binder in place to start sealing all service oaths—both new enlistments and reenlistment—long before the aging Binder died, and his seals died with him. It hadn’t taken Jake long to realize how powerful Kenley really was, and she quickly became the primary Binder. The single, fragile brick the entire structure rested on.

That was one of the few tactical errors I could point out in Jake’s quest to own the whole city—he depended too much on my sister. He got away with that by signing me—someone who wanted Kenley safe even more than Jake did. I would do anything to protect my sister—unfortunately protecting her also meant protecting Jake’s interests. Which he’d counted on.

“How long has Kenley been working as a Binder?”

“That’s a complicated question. She’s been getting paid—” and locked away from the world “—for six and a half years. But she’s been binding since she was ten.”

“Ten?” Ian’s eyes widened and his mouth opened a little in surprise.

“Yup. In fact, I was part of the very first binding she sealed. It was an accident.”