Book 3 Chapter 26: You're Shameless
Dantes sat on a couch next to Diamond, inhaling deeply from one of the smoke filled tubes that extended from the device in the center of the table that he’d been told was a gnomish invention called a hookah. The smoke was rich and flavorful, leaving his mouth feeling a bit like he’d eaten something that made sparks in his mouth. He blew out the smoke into the air, and looked across at the other Fingers.
Fritz was blitzed out of his mind on something or another, and seemed very interested in the texture of the couch he was sitting on. Drake was drumming his fingers against the table in front of him, his thick fingers causing a thumping that sounded almost like footsteps as he looked at the door. Argenta hadn’t arrived yet, but Dantes could see her entering the club through the eyes of a bat hanging on a nearby sign.
She arrived at the lounge shortly after. She didn’t apologize for being late, but sat on the only uncomfortable looking, high-backed chair in the circle and looked at the rest of them.
“I think it’s clear why I called all of you here?” She asked.
“The sickness,” mumbled Fritz exhaling a cloud of smoke from his nose.
She nodded. “It’s weakening the city more and more, we need to be able to fight it.”
Drake shrugged. “I’ve been going out with my men, breaking down doors and forcing those with a cough back to work to keep profits up.”
“Seems like a good way to spread the disease,” said Dantes with an eyebrow raised. He'd had a part in smuggling a few people into and out of the city, but
Drake shrugged. “I’m sending the boys that are already sick, and they’re putting them in the factories and workshops where everyone’s already sick. They need to get paid, it would be cruel to their families if they didn’t work. If it kills them, then their families will have the benefit of them earning a bit more coin before they went.”