23. Brothel
Chapter Twenty-Three
Brothel
MAGNOLIA
Iwasn’t paying attention as Cash led me out of the Dome—but I should have been. I was still so shocked that Arrik was really Hael.
I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that the rider who brought me into Viven was the same rider I would eventually have to sneak out. Dahes only said I had to figure out his weaknesses, but I knew better than to assume someone else would get him out when the time came for it.
There was no one else.
“This way, convict,” Cash said as we rounded a corner. Only then did I realize we weren’t in Elion’s castle and that I’d been blindly following him. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been going in and out, my mind reeling.
“Where are we?” I asked. Cobblestone streets stretched between neatly lined buildings, all pristine and too clean to look lived in.
It was a stark contrast to Moriann—no homeless lurking in the shadows, waiting to steal what little you had.
Torches were spiked through garden patches, illuminating everything in a soft glow that added to the sinking suns.
Various stands were placed in front of entrances, selling all sorts of goods. And not just necessities either, but trinkets—bright colored beads, fresh flowers, soaps, hand-sewn scarves, small oil painting replicas of the six dragons.
I wrinkled my nose as we kept walking, the scents were strong, tainting the feel of the warm breeze and making the air seem stagnant instead.
And despite how wide the streets were, it only illuminated the feeling of organized claustrophobia. Every open inch was packed with people drinking and shopping. I wasn’t sure if it was because everyone was coming out to celebrate the end of the Vargothi or if it was normally this crowded.
“We’re in Avennille,” Cash called ahead of me just before he rounded a corner. “It’s the market district in the Grigg.”
“Why are you taking me here?” I asked as I hurried after him.
“You’re training tonight. You clearly haven’t been practicing on your own and tonight is our only free night to do it.”
I didn’t completely recoil at the idea. I knew the moment my Token manifested earlier that Cash would bring up our training, and despite hating his tactics, I had a newfound resolve to overcome it.
“That still doesn’t answer why we’re here,” I said.
“You told me that we didn’t need any special training grounds—”
He cut me off. “It’s best we stay out of the castle for the next couple of hours.”
“Why?” That caught my attention.
“The Imassura is happening tonight.”
“The what?” I’d heard so many different names over the past three days that I was having a hard time keeping them straight.
“Elion is selecting the drakins for breeding and sterilization. That’s the Imassura. The ones for sterilization get the procedure tonight.”
“They get it immediately?” I had no idea why it shocked me. Honestly, everything was shocking me lately. From not realizing that dragons correlated with the Moon Gods, to having my prior belief of Viven completely tarnished, and now Hael…
I kept playing back all my encounters with him.
I couldn’t comprehend how I never even guessed he could have been the one I was hunting.
I just assumed that riders who made criminal drop offs into Moriann were low on the totem pole.
Then, the moment I learned his name was Arrik, I had subconsciously crossed him off in my head.
I should have asked for his full name. I should have assumed that the army uses last names only.
Suns, I was being so careless, so stupid. I was usually better at taking in small details.
I should have noted how he was always with the king, how he was standing on his balcony today. I should have realized that he had to be high up within the Drakin Army for the sheer amount of armor and weapons he donned.
But I didn’t. All I noticed was his piercing gaze or the fact that he pissed me off with his stupid threats of trying to get me to leave.
“Yeah,” Cash laughed as he held a door open for me. “The ball’s tomorrow so…”
Whatever else he said I didn’t hear. It went in one ear and out the other. I was paralyzed, I couldn’t move…
It took me three seconds to take in the room before I turned, about to bolt out the door when Cash stopped me. He grabbed onto my arm, dragging me into the building. “Oh, no you don’t. You have to train tonight.”
My stupid Token wasn’t manifesting. My heart started racing as his hand tightened around my arm. The door closed behind us with a loud slam, or at least, it felt loud to me. It kept reverberating in my ears, echoing with the realization that my worst fear was all around me.
A male rose from a barstool the moment we entered. He smirked as he eyed me, then walked over to Cash. I had never seen him before, but immediately my radar was screaming at me that he was a Wielder.
While Cash was bronzed from the suns—freckled skin, blonde hair turning golden—this man looked bathed in shadows. Everything about him was dark. His gaze, his hair, his persona.
I stared at my feet, refusing to take in the room around me.
“This is the convict?” The male sneered, and I could hear his smile without looking.
