Besides, Lauren needed us, and we weren’t about to let her down. We were the three musketeers, and this was one for all, and all for one.
Chapter Fourteen
“Hurry up, Fed-Smasher!” Kirin shouted from around the next corner, before disappearing through a doorway with a neon sign flashing across the front.
“Who’d have thought you’d end up with street cred?” Angie joked, as we came to a halt outside the ramshackle structure. It had a dome of stained glass arcing across the top, pieced together from broken fragments of every possible color.
I grimaced. “I really wish they wouldn’t call me that, though. I wasn’t even the one who hogtied the poor bastard.” I flashed a tentative look at my friend, pleased to see a smile curving up the corners of her lips.
“Yeah, I really went to town on that guy!” She laughed cheerfully, the sound warming my heart.
Cautiously, we stepped inside The Empty Purse and looked around with awe. The casino was massive, with tables and games set up throughout the cavernous space, raucous shouting bombarding my ears—the place was filled to the brim with alien clientele.
The décor was a mishmash of different cultures, and it looked like most of the universe was being represented by at least one member of its species. Music, which sounded like a cross between heavy metal and electro, was pounding through ancient speakers, the bass vibrating through my ribcage. There were pieces of furniture of a hundred different styles scattered about, with posters on the walls depicting countless species in various states of battle or undress. In the middle of the room stood an enormous opaleine statue of a large-breasted mermaid and several holograms of alien males and females, barely clothed, turning in an alluring manner. Yeah, there was definitely something for everyone here.
Along the far side was a long bar, with a mix of species crowding it, waiting to be served. In the lounge area off to the left, a group of shady-looking individuals sat, deep in conversation. The nosy part of me wanted to know what dodgy deals they were negotiating, but I knew I’d end up losing a hand, or worse, if I got too close.
Kirin waved at us from one of the tables in the lounge area, where most of the eight-strong gang were sitting. One of the tiger-striped twins had gone to the bar to order a round, and he didn’t look too pleased about it. I imagined he’d drawn some kind of short straw.
“Helix has just gone to get some drinks. I ordered for you. Hope you don’t mind,” the giddy half-fae, half-merevin said as we approached the table.
“Is it alcoholic?” I asked, an image of my drunken birthparents flashing through my mind. I thought of the silver root, too, and recalled Navan saying it would made me more susceptible to addiction for the rest of my life.
“I’ll get you one without it, if you want,” Kirin said with a smirk.
“That’d be great,” I said, relieved. I didn’t want to drink anything with alcohol, even with the Reapers scrutinizing me. I could tell some of them were finding it hard to believe I could be on a wanted poster, and they weren’t alone—I couldn’t believe it either.
Bashrik was sitting at the end of the booth, looking uncomfortable. The Reapers kept trying to encourage him to play a game with them, but he didn’t seem too eager. In fact, it looked like he wished he was anywhere else. Navan, meanwhile, had tightened his grip on me, his eyes narrowing as he took in the new surroundings, while Angie looked excited, tapping her foot along to the weird music.
“Ladies, why don’t we grab our drinks and do some gambling?” Kirin suggested excitedly, clambering over the rest of her crew to reach us. “The best games are in the back, away from all the riffraff.” A cackle bubbled up from the back of her throat, apparently coming out of her gills as well as her mouth.
“Whoa, why just the ladies?” Navan asked anxiously.
Kirin grinned. “I told you—to get away from all the riffraff.”
“What kind of games are we talking about?” Angie wondered, her eyes wide.
“Any game you want, sweetheart!”
“Well, I don’t want to play,” Bashrik murmured.
“Well, grumpy, nobody invited you to play—you don’t look like no lady to me,” Kirin fired back.
I turned to look at the rest of the casino and felt a wave of apprehension. The gambling here wasn’t the same as the gambling back on Earth; there were no dice, no roulette wheels, no cards. Here, the stakes were far higher, the games far more physical. In one section, they were throwing tiny, white-furred creatures at a target. In another, they were watching miniature creatures, which looked like a cross between birds and weasels, racing around a track. In a third, they were watching the same creatures fly around a course, the spectators whooping and screaming at their backed creature to move faster.
The game that really caught my eye, however, was a one-eyed man jabbing a laser blade between his fingers, with a crowd of burly aliens standing all around him, urging him on. It was more familiar to me than the other games, but it didn’t make it any easier to watch. It was like a car crash I couldn’t turn away from. Sure enough, the crackling blade sliced through one of the guy’s fingers with a sizzle of flesh. My stomach turned as the digit rolled off the dirty table and hit the floor. The other aliens erupted with amusement or annoyance, depending on how they’d bet.
“They’re not games like that, are they?” I asked dubiously.
“Stabscotch?” Kirin mused, following my gaze. “Nah, that’s a game for idiots.”
“Hey, that’s my favorite game!” one of the Reapers protested.
Kirin grinned, flashing her needled teeth. “Yeah, and that’s why you’ve only got three fingers on each hand.”
He held them up proudly. “Wouldn’t be called Pincers without these babies!”
“So, whaddya say we go through to the Ladies’ Lounge, and get a little more civilized?” Kirin said, turning her attention back to me.
