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“The prizes, as agreed upon,” I say flatly. The night’s exhausted me, Dano’s death robbing me of any humor. Volga hands over the prizes to two thorns, who lay them down on the table. The Duke pulls the hoods off the children’s faces and coos to himself.

“My, my, my. The Queen will be pleased. See, I told you, Gorgo. He’s pure quality. Syndicate material.” Gorgo shrugs. “Gorgo here did not think you wer

e up to the task. He thought you would run. Fly to Earth, Mars, but no, I said. A man’s reputation is his life’s work. It is all he has. And you have lived up to yours. That gravWell…” He shudders. “Patent Ephraim ti Horn.”

He looks down at the children, focusing on Pax.

“Hello, little prince.” He bends to inspect the boy more closely. “You may call me dominus.” He rears back and slaps the boy across the face. Volga twitches. A red welt forms on Pax’s cheek. “Weep.” He slaps him again. “Weep.” Pax stares on at him, trying to be brave. “Weep.” The Duke’s voice loses the affected polish bit by bit, till it sounds like an animal inside him is trying to escape. “Weep. Weep. Weep.”

The sight of it disgusts me, but I stay rigidly still, afraid.

“My Duke…” Gorgo says. The Duke looks up at him, murder in his eyes. Gorgo stares back evenly but says nothing more. The Duke slaps Pax again and tears finally leak out of the boy’s eyes. The Duke shudders with pleasure and tucks back the pink locks of hair that have fallen over his eyes. He takes a teardrop on the tip of his finger and licks it off with his eyes closed. “Tastes like justice.”

His men laugh. Volga’s trembling with anger. Poor girl looks like she’s going to lurch forward and strangle the man. I shake my head at her, but her eyes are fixed on the Duke.

The man’s voice softens to a coo as he bends to stroke Pax’s face. “There, there, little prince. Do not weep. Shhh. Consider me an ambassador, welcoming you to the real world. The rest of us have been here for some time. But do not worry. You’ll soon learn the rules.” He turns to his thorns. “Put them in my yacht. No rough play. We mustn’t damage the Queen’s merchandise. She has quite a plan for them.” The men haul the children up and take them away. Volga’s eyes follow them till they disappear into the ship.

“Apologies,” he says, the polish back. “At the root, I am a creature of severe passion.”

“I expect the rest of my payment now,” I say, eyeing the thorns behind me. They’ve crept closer. My voice sounds dead even to my ears.

“Yes. Yes.” He makes a dismissive gesture to a thorn. My datapad vibrates as the funds transfer.

“Thank you,” I say, checking the number. “It’s been a pleasure doing business.”

“That’s it?” the Duke asks, raising his plucked eyebrows. “Am I a payday so summarily dismissed? I thought our fraternity ran deeper. I even saved you a bottle of La Dame Chanceuse. I was hoping we could drink it together.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now. A toast to a success for the ages. A triumph for the little men.”

“It’s been a long night. I’m not thirsty.”

“My darling Ephraim, where did the rogue go? Where is the bluster, the charisma? Dirty deeds deserve sweet reward.” His fingers run along the edge of the bottle. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think your scruples were rankled.”

“You hired a professional,” I say. “If you want a social companion, I suggest you call up some Pink entertainment. I hear they’re splendid company.” His smile disappears. “Thank you again for your time, my good Duke.” I turn to leave. Volga doesn’t turn with me.

“What will you do with the children?” she asks.

No. No. No. I turn back around. The Duke’s eyebrows float upward. “It speaks.”

“She’s passionate too,” I say. “Means nothing by it. Come on, Volga.”

“Not at all!” The Duke beams. “It’s a fair question for the curious crow after all the sweat and ill deeds. What if I told you I was going to give them to the big brutes behind me to play with as I was played with my entire life?” the Duke asks. “What would you do?” Volga doesn’t answer. “What if I said I was planning to feed them to ants? What response would that elicit? Violence, perhaps?” He smiles. “Yes, I think so. Morality is a dangerous thing for a thief to possess in company such as this.”

I pull Volga’s arm. Would be easier to tug on a house.

I’m about to say something when a pipe clanks behind us near the stairs beside the elevators. The thorns wheel around with their weapons as a bolt of red hair disappears down a stairwell. The Duke snaps his fingers and his Obsidians are loosed. Their long legs cover the distance in two breaths and they fly down the stairs. My blood runs cold. You stupid girl.

Gorgo blocks our path to the elevators.

“Did you bring company?” the Duke asks me.

“No.”

“Are you certain? There are motion detectors on all the entrances. Your flier was the only one allowed in. Who did you bring with you?”

“No one. My crew’s gone to ground.”