Page 68 of The Queen’s Shadow

He was scanning the crowd and sniffing the air, as if he were trying to commit their scents to memory.

“Any one of them could have raped her.” He growled, and I felt my chest tighten. I understood how he felt. If I had thought any one of the daemons before us had hurt Kasha or Amon, I would want to cut them in half with a machine gun too. But we didn’t have any proof, and we were in a residential district.

“Save it for the brothels, Rycon.” I said, laying my hand on his shoulder, eyeing up a young daemon who was clutching his mother’s hand. They were all eyeing the gun with curiosity. I doubted any of them even knew what it was.

After a long, tense moment, he finally lowered the gun and nodded.

“Fine. But you’re buying us something that covers our heads. We’re too exposed.”

I rolled my eyes and ushered him toward the portal.

“Unsure why I’m the one funding this trip when you’re Mr. Money Bags… but sure.” He grinned at me, cocking the gun to point at the sky as he stepped back into the portal.

“I doubt the magick slot machines take loonies and toonies, Kitten.” He snarked, intentionally mocking the Canadian words for one and two dollar coins.

This time, I did stick my tongue out at him, as the light from the portal erupted and whisked him away to Sinner’s Boulevard.

Rycon

The City of Midasara: Where Dreams Turn to Shit, would be a more appropriate slogan, considering how much the streets smelled like it.

I stepped out of the portal onto what I could only assume was Sinner’s Boulevard and felt my lip curl in disgust.

The residential area of the Outer Rim had been a myriad of enticing scents. Charred vegetables and syrupy wine mixed with the dry desert air and a faint undercurrent of coconut wafted from the palm trees that lined the streets.

In contrast, this seedy part of town smelled of urine, feces, and sex. The stink of semen bloomed around me like the too sweet scent of rot. It was reminiscent of stale, sweaty bodies that rubbed against each other in uncomfortable places. It was rushed and dirty and mixed with the bitter aftertaste of hard spirits and even harder drugs.

I had spent time in many cities like this in my lifetime, but never before had the mere existence of a place pushed me to the brink of outrage.

By the time Raven stepped through the portal behind me, I was gripping the MP5 so tight, my knuckles had turned white. She too, made a face as she took in her surroundings, and I was glad I wasn’t the only one who was disgusted.

Jeremy adjusted his duffle slightly, sweating and clearly uncomfortable in the heat. I had to admit, carrying this massive duffle filled with ammo was getting old for me as well. Looking up and down the seemingly never-ending boulevard, I wondered if there was an inn somewhere close where we could set up camp before we began our search. Cerenah seemed to read my mind and she pursed her lips.

“There are several places we can stay here, however none of them are… exceptionally nice.” She said, wincing slightly.

“As long as we can find somewhere that doesn’t charge by the hour it’s fine.” I snapped. The longer we stood here the more agitated I felt. I took another deep inhale, sifting through the layers upon layers of unsavory scents.

Was she here?

If I walked far enough down this boulevard, would the infuriatingly addictive aroma of catnip smack me across the face?

I remembered the first day I got a face full of her scent. I had walked into the common room, ready to beg Raven to give me something to do, and Kasha had immediately insulted me. I would have smiled at the memory if I wasn’t so pissed off. The first thing she had done was try to pick a fight with me. I should have known I wouldn’t stand a fucking chance.

You better still be fighting, Kasha. I’m coming.

Cerenah nodded and pointed a little way down the cobblestone street. The buildings here were similar to the structures that had populated the Outer Rim. The awnings were more muted shades of maroon and navy blue, clearly attempting to boast a more sober tone. Though on the outside, everything looked respectable and clean, it still felt somehow cheap and fake. As if we were on some sort of a movie set.

The closer you looked, the easier it was to peel the facade away from reality. The palm trees and expensive trims stood in stark contrast with street food vendors who wore sweat stained clothes. Their food carts filled with the hostile buzz of too many flies.

We passed the first brothel, which had a half-naked slave dancing behind a full wall of sparkling clean glass. The slave smiled at us as she danced, but like the walls she was imprisoned in, it was a show. There was no light in her eyes, and the hairs on my arms stood up as she silently watched us pass.

It took everything I had not to kick the door in and light up everyone in the building.

Kasha wasn’t there. It was a waste of time. I needed to find her, and it would take forever if I insisted on raiding every single brothel on this damn strip.

This is what I told myself, as I forced myself to follow Cerenah a few more blocks before she led us into a bustling inn.

The innkeeper got us all settled with rooms. We set Raven up in the largest of the four. Hers had a small seating area and a balcony, where we could meet to plan and strategize. I took the smallest room. I didn’t plan on being in it much anyway.