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“Wouldn’t catch me going down there,” a woman said, dishing up plate after plate of food to be put on the trolleys we were to push. “‘Specially not with my brothers in tow. Hungry cunts, those ‘uns.”

Brothers? I looked at the guys, but I guess how else was she going to explain to herself my plentiful supply of man meat?

“Right, well, beggars and all that,” I said. She looked at me quizzically as she plopped another big spoonful of mashed potato onto a plate. “Beggars can’t be choosers?”

She thought about that for a second, never stopping her dishing up, then nodded, apparently approving of the aphorism.

“Well, don’t take your eyes off yon men.

Won’t get ‘em back if the women swarm. None of the Volken will step in, fearful of being clawed to pieces themselves. We lost our Bradley that way.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear about that,” I said.

She just shrugged in response, but as Slade walked up, she paused in her slopping, looking him over slowly.

“Be a pity to lose something like him to those bitches.”

“Yes, indeed, that would be terrible…” What was her name? I’ve just been chatting to her. Surely at some point she mentioned her name, so what was it?

“Gwen,” Slade supplied helpfully, earning himself a smile from the kitchen hand.

“Yeah, thanks, Gwen,” I said, and then pushed the cart away to join the rest of the guys.

“You’re all ready?” A Volken stood at the mouth of a long corridor that led under the building we’d been working in. We all nodded and responded with the appropriate honorific. “Where’s the girls? We don’t usually let blokes in, especially at this time of the year.”

“We’re down some staff due to the Longest Night celebrations, m’lord,” I said, dropping a little curtsey for good luck.

He chuckled at that, a dark sound that extinguished all hope.

“‘Spose you would be. Alright, someone’s gotta go in, so it may as well be you. The big ones look like they can handle themselves.” His smile was sly, his eyes lingering as he inspected the guys.

“Watch yourselves. Those bitches get one sniff of red-blooded men, they can be hard to control. We’re not riding to your rescue.

We’ll lock you down in the complex, let nature take its course, you clear? ”

We all agreed to that, my fingers tightening on the handles of the trolley, my heart beating loudly in my ears.

“You been down here before?” the Volken guard asked, reaching into a small cupboard by the main doors. All our eyes followed him pulling out a big set of keys.

“No, m’lord,” Finn said finally as he watched him unlock the door.

“I’ll show you where everything is then.

We’ll be up at the Great Rite tomorrow, and the kids will need a feed, if not the women.

We won’t be bringing the inmates to them, no guards to make that happen, so they’ll be feral.

Just toss something through the slots. They’ll survive, mostly.

We all clear?” We nodded at that. “Into the belly of the beast then. Come this way.”

We pushed the trolleys into a large empty foyer. The walls were smoother and painted white instead of dank stone, but there was a similar air to it.

“You get in through here,” the Volken rather redundantly pointed to the only other door in the room. “Lock the door behind you, every single time. I can’t stress that enough. You want to be stretched out on the altar upstairs at the height of the Great Rite? Leave a door unlocked.”

“Yes, m’lord.”

He walked over to the door and held the key up with a flourish before opening it, ushering us in when it was opened.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. We entered a long corridor and on either side were rooms with a couple of small windows. On each door was a name. I read the closest one but didn’t recognise it, then saw the other was, ‘Lian.’

“Each room is labelled for the father if they’re high ranking, or a number if they’re not.

Make sure you do the named rooms first. The women and their brats do remember and will report you to the higher ups if you’re stupid enough to mess with the hierarchy.

Unlock,” the Volken demonstrated the process, “go in, give them their food, and then lock it back up again. On your way out, unlock, grab the plates and anything else you brought in. Everything but the food must be accounted for. You leave stuff behind, you’ll be down the Great Wolf’s throat before the end of the day.

Some of the little bitches have made weapons from shards of crockery, so be on the alert. Now…”

The Volken walked over to a door with a piece of bright red fabric swathed over it.

“Any door that has red fabric on it, you don’t enter.

It won’t be a problem tomorrow as we’re not bringing the inmates down, but do not go in there.

These are the women who’ve come into heat.

” We all jumped when we heard a thump and then a muffled scream from beyond the door, making the Volken chuckle.