I looked to Navan, who still didn’t seem convinced.
“I’m not sure,” I murmured.
“You gonna let a grayskin dictate what you can and can’t do?” she taunted, giving Navan a playful jab in the arm. “Come on, let your lady loose! I’ll treat her right, show her a good time, make sure she don’t get into no trouble.”
“Don’t let her too loose with your lady. You’ll never get her back!” the troll, Zippi, teased.
“Shut your mouth, Zippi, before I shut it for you,” Kirin snapped. “I’ll bring ‘em both back, safe and sound. I’m not the one who tries recruiting every person we come across.”
I smiled at the banter between Kirin and Zippi. It was clear the two of them were fond of each other. Their squabbles felt a little like those between brother and sister—I imagined this kind of conversation was just everyday chatter for the pirate group, each always vying for the last word.
“Sure, we’ll come along,” I said, grabbing Angie by the arm; she wasn’t getting out of this. “Have you got that pay device?” I looked to Navan hopefully, knowing we’d found a few of the devices Killick had left lying about.
He nodded reluctantly, plucking one out of his pocket and handing it to me. “Don’t go too wild.”
I grinned, leaning up to kiss him on the lips. “Have a drink. Enjoy yourself.”
“I think I’ll just wait for you, instead,” he said, with a shy smile. In a whisper, he added, “Find a way to casually ask her about Stone.”
I squeezed his hand.
“Well, I’m not sticking around. I’m going back to the ship,” Bashrik insisted, flashing a nervous glance at Kirin, who winked.
Angie chuckled at her boyfriend’s discomfort. “I promise to be on my best behavior, Bash.”
“Keep an eye on her, all right, Riley?” he said, kissing Angie on the cheek before disappearing out of the casino. Surprisingly, Navan didn’t seem too bothered, sitting down at the table with the rest of the pirate crew.
As we headed toward a door tucked away at the side of the bar, Kirin darted off to grab three drinks from the tiger-st
riped alien. She held the glasses in a skillful triangle. There was something infectious about her lust for life, and I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Come on in, chickadees!” Kirin enthused, ushering us into the so-called Ladies’ Lounge.
Several casino workers waved to her or shouted a hello as she passed by, and she greeted them all with the same unyielding level of enthusiasm, making Angie and me share a glance as we followed her through the lounge. It looked like the smoking room of a grand old mansion, with velvety seating areas and a circular bar in the center. Several gambling games were going on throughout the space. The barmen were dressed in nothing but aprons and collars of different colors, which weren’t exactly in keeping with the theme.
Angie’s mouth hung open as she walked by the bar. As much as she adored Bashrik, she was incapable of tearing her gaze away from the alien males. Their muscles were rippling through scales, fur, every kind of skin.
“If your jaw drops any farther, we might need to disinfect your chin!” Kirin teased. A pink flush rose to Angie’s cheeks.
“Sorry, I just… I wasn’t expecting to see that today.”
Kirin glanced at me curiously. “Don’t tell me you’re not interested.”
“Hey, I’m as appreciative as the next red-blooded woman,” I replied shyly.
“Whoa, you don’t have to be red-blooded to enjoy a half-naked man. My blood’s purple, and I love it!” Kirin grinned, leading us to a booth in the far corner, which overlooked a small racetrack at the back of the lounge. It was encased in floor-to-ceiling glass, with the racing creatures running around in a squashed loop.
I frowned. “What game is this?”
“It’s pollus racing,” Kirin replied.
“What’s a pollus?”
She chuckled. “You guys really don’t get out much, huh?”
“Not in this neck of the universe, no,” I admitted.
“A pollus is a small, winged reptile. They’re fast and aggressive, and make for an exciting race! They’re always trying to bite each other, and you get extra points if your pollus gets into a fight and wins!” she explained.
I leaned toward the glass, trying to get a better look, but the creatures were hidden behind starter gates. A board hung on either side of the glass casing, with symbols scrolling across, but I had no idea what they said. I presumed they were odds or something.
“How do you bet?” Angie asked.
Kirin pointed to a circular device in the middle of the table. “You select a racer and a quantity from the list, then scan your pay device over it. Simple!”
“What if we can’t read the words?” I asked.
“I’ll read ‘em out and you can pick a good ’un!”
“How about you do it, and we’ll watch?” I suggested, flashing an uneasy look at Angie. I could see from her frown that gambling really wasn’t her thing either.
“You sure? It’s fun!” Kirin chirped.
Angie nodded. “Yeah, we’ll just watch.”
Kirin didn’t hesitate, settling on a creature called Translunar Paradise. As soon as her bet was in, we waited for the race to start. An alien with a microphone sat to one side of the glass-cased track, a bored look on his face, evidently fed up with being a pollus race commentator.
“So, what brought you guys to the Junkyard?” Kirin asked, taking a gulp of her drink. “You figure this was the best place to hide from the law? ‘Cause you’d be right.”
I took a tentative sip of my own drink. The flavor was sweet and fruity, no hint of alcohol in the smell. “Not really. My run-in with the law is more of a byproduct.”
