Page 9 of The Satyr's Guilt
“We cannot tell you how grateful we are,Firebrand. To you as well as to our fellow villagers whoaccompanied you.” Pap hugged both child and mother in his beefyarms. “Join us. We will celebrate the return of our beloved Katya.Aye?”
“Will there be drinking involved?” askedRam. He was in a mood to celebrate.Hell. He’d saved afive-year-old kid. What could be better?
“Drinking, dancing, and eating. Aye,” thefather elaborated while he led them along the winding, narrow pathdeeper into the marketplace where loud hawkers haggled over goods,selling colorful fabrics, bright woven rugs, sparkling jewelry, andhanging meat in the bazaar. They were Darque’s traders, drawingshoppers not only from their own realm but from Scath as well.
They pushed their way through the gawkers,who were fingering products, trying on bangle bracelets or quiltedvests, and tasting food.
A large central courtyard was alreadyfilling with people wanting to see Katya along with her saviors.There, a female Spriggan turned a hunk of meat on a spit over ablazing fire pit. It could have been any animal. He hoped it wasn’ta hellhound.
Ram settled cross-legged in front of thewelcome evening fire beside Pap. Though it was spring, in themountains of Spriggan Enclave the air was cool. Someone shoved ahide flask into his hand.
A male dressed in crimson pants and a brightyellow silk shirt, hands on hips, commandingly blocked theFirebrand’s view. His spine was straight, authority and a certainamount of mistrust in his eyes. “I’m Chief Sparce. I called yourcommander to request assistance when Katya went missing. We couldnot find her. Though Kole and I have our differences, he sent usyou. For this, we are grateful. Now drink.”
Their differences? That was one way to putit. After Kole had captured Sparce’s brother, he turned him over tothe Temple of Justice. Ram couldn’t remember the crime. But it wasserious. The gaffers held the male in the Cubes until the Justicesdelivered a quick verdict. With an axe through his neck, theyreleased him to the Evermore.
Simple justice.
“Do I want to know what this is?” Ram wavedthe flask in the air.
“Helmslag.” Katya’s father volunteered theinfo as he rested alongside his daughter’s hero, the girl bouncingin his lap. With a hand on her shoulder to still the child, heclasped his own drink. He removed the cap and took a long pull.“Ah-berserker-berserker. Know only this.” The Spriggan dropped hislids, giving a swift shake of his head. “It’s strong enough to takedown a male warcat and still let you hump your female all nightlong. Aye?”
With the smell of meat cooking, Sprigganshigh-fiving, and a male playing a bandora as couples danced to itssweet ballad-like sounds, Ram popped the cap, took a swig, andgasped. His hand flew to his throat. He squeezed as the liquidburned all the way into his gut. “Son-of-a-pig-nosed-rat. Bring iton.” He tipped the flask again to take a longer pull.
In front of the Firebrand, a female withlight-colored antlers swayed in time to the music. She was deckedout in a cobalt-blue skirt barely covering her slim thighs and atight knit top showing off her headlights. Her navel peeked belowthe cropped shirt. With her hands waving high above, her curvy hipsgently undulated. She threw in a few bumps, a few grinds, a wink toboot.
Ram shook his head, sending her away. Hegave her an A for effort, though.
Katya’s father punched his arm. “Drink a fewmore swills of helmslag. She will look good to you. Aye?”
Ram watched the female’s shapely ass wigglewhen she stopped in front of another male. “Mebbe.”
He laughed. He joked with the villagers. Hedrank some more. Tipping the flask, Ram swallowed another slug ofhelmslag. Having used heaps of energy today, he was suddenlyhungry. A satyr fed on arousal as a vampire lived off blood. Theflirtatious dancer reeked of sexual need. Besides, he was fairlysure Spriggan females had the right parts.
Chapter Three
New Orleans, PresentDay
Denim Quinn squeezed her lips together,biting back a gag. It wasn’t because of the body at her feet. Hercast iron stomach didn’t object to guts, gore, and blood. She’dseen plenty of that in Afghanistan. More when she walked a beat inthe Lower 9th Ward. Her lunch wanted out because of theoverpowering stench of the alley. Discarded food from tworestaurants, stale booze from a bar, urine puddles, and what shethought might be a few dead rats.
Yep.
The scene was grisly. The left side of thebody’s face was blown away. Dirt blended with blood, brains, andunidentifiable fluids which oozed under its head like a halo. As ifthe bullet hadn’t been enough, the killer had jammed a knife intothe guy’s chest, shimmying it around until the cavity wasmincemeat.
Overkill.Even though the dead guywas an Aeternal.
Deep cuts scored the groin. An arm had beencut off and flung to the side near a dumpster like so muchtrash.
Somebody was pissed enough to use a gun anda big-ass blade.
The soldier-turned-cop-turned-Alliance-agentrose, her knees popping. She dusted off her hands. Pinching hernostrils, she shot a question at her partner. Every year duringMardi Gras season, an Aeternal paired with a human Alliance agentto prowl the streets of New Orleans.
Denim’s employer, the Alliance ProtectionAgency, was a front, hiring out as bodyguards, private security,and soldiers of fortune. But their real mission was to provideaccess to trade, assistance in returning illegal Aeternals to theirrealm, and a lid on secrets about Scath’s breeds. All employees atthe organization bore a smidgeon of Aeternal DNA thanks to thosewho had remained behind after the Karmic Schism. Though most of thespecies went to Scath, others with human families on Earth stayed.Once travel between the realms of Scath and Earth became possible,the humans created the Alliance to assist their ancient ancestors,the Aeternals.
Denim’s partner was also the “unusual”friend, an Amazon who lived on Scath. Girls’ night out wasn’t easyto arrange. They lived a realm apart. As a Firebrand, Galena had anifty device which allowed her to travel through portals whenever.Alliance agents did not. So Denim was Earth-bound. “Do we know whohe is, Galena?”
Her partner knelt beside the body buttwisted her neck to look at the other team. “Thorn, do youknow?”
The wolf shifter answered, absent-mindedlywaving the severed arm through the air. Blood splattered on thebrick wall, creating an impromptu Jackson Pollock. Thorn was aScion Firebrand from the same Covenkirk stronghold as Galena. Hewiped an errant splash from his cheek. He, along with his humanAlliance partner Rod, were first on the scene. “His prints syncwith the phone call info we got. He’s an incubus. Warner’s thename.”
