there, and you’re the top courtesan bounty of the year. Actually, for the past five years. Usually, the bounties cap out at seventy-five thousand. But, it’s usually a lot easier to bring the courtesan in for the auction. Most have no idea how to defend themselves from bounty hunters. I wouldn’t be surprised if your bounty value goes up within a few weeks, too.”
“Isn’t that just wonderful,” I muttered.
“This probably doesn’t help much, but you’re valued. The reason for being valued is rotten, but at least you have gotten the right sort of attention. Me?” Anna snorted and shrugged. “I have a snowball’s chance in hell of being viewed positively. I’m a whole lot of things those folks really don’t like.”
“Does it make it sweeter when you get to hold out your hand and force them to pay you?”
She grinned. “It absolutely does.”
“What do you think about Moretti?”
“Sandro?” Anna asked, her brows furrowing. After a moment, her expression relaxed, and she shrugged. “He’s trouble.”
Yes, he was, especially when he wore a white shirt in the rain. “What sort of trouble?”
“Well, he’s a quadrant mage, he’s got a temper when he’s of a mind, he has a very specific thought on how women should be treated, and he’ll use his magic to enforce that way of thinking if he’s crossed.”
Anna confused me. “I can’t tell if he’s good trouble or bad trouble. How does he feel women should be treated, and what sort of magic will he use?”
“He’s an evoker in the Alley, and he blasted off a jerk’s hand in your bar for inappropriate behavior.”
Lora. Sandro had been the one to help Lora? My opinion of the hot ass bounty hunter rose a little too much for my good. “Is he any good?”
“Well, he blasted off a jerk’s hand. Cleanly cauterized it, too. And he doesn’t seem to need that fancy of a poem to do it. A one-liner, or so the rumors say, and he used Shakespeare. Specifically, ‘Cowards die many times before their deaths.’ He has opinions.”
“Well, Lora isn’t old enough to drink, and she didn’t take being manhandled well. Bastard deserved it. But in good news, Lora is headed to the East now, and I hope she made it out. Gertrude made it out as far as I know.”
“Good. At least she’ll have a chance there. Lora’s the little thing that works the meal orders?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
“Always thought she was a bit young.”
I shrugged. “She didn’t have much choice, and Brent took her in. We pooled our wages and tips to get her out and get her started in the East. If you head that way and see her, do what you can for her, would you?”
“She’s cute enough she might make a good house servant, but unless she has the bloodline to go with those cute looks or she sprouts a tail and some ears, I doubt she’d be selected to be an uncontested courtesan—or a courtesan. That’s good, though. I got lines. I’ll put a word out if I can get in touch with her. I’ve got some good contacts in the East, so I can send a message and have them look out for her. You know her info?”
I nodded and told Anna what I knew, from Lora’s full name, her birthday, and the scar on the back of her hand that she’d gotten because of a bar fight that had gotten out of hand. Fortunately for her, one of the participants lived in Asylum and took responsibility for her injury, having her stitched up in Asylum’s hospital and handling all of her care.
Only a scar and a memory remained, and I hoped that was all she took to the East with her when she built her new life.
We spent the rest of the meal eating in silence, and when it came time to pay the bill, Anna snagged mine. “We’re about to make your life living hell, so it’s the least I can do. You’ll be worth every penny of the pay, little fox. Keep an eye on the sky.”
“Thanks. You, too.”
Keeping an eye on the sky wouldn’t save us, but at least it would give us a fighting chance. Long after she left, I stared at the door, listened to the growling sky, and wondered.
Ten
I disliked the taste of blood, especially when it was mine.
Tuesday, May 5, 2043.
Owasso, Oklahoma.
The Alley.
* * *
Sixteen miles from the northernmost edge of Tulsa, the City of Storms waited. Did those within the Alley know or care