Gray climbed out of the hole, the only thing he had was his stick. “How do you know I poached anything? Maybe I’m just curious.”

  One of the guards pulled out a little hand mirror. He remembered when they entered Lust City, there had been the full-length mirror that had checked them for poached demon mana. Gray felt his heart lurch in his chest. At one point, the sudden change in blood pressure would’ve knocked him unconscious. Now, he was just trying not to let them see him sweat.

  Ames followed and then Rynn.

  The chatty fae guard laughed. “Oh, three poachers, and two are fucking elves. This is a banner night, hey Honeybig.”

  “Yeah, Bloomslayer. Best night of our careers,” the big muscled fae grunted. Honeybig. It fit.

  “We can explain everything,” Gray said.

  Bloomslayer held up his mirror, and it flashed with a bright light. “Yeah, I would love to hear you explain how you have sloth mana in your stick.”

  Rynn began to weep softly. Ames stood there rigid, like a blood-splattered statue. All of them were covered with gore, and Rynn was the worst.

  Gray knew they were going to have to kill the two guards. There was no helping it. “Ames, maybe you could help these gentlemen see the light.”

  “Bring the rain to them,” Ames said softly. “Kindness in the daytime and cruelty at night.”

  “That’s right,” Gray said. She would touch them, bring them to their knees, and he would take one of their daggers and cut their throats. He didn’t want Rynn to have blood on her hands. He would do it. He’d basically killed Carter to survive, and this was no different. They were two strangers. Who would care?

  Ames shifted her weight, about to strike.

  A second later, Pinch popped her head out of the hole.

  Bloomslayer’s mouth dropped open. “What is this? Duchess Thornpinch. These three aren’t with you, are they?”

  Pinch emerged, her eyes bright against the black flecks covering her face. “Bloomslayer and Honeybig, guarding the way to Old Town. You’ve done good work today.”

  Honeybig took a step back. “We don’t want any trouble.”

  Bloomslayer frowned and repeated what he’d said. “Are these three with you, Duchess?”

  Pinch ignored him and went to Gray. She grabbed him. “What did you see? You saw something. You fucking child. You idiot. What did you fucking see?” Like her core, her eyes were hungry, and she had this vile desperation to her. He didn’t know how to respond. Their lives were in her hands. Was she a duchess? Nothing about the fae woman made sense.

  “I saw you, about to get on a ship. It was raining hard and the seas were rough. I think you were in the Thistle Mire. It was how I could give you mana, duchess. So we could flee. After all, we couldn’t let our secret mission fail. What would the queen say?”

  Honeybig gasped. “The queen?”

  Pinch stared at him, her eyes darting back and forth, her brow furrowed, and then…tears. Her eyes glistened.

  “Did you see my mother?” she asked.

  “Her mother’s the queen?” Honeybig looked like he might explode.

  “No, you fool,” Pinch hissed. Her eyes were on Gray.

  Of course Gray knew he had to lie. Pinch’s mother had obviously lost her core, and as a husk, would’ve probably been an embarrassment. The lie came easily enough. After all, lying was easier than murder. Gray knew that from experience. “No. Just you and the ship. We can’t tell them about the secret mission. It would put their lives in danger.”

  Pinch angrily wiped the tears and blood from her face. She spun. “You, Bloomslayer, did you find job guarding this passage. Poachers must be killed. Otherwise, it would all be chaos. I can assure you, these three are not poachers. Now, I know the law very well, and I know you need to report what you saw tonight. However, I have special orders from the queen, and she gave me a stipend in case this happened. She said to give you each five hundred shekels to thank you for your service.”

  Bloomslayer smiled. “We serve the queen. She is generous. I’m glad I didn’t spear the human when he first came up. That would’ve been a shame.” That smile turned into a smirk. “Your secret mission must be very secret indeed.”

  Pinch nodded. “Yes. It is. Now, you are going to finish your shift, and I will find you, later, with the stipend. If anyone else comes out of Old Town, you must detain them. Is that clear?”

  The thin man tapped his spear on the ground. “Yes, Duchess. Thank you for serving the queen so well. And thank your friends. It looks like your secret mission was bloody.”

