Sun Broken (The Wild Hunt #11) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,64
of murder?”
“Well, he’s into rough sex play. He was a member here before he joined the Spooks, and one of our girls refused to be in the same room with him,” Eldris said. “She agreed to rough play, so we had to let her go for refusing to entertain our clients.”
I glanced at Raven, who winced right along with me. “Seriously? You let them rough up the girls? What kind of fucked-up joint are you running?”
Eldris paused, looking up from his screen to stare at me. “Do I come into your place of business and ask what kind of half-assed work you’re doing? No, I do not. You’re allowed to have an opinion, but that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to share it with me.”
Yutani glanced my way, just enough to tell me it was time to shut up. “We wouldn’t think of questioning your operations. We’re just grateful you’re willing to help us.”
Eldris snorted. “Yes, I’m sure. Is there anyone else you need information on?”
“Do you have any background information on our victims that we should be aware of, that might not make it into the official reports?” Raven leaned forward. “You know what I mean.”
Yutani fed him the names and Eldris typed them in. “Most are clean, given what I usually see come through here. There might be a few tidbits, but I doubt it.” He printed out a couple pages of information and handed them to Yutani. “Now, you do realize you owe me a favor.”
“Exactly. I’ll call you when I need you. I know where you work. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to make my rounds again.” He followed us to the door, stopping me with a cold hand on my elbow. “I know you aren’t his pet, but are you sure you wouldn’t be interested in a little fantasy?”
I stared at his fingers, resisting the urge to slap them away. “No, thank you. Not unless you want Herne to pay you a visit, because he would. And he’s not always the best-tempered god around.”
With that, Eldris gave me a genteel nod and led us out of his office to a side door where we found ourselves on a balcony overlooking the alley. “There are the fire ladders. You may exit this way, so as to not draw any undue attention to yourself.”
I stared at the iron bars of the balcony. Iron and the Fae got along just dandy, if you didn’t mind welts, burns, and—with prolonged exposure—death. “If I touch those, it’s going to hurt like hell. I need some gloves.” I spoke to Yutani, not Eldris.
“I didn’t bring any,” Yutani said, a worried look on his face.
I glanced at Eldris, who seemed to almost be enjoying my predicament. But Trinity saved the day. He reached in his pocket and brought out a pair of black evening gloves, handing them to me without a word.
“Thank you,” I said, and he nodded at me, still looking disinterested in anything that had happened.
Yutani studied Eldris for a moment, who was just watching as he leaned against the doorframe, an amused look on his face. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
I stopped him. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter.” I gauged the drop to the ground. It was about twenty-five to thirty feet down. Once I reached the midpoint on the rungs, I could drop down and do little more than scrape my knees. I swung over the edge, making sure the satin of the gloves were firmly swaddling my hands, and began the slow descent down the rungs.
I could feel the energy of the iron through the material, and through the soles of my ballet flats. It pulsed, aching bone-deep, but at least it wasn’t burning me. Once, I slipped and my elbow hit the ladder. I caught my breath, but managed to stifle my shout. I didn’t want to give Eldris anything to crow over. A few moments later, I reached the two-thirds point.
I glanced down at the ground. There, under the dim light of a back alley lamp attached to the building, I could see nothing to impede me, so I exhaled and jumped, landing in a crouching position. The gloves cushioned my hands from the pavement. Shaking, I stood, steadying myself on the nearby brick wall.
Raven hustled down the ladder next, grimacing. The iron hurt her, too, but not as much as it did me, and she was quicker than I expected her