“I have to introduce you to my friends,” she says, and Wren allows herself to be pulled through the crowd.
There’s a table in a dark corner with five people sitting around it. I see two big human men, one with a shaved head and neck tattoos, the other with long hair pulled back. Both look like muscle – enforcers or dealers. The third male is a snake creature that is bigger than both humans, with a tail instead of legs. He’s coiled around his chair, and his upper body is humanoid but scaled, his forked tongue flicking out occasionally.
There are also two women, one human, thin and jittery, probably a user, and the other a monster female who’s humanoid, but wearing a skull mask over her face. I can’t tell what species she is because the mask covers everything. Only her eyes are visible through the sockets, alien and gleaming.
I don’t like these people. I can sense the danger rolling off them. These are criminals, and probably violent ones, but I notice Wren plays it cool. She smiles, nods, and acts comfortable.
Tasha introduces Wren to everyone, and the skull-masked woman asks what she does. Her voice is distorted by the mask and hard to read.
“I’m a chemist,” Wren says.
Tasha jumps in.
“Wren can cook and bake anything your heart desires, if she just has the right ingredients.”
One of the human men leans forward.
“Can you cook Crimson?”
“Yes, but the main ingredients are hard to come by. That’s why I don’t do it on my own.”
The snake creature shifts, and his tail thumps the floor.
“Crimson has become scarce,” he complains. “Prohibitively expensive when you can find it. What I wouldn’t give for a hit right now. I ran out days ago.”
His voice is thick with need, a desperate edge to it.
Wren nods sympathetically.
“I understand. Tough times for everyone.”
She plays it perfectly, not too eager and not too distant, just a fellow criminal who gets the struggle. I admire her control.
Tasha says the guys are ruining the mood and pulls Wren to her feet.
“We should dance.”
Wren resists at first and says she’s tired, but Tasha won’t take no for an answer. She drags Wren toward the dance floor, and Wren lets herself be pulled. I am pulled with her and feel that she’s not in the mood for dancing.
The music is loud, and the bass pounds through Wren’s chest. Tasha starts dancing with her hands in the air, and Wren moves too, less enthusiastic but trying. I experience it all – the movement, the heat, the press of bodies.
The skull woman approaches and starts dancing, and then the two human men follow. They form a circle around Wren and Tasha, dancing dangerously close and invading their space.
I growl menacingly in Wren’s head before I can help it. The protective instinct in me is overwhelming. These men are too close and too aggressive.
“Stand down,”Wren warns me.“Stay calm. Nothing is happening. We’re just having fun.”
“If one of them touches you, I’ll break their fingers,”I say.
Wren laughs, both out loud and mentally.
“I appreciate that you’re protective, like the bodyguard that you are, but I’ve got this. I can handle it.”
The dancing gets more intense, and the bodies press closer. One of the men places his hands on Wren’s waist and grips her, pulling her against him. Inside her, I recoil violently and my reaction makes Wren’s body jerk.
She breaks away from his grip and hisses at me.
“Knock it off. Don’t push me to make sudden moves. People will notice.”
