“How do we act natural if we’re not looking up?” Brooks squeezed Xia’s hand, their fingers still wound together from stepping through the portal. It was a silent question. Are you with me? Are you okay? She squeezed back in response.
“You can look up if you want, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’ve got money lining those tight ass pants of yours.”
“Let’s just go,” Xia urged.
Nyx’s silhouette nodded against the hazy light and turned. Brooks was hesitant, but walked when Xia pulled his hand forward. When they stepped from the alley, Xia found it hard to follow Nyx’s rules.
Two parallel streets were split by a canal and lined with extravagant brick buildings that were five stories tall or higher. Each of them had their own unique flares like gilded window frames or intricate designs carved into the corbels supporting the awnings. No barrier protected the walkway from the water except for a few bridges that connected one street to the other. Cast iron street lamps spaced every couple of feet with grape vines winding down the posts, and the sweet smell of evergreen drifted off the canal breeze with the scent of ambrosia lingering underneath. Though they were all various shapes and sizes, at least six windows lined the front of every building and Xia nearly stumbled when her brain caught up with her eyes.
Xia looked up at the city around her and was mesmerized by every detail. Subtle flourishes decorated the lampposts and reflected the sultry glow of the neons. Bodies swayed in every glass frame as males and females alike tempted bystanders with a night of carnality. Signs flashed over every door boasting the unique pleasures that could be found if only you were brave enough to follow the temptation.
Xia was mesmerized by the vast beauty. It was not the same as the tranquility Nyx’s town and the surrounding river broughther, but they both struck that dizzying cord in her heart that released a slow leak of adrenaline. A knock to the right caught her attention and Xia stumbled backward. Brooks caught her before she hit the brick walkway, but she couldn’t turn away from the man in the window.
His tanned skin was slick with oil that reflected the purples and reds in a tantalizing display. He wore nothing but a studded loin cloth and matching bands around his biceps. Where Brooks was lean and athletic, the man in the window bulged with muscle over every bone. He ran a thick hand down his chest and drew her hooded eyes to his waist band. He slipped it under and grasped–
Xia shook her head as her Song flooded her veins, fighting back the lesser chaos permeating her senses. Sitting atop the muscled shoulders was the head of a bull, his black eyes beady in the droning light. A gold studded ring pierced through his septum with a hanging chain that attached to his collar. His ivy thorns curved and pointed above his head but, where she expected deadly points, were golden caps. Xia studied the caps and was horrified to find the head of four small screws holding the caps firm to the horns, tiny fissures webbing down from each entry point. Gods, how that must have hurt. Had he done it to himself? Or was he just as much a slave as she’d been? She held his gaze, working to decipher the emotion there until a sharp pull of the hand landed her back in reality.
“Xia?” Brooks’s eyes roamed anxiously over her face. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I, um–” Xia looked back to the window, but the man was gone.
This is what happens when daemon are afraid. The strong are chained so that the weak may hide behind a false sense of security.
She shook her head and tried again. “I’m fine. Stupid me, broke the first rule. I’ll do better.” Xia laughed, the sound dull and weak.
“Shocker,” Nyx mumbled.
Brooks shot her a sharp look before tugging Xia’s hand again. “Come on. We need to keep moving.”
Xia tucked her head and followed, her eyes never leaving the back of Brooks’ heels. Water pooled in small puddles where the walkway dipped, small ripples forming from the vibration of bass-heavy music and traffic. She focused on the sound of splattering under her feet from the wet cobble.
Dion was the epitome of everything Level Lust stood for. Silhouettes danced on the walkway from each window, their shapes elongated in the reflecting light enticing daemon to veer from their path and indulge.
Gods, she was so tempted to look up again. Curiosity rang like a cacophony of piercing bells and they grew louder with each passing moment. Nothing intrigued her more than the bull-headed man’s ability to influence her mind. Raw chaos flowed through her veins and she’d yet to meet anyone else who could seduce the mind as well as she could.
They passed a building with lambent purple light and the sickly-sweet smell of opium drifted from the open door. Another detail woven into the Club Hel ambiance to seduce its customers.
“We’re almost there.” Nyx murmured to Brooks.
“Where is ‘there’?
“Just trust me.”
A few paces later, they stepped back into another alleyway hazed with red lights and missing lampposts. Xia kept her head down, not willing to risk being caught in another situation, until a finger crooked under her chin and urged it upward.
Brooks' soft smile filled her vision. “It’s safe to look up now.”
“Thanks,” she sighed, relief releasing the tightness in her shoulders. “Did it affect you, too?”
“A little bit. Maybe even more than you. Nyx had to shake me out of it too, and I don’t even like taking dick.”
Xia had to slap a hand over her mouth to cover the laugh.
“Are you crazy?” Nyx hissed. “Shut the hell up before you get us killed!”
“I don’t understand how laughing is going to get us killed, Nyx.” Brooks’s eye-roll was evident in his voice. “They’re all laughing out there. If anything we will look suspicious because we’re walking head down and not talking at all.”
“That’s because you don’t know this place like I do.”
