Khayrivven joined her by the corner, pointing at the other end of the roof, where a wide gap separated them from the next. “Let’s continue this conversation on the other side.” Without a warning, he half-straightened, rocking back on his heels before sprinting for the leap.
Lory only realized she was holding her breath when he landed safely and soundlessly on the brown roof tiles, rolling over and stopping in a half-crouch once more. The air streamed from her lungs in an exhale of relief, and she followed his lead, running and jumping so she didn’t need to think what it might have meant.
Before she was back on her feet, Khayrivven took off, running for the next corner and leaping over the gap, and the next, his movements feline and his balance impeccable. Lory didn’t hesitate to sprint after him, her heart lighter thanit had been in months, even before her first trial, when she’d chosen to steal from General Ycken’s brother after a too-long night at Lu’Shen’s.
Speaking of Lu’Shen’s—wasn’t that the brothel’s ornate facade a few buildings ahead? Lory could almost smell the incense and sweat hazing the air as she followed Khayrivven across the city at neck-breaking speed. Her pulse was racing from the strain of keeping pace with him, and her breathing was labored, but not a hint of pain in her shoulder held her back, not one regret. Out here, she was free.
At least until the young captain stopped at the edge of a flat roof, right across from Lu’Shen’s, his cheeks flushed and his expression disgruntled.
When Lory came to a halt next to him, he turned his head, glancing down at her with unreadable gray eyes. “Go inside. Find the Madame. She’ll take care of today’s mission.”
Without any further explanation, he turned around and started walking toward the other end of the roof.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
Khayrivven stopped, eyeing her over his shoulder, and Guardians be damned if his eyes didn’t mark every last inch of her body as if memorizing the state he’d left her in so he’d have a baseline for later. “The next time I see you, pretend you don’t know me.”
Before Lory could demand to know when that would be or where, or what she was supposed to do inside a brothel, Khayrivven stepped over the edge of the roof, not even bothering to look where he was going. Lory’s heart skipped a beat as she waited for the crash, but all she could hear was theslow hum of voices coming from the streets and the faint sound of music from Lu’Shen’s.
Twenty-Three
The smell was worsethan she remembered as Lory entered Lu’Shen’s through the front door like she’d done countless times before.
She’d considered making a run for it the moment Khayrivven was out of sight, but they’d found her once; they’d find her again. Even if she ran to the ends of this world, the Triad wouldn’t let her get away, and when they caught her, there wouldn’t be another trial. They’d kill her, and then they’d punish Aiden and all her friends because that was how they made sure her loyalties remained with Ashthorn.
So, there she was, on the threshold of Lu’Shen’s brothel, wishing she had a weapon to defend herself or a coin to drown hersorrow in a mug of ale.
No one paid her a look in her inconspicuous black clothes as she walked into the tavern, and no one noticed how she wrinkled her nose at the blend of stale ale, hay pipes, and incense drafting from the lively crowd losing their money at the gambling tables.
One quick glance around the blue and gold tiled space, and she knew the madame had to be in the other room—the one where ale and gamble weren’t the only pleasures this place had to offer.
She’d have sat down and ordered a mug of the spicy draught herself, but Khayrivven hadn’t given her a timeline, and something told her she’d rather have found Lu’Shen by the time he showed up.
Marking the groups of patrons, Lory made her way between the tables, dancing out of the way of the young waitress with the low-cut blouse whose customers seemed more interested in the exposed tops of her breasts than the tray of meat and cheese she was setting down at their table.
A part of her wondered if this was a place Khayrivven had visited as a customer or if he didn’t need to seek distraction like that in a place where he needed to pay for it. If she was honest, she would be surprised if people weren’t willing to pay to get close tohim. No matter the pretty faces of the male prostitutes visible through the open door connecting the two rooms, they faded in comparison to Khayrivven’s.
Ignoring the thought and the ugly sensation of jealousy rearing its head in her stomach at the thought of Khayrivven with another woman, Lory slid into the entertainment room, scanning the place for potential threats and exits. Thetavern part of the brothel, she knew like the back of her hand, but this part, she’d only ever spied through the door, so in her mind, she built a map of how to best bolt if push came to shove.
A high-up window in the corner, blocked by a heavy, red curtain, seemed to be the best option, the robust standing table in front of it strong enough to hop onto. On the other side, a door led to a stairwell where a woman in a lacy, red gown was leading a half-drunk man by the hand, on their way to perform the sort of transaction that was spoken about only behind closed doors.
Lory swallowed at the sight of the women in gauzy chiffon and skin-tight lace, their curves put on display like fruits on a market. That was the reason Khayrivven had told her to act like she didn’t know him—he wouldn’t want a female attachment in a place like this.
“There you are, Elory,” a familiar voice made her nearly jump out of her skin.
When she turned around, Lu’Shen’s painted face smiled at her with the warmth of a friend and the scrutiny of a teacher.
“I got word you’d drop by soon.”
Before Lory could ask why, by Eroth, Khayrivven would want her to meet Lu’Shen, the madame grabbed her by the elbow and guided her toward the stairs. “You look better than the last time I saw you. Not as skinny. Except for the pale patches on your face. What happened?” She shook her head, Lory stumbling along while debating if running was an option Khayrivven would accept. “You know what? Don’t tell me. You’ll be quite the novelty in my halls with thatpretty pattern.” With a bejeweled finger, she pointed at the outline of pale skin on Lory’s cheek. “My customers like to see something new every now and then.”
Lory checked over her shoulder to see if said customers were already coming after them or if they remained in the entertainment room, from where their laughs and the prostitutes’ giggles sounded up the wood-paneled stairwell.
“What do you mean?”
Lu’Shen led her to a room at the top of the stairs, the first one along a long hallway with closed doors left and right. “The captain sent you here to learn something, and my establishment is the best place to learn it.”
Dread pooled in Lory’s belly at the sort of things one could learn at Lu’Shen’s.
