He bites the air in our direction, my lips moving in all different manners of disgust, but he continues to creep on by. Selene turns to face me. “I hope that’s as weird as it gets here.”
We both share a laugh, although that leaves my face rather quickly. It’s not good that he’s mentioning Judge, because that can only mean that the leader of Dominion is near. Which means we have to bequick. BeingnearJudge entangles you in a web of chaos you can’t escape. No one ever does.
That’s not how these gangs work.
Graffiti and scorch marks scar the walls as we desperately try to spot the shop that’s supposed to have—thereit is. A wooden sign with a crude painting of a mortar and pestle. Selene and I hurry through, my gaze hooked onto the wooden front door that moves on old, squawking hinges as we enter. It smells like fresh herbs that are fighting over who is more pungent. It’s warmer in here, too, clearly from the fire burning in the corner.
The woman in front barely glances up, and the way her gaze drags over us tells me we don’t pass the inspection. “What’re softskins doing in my shop?”
Great. We’ve even got nicknames. I don’t pretend like we’re not from here, as the way this woman’s crow’s feet deepen when she squints tells me that won’t serve us well here.
“Are you Hozier?”
“Who’s asking?”
“Maggie. We’re here on behalf of Maggie.”
Her brows perk. “Then I’m Hozier.”
“It’s for, you know,” I manage out, clearing my throat. “Suppressants,” I whisper, hands visible to show I really don’t want any trouble.
She drags her gaze over us one more time, like she’s peeling us back layer by layer, before giving a wet, nasty cough that seems more habitual than from being sick. “Too fucking bad for you. Can’t help you with that anymore. Shoulda came a week ago.”
“What, why?”
“Judge banned them. He said by the time he gets here, he wants them all gone. I sold them all within that hour. I don’t fuck with men like him. I didn’t live this long by being an idiot.”
My heart thrums violently in my chest, as I can’tnothave suppressants. “Excuse me?”
“You want suppressants, you go directly tohim.” Her lip curls like she’s just tasted battery acid. “Good luck with that. Might as well drop your pants and bend over when he tells you to get fucked.”
Selene steps forward to place her hand on the worn-down stone counter. “There’s nothing?—”
The woman slams her fist on the counter hard enough to rattle the dented tin sign behind her. “Don’t fucking ask me again about those. You need something else, then we can haggle, but notthose. He was clear about that. I won’t have my shop be named as one that challenges Dominion.”
We both do an odd little double glance at the woman before back at each other as we back up, with Selene nodding to the door. It creaks behind us as we exit. It’s so damn foreign out here with fluorescent lights twitching through windows, rusted-out motorbikes lying on the ground. Everyone seems coated in a layer of blowing dirt from the days before this frost, and I swear I see a weapon on each person.
“What the hell was that?” Selene asks.
I look up at her, having nearly no experience with this. “Should we try again? We can’t just be toldno.”
Selene licks her lips before pressing them shut, looking around with squinted eyes, cautiously leaning into me. “Shit. This is exactly what I said might be wrong.” She hesitates, as if the walls have ears here. “We need to get out of here. He’s gotta be nearby if she’s banning them already. It’s not worth it.”
We all know Judge bans those things like he’s allergic, and while the Enclave has been granted access to suppressants for necessity’s sake, we don’t haveenoughfor the things we hide. Not with winter coming and the roads getting covered in snow.
That’s what Hozier is for.
I can nearly feel my skin itching with the threat of hormones, my mouth going quite dry. This place no longer just feels hostile, but like I’m genuinely in danger. Judge is out there, somewhere in this shithole, and so is his command. There’s no reasoning in these lands. If someone wants you dead, the only thing stopping them is an equal force meeting them. Who is the equal force against someone like Dominion?
No one.
No other gang would touch that.
It’s an incredible amount of power that’s also terrifying. Piss off one wrong man, and you’re fucked. Piss off one ofhismen, and your only hope for living is that Judge, for some reason, would want to save you.
I hate it here. The way I feel choked and destined to drown. I’m a hidden omega who might be running out of suppressants because he banned them. My heart races faster, rubbing my hand on my throat as it feels tighter.
“Oh, boy,” Selene says next to me, and I follow her gaze. Out in the overcast, a woman is pulling a tooth out to put on a window counter, screeching as she yanks with some pliers until it gives, and she nearly falls over. Blood drips down her lips, a white speck among the pliers, and she grins like she found gold as she stumbles back up, slapping it on the counter. The man behind the wooden surface nods and lets her in the back to a store with a sign that reads, “All Remedies to Fix.”