  “They are not my fucking friends,” she hissed. “We are leaving now. I will escort them back to the inn. Of course, the Briarblood Chaotica matches were the perfect cover for our secret mission. But I can’t say more.”

  Honeybig shrank against the wall as they passed.

  Once outside, Pinch marched them back through the labyrinth of streets but then, she took a few turns that Gray didn’t recognize. She wasn’t taking them back to the inn.

  So where was she taking them and their poached mana?

  Any of the fae guard with a mirror could catch them. She wasn’t sure her story would hold up with anyone else. It was obvious that Bloomslayer and Honeybig had known who she was from the start.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The rain was gone, which was a shame, since it might’ve helped clean them. As it was, they were coated in foul-smelling fish guts. There was a little bathhouse connected to the inn. However, would they have the time to get cleaned up before Settie returned?

  After the third strange turn down the third strange street, Gray had to ask. “Where are you taking us?”

  Pinch didn’t answer but took the first turn down a blind alley.

  Gray was immediately on guard. He didn’t think Pinch would turn around and try to kill them, but how could he know?

  Once they reached the end of the alleyway, Pinch grabbed him and slung him into the stone. “You owe me a debt. I expect payment in truth and in a favor. Which would you like to pay me first?”

  Rynn and Ames looked on, both tense and ready to fight. The air crackled with tension.

  “Truth,” Gray said.

  “What in the fuck were you doing in Old Town, at night, in the crypts? I know your strange little Quelling friend asked about taking a little tour, and that’s why I told her about the hole. When she left the stadium, I got curious. But we are talking about you, not me. You’ve done enough snooping into my life.”

  Gray smiled. “I gave you mana, so we could escape. I didn’t mean to delve.”

  “Delve.” Pinch grunted. “So that’s what you call it. Fuck you. That’s what I say. Why were you there? Why did you poach the mana? Or do you all want to die?”

  Gray paused, wondering what Pinch could do with the truth. She already had saved them, and if she wanted, she could end their lives. Maybe that was her play. She wouldn’t pay Bloomslayer and Honeybig but instead would gather up more guardsmen so they could raid Bonny’s inn and arrest them. Caught with poached demon mana, the trial would be quick. She held all the power.

  He decided on the truth. Why the fuck not? “I need the demon mana to fix my meridians. They are not working properly.”

  Pinch closed her eyes. “And that is why you are weak and pathetic. But you don’t need to be strong. You have your bitch elf and the rest of your squad of misfits.” Pinch’s scowl deepened.

  He glanced at Rynn. There would’ve been a time where she would have made Pinch pay for calling her a bitch. But she just stood there, a lost look on her filthy face. Her core wasn’t absorbing mana.

  The fae kept talking. “You feed your squad mana, like you did to me, and they do the rest. You’re a fair fighter…just weak.”

  “I’m better than fair,” he said. “I might’ve not have bloodied you all that often during our fights, but I did hurt you. I grew up as a gladiator in an arena in Cradleport.”

  Pinch laughed and shook her head. “This is what you are going to do. You’re going to take that mana, and you’re going to fix your meridians. And then, during Soulshred Week, you’re going to let us win. I don’t care if you come in second or third, but it won’t be first.”

  Rynn grew pale underneath the demon blood. Ames didn’t move.

  “Fine,” Gray said. He had no intention of letting the fae squad win, but he couldn’t say that right then. He had to play the game. “I’m assuming that is the favor. I told you the truth.”

  Pinch didn’t answer. She had another question for him. “Why not pay for the demon mana? You can buy it on the open market.”

  “I had to be the one to collect it. And we couldn’t wait. I guess there are ways to sign up to collect demon mana outside of the kill squad, but the permits take months if not years. Don’t ask me. I’m from the Null Breaks. I don’t know how any of this works, Duchess.”

  It was fun to tease her, and the result was immediate. She started breathing hard, eyes squeezed shut, and both fists clenched, one of which held a sword, which started to shake. It took a minute for her to regain control and open her eyes. “Don’t fucking call me that. Every few people take my royalty seriously. You fuckers just happened to stumble upon the two assholes that do. Otherwise, you’d be dead.”

