have? If you’d start walking like a spy instead of a pretty boy, we might not be in this mess.”
“We should change clothes.”
Leilius rolled his eyes. “Waltzing in and buying new clothes wouldn’t look suspicious at all, no. We dress in rags like the poor for fun. It’s a style choice.”
The shadows pooled on the ground up ahead. Beyond them stretched black. A wall.
Leilius let out his breath and stopped. “This is impossible. And I haven’t seen one clothesline. We might have to wait for dark.”
“There’s a door, though.” Xavier walked forward on light feet. “Might be the back of a shop. Think it’s a clothes shop?”
“No. Our luck, it’d probably be a Graygual house or something. C’mon, let’s go back.”
They turned back only to stop suddenly. Leilius melded into the side of the alleyway immediately. Xavier was next to him a moment later, his heavy breath on the back of Leilius’ head.
“Step away, idiot,” Leilius hissed.
A group of five women had stopped just inside the alleyway. That wouldn’t normally be cause for alarm, but these women seemed different. Shiny, skintight leather from head to toe, the curves of their bodies effectively on display. In many cases the neckline dipped way low, showing ample cleavage. One plummeted all the way to her belt, showing a strip of feminine body Leilius rarely saw.
“What are they holding?” Xavier whispered, his voice quivering in fear.
Leilius closed his eyes tight. He’d heard of these women. Occasionally men had been taken from trading routes. Young men, usually. Sometimes they turned up a while later with horrible stories and wounds to show for it. Sometimes they were gone forever. “Whips.”
“No, I mean the one with metal. Is that a chain?”
“These are Mardis, Xavier.” Leilius took out a knife.
“Naw. Are you sure?”
“How many women wear leather and carry whips? I haven’t heard of very many.”
“You also haven’t been traveling all that long. This is a city. They wouldn’t allow this type of thing here.”
“Then why aren’t you stepping out and saying hi?” Leilius asked sarcastically before realizing that the women had remained where they were, and were now staring at them. One of them called out.
“What language is that?” Xavier asked. “Shit. They’re coming.”
Leilius stepped into the middle of the alleyway with his knife firmly in hand. The element of surprise was gone, so now he’d have to fight. There were more of them, but he hoped they weren’t like Shanti. If that was the case, he should be able to barrel through.
“We don’t want to hurt anyone,” Leilius called out, hoping they spoke the traders’ language. “We lost our way.”
“You found your way, you mean,” one of the women said delightedly. “You are at our back door. Some of us like when men come in our back door.”
Xavier quickly stepped away from the wall.
“Oooh. Look at you,” one of them purred.
“I claim that one,” another said.
“Ladies, we can all share. They are young. Lots of stamina.” The chains rustled.
Leilius pulled on his collar, trying to get a little air to his suddenly hot neck. “I’m in over my head here…”
As the women drew closer, Leilius had a harder time feeling his fingers around his knife thanks to the pounding going on in other places. His eyes meant to look into other eyes, but he couldn’t peel them away from half-exposed breasts. And the little crease between her thighs.
A crack made him jump, then he felt a horrible pain in his hand. He glanced down dumbly at his thumb, then the knife now lying at his feet.
“We should run,” Xavier said in a wistful voice.
“Yeah,” Leilius agreed. He really meant it to sound more convincing.
“Tell me true, were you looking for us?” One of them stopped in front of Leilius. Her red lips were curved in a smile. A pink tongue spread moisture across her bottom lip. Leilius stared, transfixed, as a cloth appeared from nowhere and covered his mouth and nose. He knew one moment of warning before he drifted into blackness.
Alena froze mid-step. Her foot hovered above the footpath. Raucous laughter drifted out from around the corner. Her foot didn’t make a sound when it landed, but the slide of her shoes against stone as she pivoted did.
She took a deep breath. The map crinkled as her grip tightened. Running would draw attention, but having a Graygual take notice of her while she was standing flatfooted would be much worse.
Chatter rode the dying laughter. A shout pierced the air. It sounded like drinking, carousing men.
Alena