Page 69 of Orange Tundra
But the market had caught my scent. Damn it, I should have literally bathed myself in Nim and Sim's seeds if I knew this would happen. All manasties have beasts inside them that heighten their senses. And we were in an underground market that literally sells illegal fertility drugs. They would know what a pregnant female would smell like.
Heads turned throughout the cavern, nostrils flaring as they detected my pheromone. Goosebumps erupted on my arms.
"A Goddess walks among us," someone whispered.
"Please, just let me touch?—"
"One blessing, sacred mother, just one?—"
They pressed closer, and I saw the full horror of what tribal neglect had wrought. Modified males clustered around damaged crystal formations, their surgically altered bodies gleaming with sweat and artificial smelling hormones. Some had breasts that wept constantly, staining their clothing with fluids that would never nourish young. Others had been so extensively modifiedthat their original gender was unrecognizable, leaving them trapped in bodies that satisfied no one.
The stench of infected surgical sites mixed with artificial pheromones made me gag.
"Hurry," someone spoke beside Sim as we navigated deeper. "We were able to divert them."
I understood now why CG's crew had looked at me with such reverence. In this economy, I wasn't just valuable. I was a living proof that the impossible could be achieved. Not something they read on a journal or text.
A commotion near the market's heart drew our attention. A crowd had gathered around something, their voices raised in what sounded like bidding. As we approached, I caught sight of the source of their excitement.
A female Neko, visibly pregnant, surrounded by five devoted males who moved like a coordinated unit. Two Manasties, a Neko male, and two others I couldn't immediately identify, all focused entirely on their shared mate. They fed her, groomed her, negotiated on her behalf with the reverence of priests tending their goddess.
"A polyamorous pod," Sim observed. "The apex of the underground hierarchy."
"Isn't it unsafe for her to be here?"I was curious why she would do this. Unless she also has someone she needed to rescue from Kilo's gang?
Nim snorted, but it was Sim who answered. "Clearly, Coone had been neglectful of his duties to orient you about their culture. Pregnant female Nekos craves violence."
It took me a moment to realize what he meant.
Oh.
No wonder Coone always made me mad lately. He probably thought making me mad was good for the babies. Ugh.
I watched their fluid coordination with something that felt uncomfortably like jealousy. Not because I wanted what they had. Hello, I already possessed something similar. But because their dynamic was on display, worshipped, celebrated by this desperate crowd while mine had to be hidden from tribal authorities.
"She's free here," I murmured, understanding flooding through me. "They can love her openly without political complications."
"Soon, you will be too," Nim vowed.
31
BRYNN
As we walked,I noticed some bulky manasties with so many scars, some with lost limbs taking out large crates and rolled some cages.
Someone pushed aside the musky furs hanging from a makeshift stall and I nearly tripped over my own feet when I saw a child—no older than five or six—in a crudely welded cage. Wide, terrified eyes stared at me from behind the bars, huge in a face smeared with dirt. Next to him, a scrawny hiscat paced nervously, its slitted pupils snapping between me and the gathered onlookers. The merchant running the stand whispered promises of rare finds and exotic beasts, but my stomach churned at the sight of a small, trembling boy displayed like some prize creature.
“This is a marketplace.” Nim’s voice drifted close to my ear. The tension there told me he’d seen the boy too. “They’ll sell anything—” He hesitated. “Even these children. Rich manasties who can’t have offspring...some pay fortunes.”
Disbelief collided with fury. “That’s a kid,” I hissed. “We can’t just walk away.”
Sim’s hand landed gently on my shoulder, trying to anchor me. But the mother-bear instinct in my gut howled too loud to ignore. I took a shaky breath, gave Nim and Sim an imploring look. “We’re helping him right now. I don’t care about blowing our cover. This can’t stand.”
They didn’t argue, but from the way Nim’s eyes darted around, I sensed he was about to ask Xy to handle it discreetly. My chest burned at the thought of waiting for someone else’s half-hearted rescue plan. Before Nim or Sim could stop me, I marched forward, weaving around battered cages of brilliant birds and frightened reptilian creatures until I stood right in front of the cage that held the boy and the hiscat.
The merchant, an older manasty with discolored fur, eyed me warily. “You lookin’ or buyin’?” His grin revealed sharp teeth filed into points, presumably to make him seem fiercer. He had no idea how that savage display struck me as pitiful, not intimidating.
I forced myself to appear casual, leaning down as if inspecting the cage. My mouth twisted at the reek of unwashed bodies and fear. The child flinched, pressed tight to the corner, refusing to meet my gaze. Nim and Sim flanked me, tense as bowstrings.
