Page 11 of Expose Me

I raised one eyebrow. I was exhausted, but I reached out with my power, hoping I could summon one of the zaps I’d left embedded in the naked weirdos chasing us.

The woman sighed and rolled her eyes. “You found me in an alley last night. You like to sleep in shorts and a T-shirt. You saw me shoot myself in the head this morning.”

All true. All things that had happened before the others had dropped in unannounced. Plus she was wearing the same clothing I’d put her in. I relaxed.

The tram made another stop. Most of the people got off. It was the last stop before it crossed the bridge into No Man’s Land. I watched the doors intently, but no naked people or guards rushed in.

We rode the rest of the way in silence and got off as soon as we were over the bridge. These days, the trams only went one stop further before turning back anyway.

The south side of the river was nowhere near as busy. The few people that we did come across were—for lack of a better word—rough. The buildings were crumbling.

I led us along the river, figuring it was a good idea to stay close to the water in case we needed to lose Zey’s buddies again. I could imagine how lovely this area must’ve been once—when restaurants and cafes lined the wide-open space next to the river.

We passed a homeless human, his milky eyes bugging out as he ranted at us about something. I just sidestepped him. He was drunk, not dangerous.

Once we were out of his sight, Zey shifted. His skin did that rippling thing, and the elegant lady turned into the ranting human. He didn’t even miss a step.

That was going to take some getting used to.

He began, “We need to start searching—”

“We need to get somewhere safe and make a plan, and you need to stop doing that.”

“Doing what?” A million wrinkles formed on Zey’s latest face as he frowned.

“Changing forms constantly. It’s distracting.”

“I’m only—”

“Shut up.”

“Do not tell me to shut up. You are being very rude.”

I stopped and faced him fully. I didnotneed this shit. “Yeah, OK, good point. Good luck out here on your own. Bye!” I waved over my shoulder as I started walking again.

He kept pace easily. There were more people, more suspicious eyes, as we got closer to the entrance of what used to be a hotel and casino.

“I will be quiet, but we must hurry,” Zey said, leaning close to my ear.

I gave him a withering look and marched inside.

There was a market set up in an open area with a high ceiling. People milled about buying food, clothes, weapons, and things that were hard to find in more reputable places. House territories had markets and stores, of course, but the markets in No Man’s Land were a free-for-all. In places like this, simple healing potions and VitaBrew were sold right next to torture spells, viloss dust, and prostitutes of all species.

As it was in No Man’s Land, there was nothing illegal about it because it was nothing that the Houses cared to police. But since I was heading up the project to expand Spirit and Sapphire’s territory in the Melbourne area, it was smart to know these kinds of things were around.

I checked the time and sighed. I was supposed to be in a meeting about how many extra guards we’d need to recruit to patrol the expanded perimeter of the territory. Worst morning ever.

We made our way through the crowd and to the stairs leading to the hotel rooms. Several shifters loitered by the door. It was not a hotel anymore—they didn’t service the rooms or take bookings—but you had to get through them to gain access.

“Need a room for a couple of hours,” I said to the closest one. “How much?”

He looked me up and down. “For you, I’ll give you a good price. Two angel feathers and you can pick any room.”

“Everyone picks whatever room is free.” I crossed my arms. “And I know for a fact you let people up for half that.”

His buddies chuckled and the dude grumbled something resembling an agreement and held his hand out. I summoned the three vials of shifter blood I’d made last night—the equivalent of one angel feather in this area—then I reached into my pocket and dropped them into his palm as we walked past.

We had to climb two flights before we found an unlocked room. After the first set of stairs, Zey transformed into the shifter who’d just tried to fleece me. I glared at him and kept going. I needed to get somewhere safe and just fucking think for a minute.

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