by Lea Linnett
“He’d still give you to a client when you’re injured?” Taz asked, horrified.
The woman pressed her painted lips together. “Yeah. He doesn’t mind whether a client is put off by bruises and stuff if they’re only buying for an hour or two, like you. Walk-ins aren’t usually the type to be repeat clients.”
Taz scoffed, that familiar anger still bubbling away in her belly. “I’m gonna kill that fucker.”
Kamanek tutted at her from the bathroom doorway, a wet wash towel in his hands. “I don’t know if murdering the brothel owner is the best way to cover our tracks.”
“Better than letting this guy use sub-species like this.”
“And a surefire way to cut off our investigation before it’s even started.”
Kamanek came to kneel in front of them, wiping the blotchy makeup away from the woman’s bruised arm and laying the cloth down over her skin. She looked up at him curiously. “What’s this for?”
He shrugged. “There’s no ice or cold compresses, but the water should help soothe the ache a little.”
“Thank you…”
“What’s your name?” he asked, and Taz was taken aback at the change in him. The vapid businessman had vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a more soothing demeanor.
But the woman still hesitated. “…Are you guys enforcers?” She looked at Taz and seemed to reconsider. “Or police?”
She expected Kamanek to spin another story, but he turned to Taz instead, his heavy, plated brow rising in invitation as he deferred to her. She considered for a moment, before deciding the truth was best. “We’re Lodestars,” she whispered, thankful for the pleased moan that rang through the neighboring wall at the exact moment she spoke, covering her. Her heart lightened when the woman’s eyes lit up. “We’re trying to find out what’s been happening to the humans in this Quarter.”
“Oh, thank god,” the woman breathed, shutting her eyes. “But wait. I thought the Lodestars were disbanded.”
Taz shook her head. “We lost some members when that asshole senator skipped the planet a few months ago. The rest of us are just lying low, trying to help where we can.”
She wasn’t ready for the look of relief the woman leveled at her, or the set of hands that reached out to grab hers, and felt a blush rise to her cheeks. “Thank you,” she said.
Kamanek glanced between them, before prompting, “Your name?”
“It’s… Samantha,” the woman said, and she seemed to be reassessing him, too. “So there are levekk in the Lodestars now?”
“He’s temporary,” Taz growled, squeezing Samantha’s hand and standing up from the bed. She reached for her gun as she eased toward the door, before remembering it was still downstairs. Pressing her ear to the wood, she listened for any voices, but all that reached her was the hum of the brothel and a few noises that she didn’t want to know the origin of.
She turned back in time to catch Kamanek watching her again, and Samantha watching him with wide eyes. He didn’t seem to have noticed.
“So have you heard anything about these disappearances, Samantha?” Taz asked, ignoring the levekk’s gaze.
Samantha blinked back to reality. “There are… rumors, I guess.”
“Have you noticed anyone missing?”
“Oh, yes,” she said. “We lose a few every month, usually all together. Mr Jonson says they’re not pulling their weight, but I know for a fact that Morgan was popular with customers.”
“And are they all human?”
She nodded.
“Fuck.”
“At least we know for sure that something’s going on,” Kamanek said.
“I’d rather it wasn’t happening at all. Can you tell us about some of those rumors?”
Samantha nodded quickly, removing the cloth from her bruised arm and pressing it gingerly to her eye. “We think they’re being taken to Sek Vorek.”
Taz’s eyes widened. That was the capital of Continent 2, in the middle of the desert. “Why?”
“A lot of us have seen this cicarian hanging around. He never buys anyone, but he’s always talking to Mr Jonson. Linny found a card he dropped once. Was for something called the Silver Veil, she said.”
“Do you know his name?”
“No.”
“Can you get the card?”
Samantha shook her head. “Mr Jonson found out and burned it.”
“Goddammit.”
Taz glanced at Kamanek, who shrugged and said, “Sounds like a lead to me.”
