Nathan grimaced as though he hated being cast in the peacekeeper role. "Listen, Bella hasn't been able to contact anyone. I've been out of the Movement for two years, so I don't know anyone's number or location anymore. You might be able to track somebody down, but even if you do, how are we going to find the Oracle? We've got documented evidence that this approach works. Why not try it before we declare ourselves royally screwed?"

"Max, you were still in the Movement. You have to have the company directory or something, right?" I hoped he did. I didn't like the looks of those chicken bones any more than he did.

Max shook his head. "It was Movement policy never to reveal the identities of their assassins, even to other assassins."

"Any assassins who knew each other, like Max and me, chose to contact one another outside of the Movement." Nathan glanced briefly at Max. "Sometimes I wonder why I chose to contact him."

"It was a policy that applied only to vampires," Bella added. "The werewolves involved in the Movement were all from the same pack. You would consider that family, or extended family. We have a code of honor, and our own consequences if we should break it. But the vampires…imagine if one vampire knew how to find all of the assassins? And then they found themselves in the company of a creature like the Soul Eater?"

"So, they kept your locations, and to some extent, your identities, secret so the information couldn't be tortured out of you?" I looked to Nathan for confirmation.

"Or sold to the highest bidder." He gestured to Max. "Max and I became acquainted when we were given an assignment together. But if we hadn't both agreed that it would be handy to know another assassin nearby—or relatively nearby—we might not have exchanged contact information and stayed in touch."

"But what about the meeting? You had a dozen Movement assassins in your bookshop." I shuddered at the thought of some of them coming after us as we'd been living peacefully in the apartment upstairs.

"That was a strike team Rachel personally assembled. They already knew who I was and where I could be found. And I trusted them all for a reason." Nathan put a reassuring hand on my knee.

"Nathan was never quite as secretive as some of us." The way Max spoke the words implied he thought Nathan was an idiot for trusting anyone. "I do have a blood donor who's pretty active in the city. I might be able to get some contacts out of him."