“The kids have been moved into surrounding rooms for their safety, but these women are dangerous. If you’re dumb enough to go in there, you’ll get your just desserts quick smart.

Now, I’m going back to my post on the other side of the door.

” The Volken tossed the keys to me. “Lock it once I go through, and don’t come out until you’re done. ”

“Yes, sir.”

A weird kind of quiet settled over the complex once the lock was clicked, broken only by whatever was happening behind the red covered door.

“Almost makes you wanna find out what’s going down,” Slade said, attempting to smile.

“Except it's probably Grey or Rhydian they’re throwing around in there, forcing them to desecrate their vows to my mother,” Finn replied.

“Shit, I’m sorry—” Slade said.

“Bloody easy way to get the keys,” Jack said, eyeing the set in my hands. “This has all been pretty easy. You seers got any divine insight into why?”

“That vision I had yesterday with Jules was the clearest I’ve had since I told you what I was,” Brandon said with a shrug, Aaron’s hand landing on his shoulder.

“Clearest?” Finn said. “What’s that mean?”

Brandon shook his head. “I get glimpses of stuff, mostly just really boring stuff, like someone having a smoke or taking a shit or something.”

“But…” Finn prompted.

“Sometimes it’s just an empty field. Green and peaceful.”

“And the other times?”

“Darkness.”

“Very enlightening,” Sylvan said. “The keys being within easy proximity tells you a lot about how seriously the women are taken as a threat. Let’s just do this. Let’s go to Lian’s family first. They’re high up the hierarchy, and I have a contact in there.”

I nodded and then took the keys and turned the lock.

We crept inside, everyone’s heads whipping around when we heard the wheels of one of the carts squeak. Hawk stopped pushing it, moving to join us as we moved further in.

If you’d asked me what I’d expected, this wasn’t it.

Which was weird, as I had seen rooms like it before in the vision Sylvan shared with us.

I flicked a look at the seer as he followed us, but if anything, he looked the calmest. He strode forward, taking the lead, walking past the beautiful paintings and sculptures leaned up against the walls and the overstuffed couches covered in rich silks until we entered the main room.

Huge, I wondered just how much space they’d excavated under the city to create it and the many others besides. Then they came.

Looking like feral supermodels who just couldn’t take another day of the Diet Coke and Tic Tac diet, beautiful women appeared, from the small accompanying bedrooms, from couches, and from a room that had been set up as a schoolroom.

They approached us with halting steps, long slender legs poised and ready to retreat at a second's notice, and I saw why.

Twined around their bodies, hiding behind their skirts, were the children.

They stared at us with eyes the size of saucers, nostrils flaring as they looked us over.

Each step we took had them flinching back, but they persisted in their inspection, until they saw the seer.

“Sylvan…” one woman said, her voice soft and sweet. “Is that…? Is that you?” She came forward, her hand wrapping itself around her daughter’s, drawing the child along with her. She had a long tumble of auburn hair and striking green eyes that seemed to pierce our souls with one glance.

“Of course, Arelia,”

“And you’ve brought…” Her voice trailed away, and her eyes widened as she took in the guys.

She froze on the spot, pushing her child behind her skirts as her nose worked to take in the scents of the guys.

“You brought breeders to us? Here?” Her voice started to waver as she shot questions at the seer, cracking when she turned to her daughter. “Kiralee, go to your room, now.”

Kiralee must have been her daughter, as she pushed the child to do her bidding, but the little girl seemed resistant to the order, her fingers grasping at her mother’s skirt, clinging hard even as she was pushed.

“No, Arelia, not breeders. Let me?—”

“These men reek of Tirian,” one woman said.

“But not of rut,” another said, peering at us.

“I’m not sure I care,” a dark beauty with grey eyes said, slinking forward, her child left to fend for herself.

“These are much better specimens than those we’ve had before.

I could think of worse ways to spend the Longest Night.

” She strode over, the dress she wore swishing around her hips as she went, her eyes flashing red for a moment as she approached.

“Stop!” Sylvan said. His voice was clear and crisp, and held a note of authority I hadn’t heard the black wolf use before.

“Do not think to order me around, interloper,” the dark woman said.

“They are not here to breed with you. They’ve brought you your lunch.”