“Do you know how many cicarians there are in New Chicago?” Taz snapped. “We don’t even know the guy’s name.”
“Do you know how many cicarians there are in their home colony on CL-6? The size of the crowd doesn’t matter if you know where to look.”
“Fascinating. If you think Mila’s gonna trust you with tracking down a contact, then you’re sorely mistaken.”
“I think she’ll trust me plenty when we walk out of here with a lead.”
“What fucking lead?”
“Um.” The human on the bed cleared her throat, looking between them with wide eyes. “I know how to find him.”
Taz frowned. “How?”
“I don’t think we’re the only house he visits,” Samantha explained. “He’s got business all over the Serise Quarter. But he must do them in some kind of order, because he usually visits us on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month.”
“That’s… tonight,” Taz realized, a slow grin spreading across her face. “We could stake the place out and jump him.”
“You’re gonna accost every cicarian that comes in and out of here?” Kamanek asked, not unkindly. He almost sounded excited by the prospect.
“You won’t need to,” Samantha said. “He’s bright blue, with a hole in his wing—you won’t be able to miss him.”
For the first time that day, the pit of disgust and anger in Taz’s stomach lightened. This was what they needed. This was their chance to really help the people of New Chicago again.
She walked over to Samantha and grabbed the human’s hands, squeezing them tightly. “Thank you,” she murmured. “We’re gonna put a stop to whatever these sick fucks are doing. I promise.”
Samantha smiled. “Thank you. The Lodestars do good work.”
Taz nodded, dropping the woman’s hand and eyeing the door. “Now, we have to find a way to get you out of here.”
Kamanek’s brow plate jumped at that. “You wanna bust her out?”
“Oh, no—”
“Of course I do.”
“I thought we were supposed to lie low?” the levekk asked, a grin spreading across his face.
“Yeah, but if we can save even one—”
“Please. Don’t do that,” Samantha interrupted. “I can’t leave right now.”
Taz frowned. “Why not?”
The human’s brow set in a determined line as she gazed up at her. “This is the first job I’ve had in months. I need it.”
“But, your injuries…”
“I don’t care. If Mr Jonson catches me trying to leave, I’ll be in for worse.”
Taz shook her head, dumbfounded. “But you could come with us. You could work for the Lodestars.”
“I have two sisters working here,” she said, biting her lip. “They’re younger than me—I can’t leave them behind. And we’ve all heard the rumors. Can you really take on that many more mouths to feed?”
Kamanek glanced up at her. “She has a point.”
Taz grunted, glaring at the levekk. But he was right. “Then I guess all we can do is… wait,” she said, deflating slightly at the realization. “We’ve only been in here for half an hour. It’d be strange to leave now.”
Kamanek took that opportunity to rise to his feet and circle the bed, flopping onto it and resting his plated head against the headboard. Taz gave him a withering look, but that only earned her a shrug of his shoulders.
“What? If we’re going to be here a while, I’d rather be comfortab
le.” He turned to Samantha, who was still perched on the end of the bed, peering at him with wide eyes that were a little less cautious than before. “Have you always lived in New Chicago?” he asked her.
“No…”
And as she started to speak in low tones about her childhood on the south-east coast, Taz felt something in her gut twist unpleasantly. He’d used that line almost word-for-word when he’d tried to get her talking. Hearing it again somehow burst a bubble that she hadn’t even realized she’d been delicately cradling.
Which was stupid. She should be feeling relieved, now that the levekk’s infuriating teasing was finally turned upon someone else. And she was, she told herself. She didn’t need someone to pester her to make her feel special. That stuff was for children and teenagers.
So, why did she feel as if she was suddenly missing out on something?
Something ugly burned hot and low in her gut, different from the anger that she was so used to. She pushed it aside, sitting down at the base of the door and leaning her head back against the metal. The noise from the rooms around them drowned out Kamanek and Samantha’s whispered conversation, and she told herself she was glad, rather than irritated.
