Page 23 of Loreblood

A month after getting closer to Jinneth, she was gone.

One day, we were pulling ploys on the corner, earning well and keeping Dimmon off our backs. The next morning, she wasn’t there anymore.

What startled me most was the lack of urgency or care anyone showed this time around—the complete opposite of the reaction when we’d lost Layson. None of the Diplomats would give me a straight answer about what happened to Jinneth, everyone acting like she had simply never existed here.

I thought I was going mad. I even dragged myself over to Jeffrith to try and coax answers out of Jin’s brother. He simply scowled at me, leaving my question unanswered, and stormed off to drink alone.

That evening, I spied on him, following him to Dimmon’s hovel while keeping to the shadows. They stood outside Dimmon’s tent. For the first time the leader of the Diplomats had a hushed, calm voice. His large hand lightly squeezed Jeffrith’s shoulder as he spoke to him. I had to lean forward from the crate I hid behind to hear them.

“It’s for the best, Jeffro. She wanted out.”

Jeffrith’s head whipped up to the taller man, accusation narrowing his eyes. “Did she, Dimmon? Or didyouwant her out?”

Quick as anything, Dimmon’s hand on Jeffrith’s shoulder lashed out and slapped him across the cheek, ending on a pointed finger at his chest. “Now, now, boy, let’s not get smart with me. She’s moving up, she fetched a good amount. Your sister’s taken care of.”

“You didn’t tell me this was going to happen, sir.” Jeffrith rubbed his red cheek. “She was the last family I had.”

Dimmon snorted. “Bullshit. You whelps breed like bunnies. Got you running all over Nuhav, stirring up trouble. Jinneth is one less troublemaker on the streets. You should see it as a good thing, Jeffro.”

I was starting to puzzle out some of their words.Jinneth was given to someone? Sold to someone? Given a new life?

It was hard to understand, so I slunk away into the shadows and returned to the fire near my tent.

Baylen sat there, alone, palms out to warm himself at the fire. I hesitated, standing behind him, and then sighed and wandered over. When I crouched next to my old friend, he grunted a nod at me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, an edge of spite in my tone.

“Felt sorry you lost your friend. You got no one now.”

His words were hollow, drenched with sadness. It hurt to hear Bay talking like that, because I felt it was a projection of his own feelings—ever since he had scared me away.

After another sigh, I said, “Are we going to keep ignoring what happened? Stay distant like this for—”

“Yes.”

My words ended midsentence, lips parted. It took me a moment to close them. A pang of coldness wrenched me inside.

“It was the booze talking, Seph. Let’s leave it at that.”

I nodded glumly. Still no apology. “This place isn’t good for us, Bay. We need—”

“Oh, will you shut it about that?” He sneered at me. “Don’t make this about the Diplomats. What prospects do you think we have, girl? Truehearts save your sorry ass.”

He got up and stormed off.

I reeled, surprised things had turned sour so fast. Shaking my head, I put my hands out to warm them at the fire.First words we’ve spoken in a long time.

An hour later, feeling my eyes getting droopy, I went to relieve myself in the pissing alley near the dumping grounds. Dimmon didn’t want us “shitting where we ate,” so to speak, which I found ironic considering other people’s sewage completely surrounded our base.

After finishing my business, I rose from a crouch and pulled my pants up. They were getting too small at the waist for my widening hips, and I needed to steal some new ones soon.

As I turned to exit the alley, shadows fell over me, silhouetted against the moonlight behind them.

It was Jeffrith and two of his goons from Third Crew—Taclo and a boy named Koylen. Boys who went everywhere with him.

Jeffrith had a bottle of sour-brown in his hands—some piss-booze we stole from deliverers on their routes through southern Nuhav.

He wobbled where he stood, staring down his nose at me. I couldn’t see his eyes from the moon’s shadow cast over him.