There was a trill as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.They stepped off, pausing to allow their eyes to adjust to the abrupt change of light.
In the Pleasure District, it was always night.Neon signs advertising the different businesses were the primary sources of light.
At one point, there’d been old fashioned lampposts to add to the ambiance, but they stopped working long ago.Most didn’t even have bulbs in them anymore.Or the glass casing.
Women and young, pretty men hung out along the walls and in the darkened recesses between hallways, their clothing revealing as they eyed Kira’s group with interest.
Seeing them, Kira grabbed Jin’s arm, tucking him between her and Dylan.“Stay close.”
It wasn’t unheard of for children to go missing in places like this.Sometimes they turned up a few days later with bruises and cuts from the black market death matches.Other times they disappeared into the human trafficking rings.Their fates unknown.
Jin looked well cared for.Maybe a little scrawny, but his clothes were of good quality.Normally, someone like him would be left alone unless they were unlucky enough to run into a kidnapper for ransom.
However, Jin had managed to inherit the best features of both parents.His bone structure would only get better with age.
Someone looking for a nice pay day would snatch him up in a heartbeat and worry about the trouble he’d bring later.
They walked into a cloud of smoke.
Jin coughed.“What is that?”
The bridge of Kira’s nose wrinkled at the familiar scent.“Pixie dust.”
According to the humans she knew, it was one of the popular vaping blends.Known for its euphoric high, it lowered inhibitions and made people more malleable.A few of the businesses around here paid people to smoke it in the halls to give their customers a contact high, making it easier to part them from their hard earned wages.
Supposedly, it smelled divine.
To her, its stench was rancid.
Dylan wrinkled his nose but otherwise didn’t react.
Jin wasn’t so reserved.He brought his arm up, burying his nose in the crook of his elbow.“Now I know why you always hated this place.”
“That’s not why,” Kira said, staring down the human, a thin, mousy looking man who’d just blown a smoke ring at Jin.
The human grinned, nudging his partner and gesturing at them.
Dylan stepped in front of her and Jin, parting his cloak to show the en-blade in his hand.
The humans backed off, disappearing into a nearby brothel.
“Breathe through your mouth and it won’t be so bad,” Kira told Jin.
Jin tried.
He really did.
“I can taste it now.”Jin gagged.“How is that better?”
“Here.”Finn held out a container of ointment.Opening it, he swiped his finger in it before smearing the stuff beneath Jin’s nostrils.“This should help.”
Jin took an experimental sniff, his expression lighting up.“It does.”
“Where did that come from?”Kira asked.
The container disappeared back into Finn’s hoodie.“Since you have many dealings with humans, I thought it appropriate to keep some on hand as our senses and theirs are often at odds.”
He was saying they sometimes stunk.