She closed her eyes, trying to focus. Now wasn’t the time to be distracted by him, or the pounding in her chest.
5
Kamanek couldn’t keep his eyes off Taz, even as the other human told him about her life before the brothel. She’d begun to knock gently against the metal door, neat taps that oscillated in some pattern that he couldn’t quite follow, and he wondered what she was doing. Was she signaling to Rekel in some way? Letting him know what they’d learned?
She was full of secrets, and Kamanek found himself wanting to unravel each and every one.
But Samantha chose that moment to look over her shoulder, following his gaze. She shuffled a little closer, asking conspiratorially: “Who is she to you?”
He blinked, his brow plate rising. “She’s my colleague,” he said, but couldn’t help the small smile from pulling at his lips.
Samantha narrowed her eyes, her mouth pulling up at the corners. “Is that all?”
“As much as it pains me to say it,” he murmured, “yes.”
“That’s a shame. You guys have chemistry.”
“Oh, really?”
“Mmhmm. I could practically see the sparks when you two came in.”
“I think she’d call that hate.”
Samantha raised her eyebrows, glancing back at Taz, who was studiously focused on whatever she was doing with the door. “And I’d call that jealousy.”
Kamanek’s lips pursed. “You think?”
“Yep.”
“Well, I hope you’re right.” They fell silent for a moment, before a thought occurred to him. “I’m surprised you’re being so supportive, working in a place like this. With me being levekk, and all.”
Samantha shrugged. “Maybe it’s because I work in a place like this. We don’t just serve levekk clients, you know. In fact, it’s mostly not. The guy that did this?” She gestured at the blotchy purple marks around her eye, free now of makeup after being blotted with the wet cloth. “Pindar. Guy nearly crushed me, too.”
“That’s horrible,” he said, and she nodded.
“Point is, I know that you don’t need to be a levekk to be an asshole. And you seem nice.” She held up her arm, where she’d placed the damp cloth again. “Thanks again.”
“No problem.”
There was a pregnant pause, and then Samantha leaned in, eyeing Taz. “You know,” she said, wetting her lower lip with a slip of her pink tongue. “You still have a little while before your session ends. And you did already pay Mr Jonson…”
Kamanek blinked down at her, caught off-guard. He knew his way around a brothel, and was more than intimately aware of what women like her did for a living, but still it took him a moment to realize what she was implying. “You don’t need to do that,” he assured her, smiling indulgently. “That’s not why we’re here.”
But the human’s eyes didn’t waver. “Mr Jonson will inspect me and the room when you leave. If it looks like nothing happened in here, he’ll be suspicious.” She bit her lip now, rolling the soft flesh between her teeth. “Besides, you’ve been kind. If it was you, I wouldn’t mind.”
When he was younger, he might have said yes. He might have even been tempted as little as a few days ago. But now he glanced up at Taz, who had her ear to the door, no doubt listening for a response in whatever communication game she was playing, and he found that he couldn’t be less interested in the offer.
“That’s really not necessary,” he told her, and when her face fell, he cast around for ideas. “We can try and keep you out of trouble, though.”
She cocked her head. “How?”
Kamanek smirked, patting her hand and rising from the bed. He circled it, trailing his fingertips across the thin, smooth sheets—which were of a surprisingly high quality for a sub-species establishment and were evidently meant to appeal to levekk customers—and then yanked them upwards, leaving them to fall haphazardly to the bed. The human stood, eyes widening as she realized what he was doing.
He paused, a smile on his face. “Got any other ideas?”
Her face lit up. “Move those pillows around,” she said, pointing. “And dig your claws into the mattress a little.”
He held up the unmodified talons of his right hand to the light, his grin widening. “Very clever.”
He did as she asked as she went around the room adjusting things, his claws sinking into the linen covering and bringing up small puffs of fiber. It figured that the mattress was cheap, beneath all the finery.
