The next day, Dante decided to show Anna the "New Rules" in person. He drove her himself—no chauffeur, no motorcade—to the North Slums, the area where Anna had spent her childhood.
The last time she had been here, the streets were a war zone. Gangs fought over street corners, and the smell of rot and old oil was overwhelming.
Now, the streets were strangely clean. The gangs were gone—or rather, they were wearing Vane-issued armbands and standing at the entrances of the alleyways like disciplined soldiers.
Dante stopped the car in front of a local market. A group of young men, former street-thugs who used to shake down the shopkeepers, were instead unloading a truck of fresh produce. They stopped when they saw the car. They didn't run. They stood at attention.
