Page 253

“Shut the fuck up, Devlin,” Malakai drawled. “I’ve had enough of your bitching.”

Jewels said, “He’s right, Malakai. I think we’re lost.”

“No, we’re not. I know exactly where we are.”

Blood boiling, Travis hissed, “And where’s that?”

He slowed the boat to a jarring stop. “The Black Market.” He got out and moored the boat along the quay. Gray fog billowed across the black water, the fog so thick it nearly swallowed the boat.

If only it would swallow this asshole too and spare everyone all this goddamn suffering.

Max shoved to his feet. “Am I missing something here?” When Malakai refused to answer, instead whistling an annoyingly cheery tune, Max snapped,“Delaney!”

“What?” Malakai asked, his tone coated with boredom.

“Why the hell are we at theBlack Market?”

“We need more weapons,” he said matter-of-factly. “And what better place to find some than at the Black Market?”

Max ground his teeth. “Okay, and you didn’t consult with any of us,why?”He threw his arms wide in question.

“Because you never listen to me.” He started walking away, sauntering without a care in the world. He looked like a man taking a walk in the park, not a half-destroyed city with a shadow problem. “Be back in a bit.”

“Wait—Malakai!” Jewels protested. Aspen shushed her, her eyes flicking about the pressing darkness. It was darker over here than at the hospital, even with the market being closer to the coast.

The portal was spreading. The air was colder too, his fingers and toes numb, and his breath opaque.

Grumbling, Travis thumped across the boat and jumped out. “I’ll go with him.”Someonehad to go with, and it might as well be him. If this idiot died, Jewels would probably be sad—Travis couldn’t imagine why, though—and after seeing how upset she was at the hospital…

Well, he didn’t want to see that again. So, putting up with her idiot brother was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

Dallas said, “What about the rest of us? Shouldn’t more of us come with?”

“Guard the boat,” Travis said. He was hurrying after Delaney before anyone could argue.

Malakai Delaney couldreallyusesome peace and quiet and a shred of fucking privacy, but noooooooooo, Travis justhadtotag along, didn’t he? He was like a pesky mosquito, buzzing constantly in his ear and sucking the last of the joy out of his gods-forsaken life.

He walked around the empty stands overlooking the deserted fighting ring at the ghost town of a Black Market, searching for the door that chick at the Duchess had told him about. The door with the green light. Of course Devlin trailed behind him like some lost mutt, muttering under his breath about how stupid he was and how he hoped something ate him.

“You’re welcome to go back, Devlin,” Malakai said as he rounded the back of the stands and walked into the glow of mercury vapor. “You’d be doing us both a favor.” He stopped by the door and dug around in his jacket and pants pockets. Now, where was that coin?…

“Wait…,” Travis muttered. He squinted in thought, his skin and clothes washed in a garish lime green. “We’re not goingBelow…are we?”

Malakai pulled out a handful of coins and sifted through them, searching for the single limen coin among the ordinary ones. “Scared?” he asked flatly.

“How thefuckdid you even know about this place?” He pointed at the closed door, moths flitting about the fuzz of green light.

“That chick you guys talked to at the hotel,” Malakai said. “The one who said we have weird eyes.” After they’d told him about her, he’d sought her out in private, slipping away from the group for all of five minutes with the excuse that he had to take a piss, knowing she’d be able to hook him up with some good shit.

He found the limen coin he’d purchased from her and shoved the others into his pocket.

“Hold on just a goddamn minute,” Travis growled as Malakai swiped his hand across the dust caked on the worn door, fingertips groping in search of an engraving. Yup, there wasdefinitely one there. Hellyessssss.“We’re not really here for weapons, are we?”

“It’s not too late to go back,” Malakai warned, stepping back and rolling his tense shoulders. Just a little longer, and he’d be flying high.

“You’re here for drugs,” Travis concluded. His tone was saturated with disgust. “Aren’t you? You want to get high, you fucking junkie!”

“You got a boss who’s a junkie, too. Don’t try acting like I’m special.”