“Laxin, this is Nollie. Nollie—Laxin.”
I could barely register Cash’s voice as my heart started pounding.
“We’re upping the ante on your training tonight,” he leaned down to whisper into my ear.
“I want to leave.” I tried pulling away from his grip again, but I couldn’t. I closed my eyes, focusing on my breaths.
Breathe. One. Two. Three. Four. Exhale.
I blinked, fully opening my eyes again. I was still colorful. Shit. Why wasn’t my Token working?
Suns. I hated this about myself, hated that I didn’t have control, hated that I couldn’t get over that night. And being here… there was no way this was helping.
It was doing the opposite. Any bravado I had on the notion of training fully left me now.
“No,” Cash said. “I thought telling you about turning your Token into a desire would be enough, but clearly you aren’t any closer to getting over your fear of being touched.”
I was about to open my mouth to say something, say anything, when Cash continued—“King Elion expects to see your Token by the end of the Vargothi, which means tomorrow’s your last night before you need to be able to show him something.
” His grip tightened around my arm, his tone turning serious.
“And I’d rather meet Dahes in Hell than disappoint King Elion because you can’t control your Token.
So like it or not, we’re staying here until you get over your fear. ”
“I promise being here isn’t helping,” I gritted out through my teeth, my jaw aching from clenching it too hard.
A chorus of moans echoed in my ears. The entire room felt sticky and wrong. The smell alone was…
I closed my eyes again. I didn’t want to look, didn’t want to see.
Breathe. One. Two. Three. Four. Exhale.
I wasn’t in Moriann. Dahes wasn’t trying to touch me again. I was safe.
“Not yet, convict, but it will,” Cash said, as he accepted a drink from Laxin. “This is exactly the place you need to be. You’re too stiff. Relax. Have a drink.” I realized then that Laxin was holding one out for me too.
“Realize that sex can be fucking blissful,” Cash added as I stared daggers at Laxin’s extended hand.
He took me to a brothel.
I was fairly certain I might have been the only girl wearing clothes, but I didn’t want to look around the room too long to confirm the theory.
Breathe. One. Two. Three. Four. Exhale.
“Bring her this way,” Laxin said, finally drawing his hand back when I refused to take the drink. “I got us a private sectional.”
“Let’s go, convict,” Cash crooned in my ear, his hand never moving from my arm.
Breathe. One. Two. Three. Four. Exhale.
Cash dragged me through the room, my other arm kept rubbing against sticky bodies, as he followed Laxin through another door. Then another. And another.
Everything was dimly lit, the sconces were too small, only casting shadows over the place, but I didn’t need more light to be able to see all the naked bodies. People were bouncing, moaning, being thrown against walls. Some were on their knees. Sucking. Kissing. Biting.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I couldn’t be here.
Breathe. One. Two. Three. Four. Exhale.
Cash finally let go of my arm, only to push down on my shoulder until I fell onto a leather sofa.
I immediately straightened my back, wanting to be as far away from the leather as I could, imagining the material wrapping around my arms and trapping me.
“If you think about leaving, we’ll make it worse for you,” Laxin drawled as Cash took the seat next to me. Laxin was already lounging in a matching leather chair across from us. There was a small wooden table between the two with a singular candle lit and a bowl filled with grapes.
“We’re only making you watch, convict,” Cash said to my right.
“And drink,” Laxin added, re-extending his hand to offer me the glass.
I still didn’t take it.
“You decide how long we’re here for,” Cash shrugged at Laxin’s still extended hand. “But you’re having a drink, so the sooner you accept that, the quicker this will be.”
Breathe. One. Two. Three. Four. Exhale.
I grabbed the drink, my hand shaking as half of it spilled over my fingers and onto my lap.
Cash draped himself next to me, scanning the room with a sinful curiosity.
I stared at my hand. It was so pale compared to everyone in Viven, probably from years of lacking sunlight, but it was starting to turn red from the past couple of days standing on the balcony.
Some patches were peeling from scattered superficial burns.
I wanted it all gone. The moans alone made me want to crawl out of my own skin and wish for the dagger Dahes always gave me during my hunts just so I could carve all my flesh off my body.
The room smelled too musky, too damp, too metallic.
I refused to look, just kept staring at my hand and the half-spilled glass I was clutching in it. It was filled with a yellow-tinged liquid.