Page 47 of The Last True Hero
The woman was dangerous.
Especially when she turned those considering eyes on Mia.
"You aren't reivers," said a low, feminine voice from the shadows in the corner.
A faint blade rasped on stone, and Adam realized there was another woman kneeling in the corner, sharpening her knife. Vex's appearance threw him so far off balance that he'd not even noticed her.
Her brown braids were bound tightly across her head, and she had the same kohl-rimmed eyes as Vex, the same features in a younger face. She watched the four of them with a flat expression that reminded him of a predator like a coyote. Not quite strong enough to match up, one-on-one, but there the second your back was turned.
"No, you aren't," Vex agreed, watching the young woman with an inexplicable expression. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "This is my daughter, Zarina. And as she has pointed out, you clearly aren't the type of men who walk through my doors every day. What brings you to Rust City?"
Time to pull himself out of the nosedive. Adam gestured toward Ellie. "As you can see, we've had some luck out East. We're all growing tired of bounty hunting. It's long hours, alone, with little reward to show for it. We were paid to protect a small settlement out there along the Rim. They were having some problems with wargs, so we took care of the problem for an agreed-upon price. Only thing was, when we came back for the other half of our money, they told us they didn't have it." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Mia suggested other compensation. They disagreed, so we shot the place up and took what we wanted."
Vex lit a cigarette, watching them unemotionally. "You get any others?"
Jake ruffled his hair, almost apologetically. "Yeah. Sold a couple three days ago, just to the south of here."
"How far south?"
"Fort Phoenix," Adam interrupted, sweating a little. It was the only place where he knew the name of the man who ran the slave town.
"And how much did De la Vega give you for the product?" Vex asked.
Proving that she was no fool. "De la Vega?" Adam shot Jake and Mia a look, as if confused. "We dealt with a man named Thurston. He gave us thirty gold coins for the other girls. I thought that was kind of low, but we don't have a lot of experience in these matters. Wanted to sound out a new buyer. There are a lot of settlements out east that we know of, and nobody's touching them."
"There's a reason for that," Vex said dryly. "You'd take on the Confederacy enforcers that roam outside their territories?"
"It's better than ending up as some shadow-cat's last meal working for minimum pay as a bounty hunter. And let's be honest," Mia added, running with the story they'd worked out. "Competition is fierce down south among the reiver packs. That's why they're all heading north, looking for fresh pickings. But the north is sparse. Whoever doesn't get eaten alive by the revenants or the wargs up there is wizened by drought and protected by stone walls. Hardly prime product. Along the coast the Nomads rule, and I'm not suicidal enough to take on a bikie gang. That leaves the no-man's-lands along the edges of the Great Divide and the Rim as the last option. Settlements are few and far between, but nobody's trying for them and the three of us have experience in dealing with the critters out there. The enforcers make a lot of noise, but we know the lay of the land, and we know their regular routes." She shrugged. "It makes sense."
"How do I come in?"
"You have a market," Adam pointed out. "We have a resource route. And we didn't think much of Thurston's offer."
"Nero, fetch me something to drink," Cypher told her slave, then gestured with her fingers. "Sit. You have my interest. Make sure you keep it."
Adam sank into the chair opposite her, with Mia at his side. "The Confederacy is tied up in building their wall to shut us all out," he pointed out. "They have enforcers riding the edges of the Great Divide, true, but if you know the territory then you know how to hide. And we don't like working in a large band. That's the sort of thing that gets you attention. Jake, Mia, and I are real good at slipping in and out before we've been noticed."
Vex accepted a glass from Nero. The blond man seated himself at her feet, and suddenly the implications of what he was began to take shape in Adam's mind. The shaved and oiled chest. The blank eyes. This was Vex's personal slave, and he could only imagine how the man served her. Vex tapped her long, painted fingernails on the sides of her chair. "The three of you can't haul much stock. Not much profit to be made from one or two sales."
"It's enough for us to start with," he replied, with a shrug. "And we pick the best."
For the first time, Vex took a good, long look at Ellie. "Gorgeous skin," she noted. "In her prime childbearing years too."
"Oh, I'm not selling this one," Jake cut in. "I have a personal stake in keeping her."
"She do you wrong?"
"Turned me down a few years back." Jake looked uneasy but he forced a smile. "Let's just say, I'm sure she regrets it now."
Vex drained her cup, watching with those witchy eyes that told Adam nothing. "So why are you three here if you've got nothing to sell?"
"We're interested in viewing your market," Adam replied. "We have a supply route, but we want to know where we can get the best price for prime quality. And my cousin here is in the mood to buy another woman of his own. This one's a cold fish. Thought we'd kill two birds with one stone, and maybe Mia and I might have a look and see if there's someone at the market that catches our eye."
"Something," Vex corrected. She eyed Jake. "I could help him out with that."
"I don't think you'd like what I like," Jake replied.
"Oh?" She turned all of that hawklike attention upon him, along with a sleazy smile. "You might be surprised."
