Rex thought about this. He thought about Aurelia as a variable in the landscape of the next few weeks and placed her on the map accordingly: known but unconfirmed, potential threat, Nightwing household, connected to Theo.
"And what about you?" Rex asked. "Where do you fit into this?"
Iris was quiet for a second longer than usual, and then she made a sound that was not quite a laugh but was close.
She said, "I think arranged marriages are institutional violence dressed up as family tradition."
"I think Theo will get through this and be better for it, even if it takes longer than I'd like."
She pushed away from the wall. "I also think you are a lot more complicated than you seem, Rex Rexilion, and that the problems are going to affect many people in this city before they get better."
She looked at him with that special kind of focus for one more second, and then she nodded once, like someone who had just finished a deal.
"Don't be careless," she told Rex.