When he was finished, Samantha sent him a secretive smile, her hand on the foot of the mattress. She didn’t blush as she began to push the mattress towards the wall and back, making the bed-frame around it creak rather… suggestively. And loudly enough to be heard outside.
Kamanek stifled a laugh as the woman snickered. Across the room, Taz finally noticed them.
“What the hell are you two doing?”
He turned to find the human on her feet, her dark brows furrowed in confusion at their antics. “We’re just putting on a show,” he said.
“Here, come help me push,” Samantha hissed, and Kamanek was happy to oblige. He went to stand beside her, rocking the piece of furniture with a little more intensity until it reached what he thought was a natural crescendo, banging into the wall behind. He then jerked it slightly askew, and he and Samantha shared a look of pride as they gazed over their work, the bed a perfect picture of brothel indulgence as far as Kamanek was concerned.
But there was something else he could do. “Here,” he said, holding up his arm and pulling his sleeve back. “Smear that lip paint on my scales. It should look more authentic.”
The woman nodded, not hesitating to rub her lips across his arm.
By the door, Taz looked like she was holding back an exclamation of disgust. “What the fuck are you doing now?” she hissed.
“Making it look like something happened in here other than spywork,” Kamanek explained.
“What?”
Kamanek grinned, and then smeared a bit of the paint across his own mouth, just enough to make it look as if he’d missed a spot.
Taz glared at him. “You’re sick.”
“He’s helping me,” said Samantha, her hands in her hair separating the strands and turning it wild. “So I don’t get in trouble.”
Recognition dawned across Taz’s face, but she still looked displeased. “Well, Rekel’s ready for us,” she groused. “We’re a bit early, but it shouldn’t seem too suspicious. They’ll just assume you finished quickly,” she added, sneering at him. Kamanek grinned. That fit his cover perfectly.
“Lead the way,” he said. He nodded a thank you to Samantha, who curtsied and moved to sit on the end of the bed.
Taz lingered by the door, sending one last look in the woman’s direction, and as Kamanek approached her
he couldn’t resist. He reached up, quickly tousling Taz’s short, dark hair, and within seconds found his wrist caught in a surprisingly iron grip.
“Don’t touch me.”
“You were meant to be participating, remember?” he teased. “You need to look the part.”
With her hair sticking up in all directions, she did rather look the part, and Kamanek wouldn’t deny that the sight sent his blood rushing straight down. He wondered what she’d look like stretched out beneath his body in a bed like the one behind him, or kneeling at his feet.
“Creep.” She dropped his wrist in disgust, shoved him back, and opened the door.
Rekel didn’t react when they emerged. The brothel’s security, posted just a few doors down, were more interested, but Kamanek could tell their roving eyes were curious, rather than suspicious. He put on his most self-satisfied grin and made sure to thank Mr Jonson profusely while the Lodestars collected their weapons. Then, they were away, retreating as slowly as they dared to their parked transport.
They’d only driven a short distance away when Taz asked Rekel to stop the vehicle.
“So you got something,” the pindar stated after he’d set them down in a quiet street and slid back the partition, confirming Kamanek’s suspicion that Taz had been signaling him in some way.
Taz nodded, her excitement barely in check. “The woman—Samantha—said a blue cicarian has been hanging around their brothel, and he’ll be visiting tonight. He has a business in Sek Vorek called the Silver Veil, apparently.”
“That’s a good start,” he said, a shadow of a smile passing over his lips. “We’ll inform Mila.”
“Don’t you think we should find the guy and question him?” Taz asked, her face falling.
“Maybe. But we don’t move until Mila gives us the go ahead.”
“But we barely have anything to show her.”
“We have enough.”
“Why slow ourselves down? The cicarian will be right there tonight. If we take too long, it might be weeks before we can find him again.”
“Taz, we’ve done enough for now. Don’t complicate things.”
She bristled, her hands curling into fists. “But—”