  Rynn finally came unstuck. “Why not let them kill us? You’d have won. You hate us. You beat me. I had dropped the ball, and you hit me and kept on hitting me. It wasn’t fair. I should…I should…get revenge. But no, I can’t now. Is that why you’re helping us? Do you feel bad for beating on me? You are such an evil bitch. You’re…you’re a bitch fairy. I’m not a bitch elf. You’re a bitch fairy. That’s what I’m going to call you from here on out. You’re not Pinch. You’re Bitch Fairy. And you say ‘fuck you’ to us? Well, we say, ‘fuck you’ to you!”

  Pinch listened and smiled and began to chuckle.

  Gray had no idea if that was a good sign or a bad one.

  But Ames was opening and closing her hands. If Pinch came for them, Ames would hurt her, hurt her badly.

  “Why are you fucking laughing?” Rynn snapped.

  The fae shrugged. “We’re comrades, in a strange kind of way. We are all at First Field, and yes, I was paid to be there, but now, now I see it as a way to…to make my life better. That’s all you need to know. I didn’t mean to hit you, Bitch Elf. I lost control of myself. You and your boy, you teased me, and you taunted me, and you flirted with me, both of you did. Well, you don’t want to get on the wrong side of me. I was ejected in the end. It was stupid of me.”

  Rynn put her hand on her hip. “Are you going to apologize?”

  “Fuck you, Bitch Elf.”

  “No, fuck you, Bitch Fairy!”

  Pinch’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t call me a fairy, elf.”

  Rynn just laughed.

  Gray got between them. “We appreciate the help. If it comes down to it, we’ll let you win Soulshred Week.”

  “And every game of Chaotica,” Pinch said. Then she grinned. “If it even comes to that.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  Pinch spit in her hand and reached out. “You spit on your hand, we shake, and it’s a bargain. And I expect you to pay me the thousand shekels back. With interest. Weekly. Ten percent.”

  Her core was swirling with mana, from the deal. She was such a greedy thing. Her core was so hungry.

  “It’s a deal.” He spit in his hand, she spit in her hand, and they shook.

  When their hands came together, he could feel her lust, and yes, she got mana from it. She liked feeling their spit mingling in their hands, as they looked into each other’s eyes.

  Her eyes bore into him. This wasn’t just about Soulshred Week.

  This was about something else. And he couldn’t help but think it had something to do with her core oath. He had to ask about typical core oaths…from Quinnly. Bonny was too proper, it seemed, from the little he’d talked with her.

  All these fae women were going to be the death of him.

  But he had the mana.

  It wasn’t five minutes later that Pinch guided them back to another street, and they walked five minutes to Bonny’s inn. But Pinch didn’t direct them to the inn, no. She escorted them to the front of the bathhouse.

  The fae smiled. “I think it’s bathtime for all of us. Or are you bitches too shy to get naked in front of me?”

  Rynn stripped off her coat. “Can you handle it, Bitch Fairy? I don’t think you can.”

  Pinch raised her chin. “Try me.”

  “Do you want us to tempt you, tease you, or flirt with you?” Rynn asked.

  A look of uncertainty flashed across Pinch’s face, but then she stood there, smirking, like usual. “You decide. I can handle anything you dish out.”

  Rynn unbuttoned her blouse, showing cleavage. “We’ll see about that.”

  Finally, mana was drawn into her core. She was getting some of that humble confidence back. Having seen her naked on any number of occasions, Gray knew she had nothing to worry about.

  Pinch followed Rynn into the bathhouse, leaving Gray alone with Ames.

  “When did you flirt with Pinch?” the Quelling elf asked, completely confused.

  “Never,” Gray replied, feeling some confusion himself.

  Ames sighed. “The ice is about to burst into flames.” She gave him a dirty look. “It means you two are going to kiss.”

  “Not in this lifetime. Come on, Ames.”

  He was about to go into the bathhouse when a black dragon soared down onto the street, tackled him, and then stood over him, flames spouting from her nostrils. “You foolish, foolish boy.”

  They had taken too long and were caught.

  Gray smiled up into her bestial face. This was a fight he was looking forward to. Damn shame that he was going to miss out on seeing Pinch naked, but a battle with Settie over his future might be just as fun.