Cavernous.
A sprawling chamber bathed in deep red and amber light. The ceiling disappeared into darkness above. Silk curtains hung from invisible fixtures, some drawn, most open. Low platforms covered in cushions filled the floor in every direction, and on them. . .nude bodies.
Dozens of them.
A fucking orgy.
Hiroko widened her eyes. “Well. . .this is a change I didn’t know about.”
Men and women were intertwined on every surface. Half-lidded eyes rolled back in ecstasy or drug-induced abandon. Their writhing bodies slick with sweat and baby oil. Limbs tangled. Mouths on skin. Hands gripping, pulling, guiding. Teeth biting and grazing. Breasts bobbed. Nipples dripped with cum and saliva.
A woman arched backward over a man's lap and snorted a line of cocaine off his cock.
Two men moved together in a slow rhythm on a raised platform, their bodies glistening.
Near the far wall, a woman lay face down across a pile of cushions with her hips elevated. A man knelt behind her with his fist buried in her ass up to the wrist.
On the other side, a group of five—maybe six—undulated together on a massive cushion, so intertwined I couldn't tell where one ended and another began.
I cleared my throat. “I don’t see fox brands.”
“Me either.” Reo scanned the space. “Hide your weapons.”
“Sorry. I’m not much help right now.” Hiro slipped his knife back under his sleeve. “All I see is pussy and cock, and I’m mad I didn’t get an invitation.”
“Focus.”
We walked forward.
The sounds were everywhere.
Wet.
Raw.
Wild.
Moans layered on top of moans, gasps feeding into cries, all of it riding the bass into a perverse chorus composed specifically for a soundtrack of flesh.
Incense hung thick in the air, mingling with sweat, perfume, and the musk of sex.
We moved through it.
All we could do was keep our heads down, weapons tight to our bodies, and pray that no one in this sea of tangled flesh looked up long enough to notice a squad of armed men cutting through their paradise.
Thankfully, no one did.
They were too far gone.
Lost in each other.
Lost in whatever drugs the Depths had fed them.
Lost in the red light, bass, and the bodies pressed against theirs.
The world outside these walls didn't exist for them.
War didn't exist.