“Yeah, we’re trying to find a friend of ours who got snatched by a scavenger,” Angie added. “The trail went cold a while back, but Riley here stole a tracker thing, which led us here. The signal we followed ended up not being our friend, but… it was something. Plus, we think the scavenger might be coming back here soon, so all’s not lost yet.”
“What’s the friend called?” Kirin asked, her voice sympathetic. “I might know her, if she’s been here before.”
“Lauren,” we both chorused, sharing a sad smile with one another.
“You guys are super cute,” Kirin said brightly. “What’s the scavenger called? Chances are I’ll definitely know ‘em.”
I was about to answer when a gun went off, startling me. The starter gates had opened, and ten tiny creatures shot out. They were smaller than the weaselly birds in the main casino and looked like miniature dragons, their snouts puffing smoke as they whizzed through the air, snapping at the heels of any pollus in front of them. As they raced, the commentator rattled off a load of words that made very little sense. I knew I was hearing him in English, but he was speaking so fast that it was incoherent.
“I won!” Kirin shrieked, a moment later.
“You did?” Angie gasped, startled, as Kirin nodded excitedly.
I laughed along and clapped the half-fae, half-merevin on the back in congratulations, but I was eager to continue the conversation, desperate to know whether Kirin had any knowledge of Stone’s whereabouts. I waited for the excitement of the race to die down.
“The scavenger is called Stone. Do you know him?” I pressed.
A strange expression fell across Kirin’s unusual face, revealing a mixture of sadness and fondness. “Stone? Yeah, I know him. The two of us go way back,” she said quietly. “Before I met him, I was a sucker for love. Now, I’ve sworn off it for good…and he’s the reason why.”
“Why, what’d he do?” I leaned closer, intrigued.
She chuckled sadly. “He didn’t do anything. It was my fault,” she explained. “We used to fool around a lot, and I adored the guy, but I was always pulling away, not wanting to get serious. He was one of the good ones, with a good heart and a kind soul, but he wanted more than a fling, and I panicked. So, I went off with a Xalassian warlord, and he couldn’t forgive me. It’s the fae side of me—sometimes it takes over and ruins everything. It makes me skittish, but I’ve got no control over it.”
Angie gaped at her. “You were… together?”
Kirin nodded. “Last I heard, he’d gotten himself a new girlfriend. A real smart one, by all accounts,” she said disparagingly. “I guess he never would’ve come back to me, but it still stings, y’know?”
“Wait, are we talking about the same Stone here? Because your Stone and the one we met don’t sound like the same guy,” I said.
“Does he got a third eye?” she asked.
Angie and I nodded slowly.
“There must’ve been a reason he took your friend. He’s not a cruel guy at all,” Kirin assured us. “He probably did it because you pissed him off. I bet he dropped her on some nice beach somewhere, with a pay device and an apology. Your pal is probably out there trying to find you!”
Just for a moment, I wondered if she was right. Then again, if Lauren had been dropped somewhere, she would definitely have found a way to contact us by now—she was smarter than the rest of us combined. Maybe she’d found another way to avoid being abandoned on a random moon or sold off into slavery. I shrugged off the disturbing thought, trying to stick with the positive.
“Where does Stone usually hang out?” I asked, feeling hopeful. If Kirin knew the guy, then she would undoubtedly know where he might be.
“Whenever he’s back here, he pretty much sticks to the Salty Siren Inn,” Kirin replied. “It’s by one of the canals. I can draw you a map, if you like. You thinking of going after him, since he kidnapped your friend?” She sounded weirdly casual about the whole thing, considering she’d just told us that Stone used to be someone she cared about.
I nodded. “Yeah, we want to know if he still has her. You say he wouldn’t have kept hold of her, but I know he’s done something with her. I want to know what.”
“You know, that’s grounds for a revenge bounty, if you were wanting to do such a thing,” Kirin said bluntly.
“A revenge bounty?”
“You guys really are new to all thi
s, aren’t you?” Kirin chuckled, downing her drink and ordering another round for us, prompting Angie and me to down what was left of ours. “It’s something pirates put on other pirates when they’ve been slighted. Now, Stone’s a pal of mine, but if he kidnapped your friend, then you’re due your slice of revenge, regardless of who that might be against.”
Angie frowned. “I thought there was supposed to be honor amongst pirates.”
“There is,” Kirin insisted. “Normally, we don’t kill each other—we can steal and cheat, of course, but killing folks from other crews, and your own crew for that matter, is a total no-go. However, things happen, and folks do stuff they oughtn’t, and we need a way of fixing issues without it turning into a cyclical gang war. So, the wronged one issues a revenge bounty—they set the terms—and when that’s complete, that ends the conflict. Game over, job done! Stops us having feuds that last lifetimes, the way they used to in the old days.”
“And a kidnapping would be grounds for one of these revenge bounties?” I pressed, as new drinks arrived.
“For sure, if you think what he’s done is truly unforgivable, then you punish him in equal terms to his crime. You get me?” she explained. Angie and I nodded. “Now, I’ve got my own revenge bounty out on Captain Notley—he killed my sister. For him, it’s a life for a life, because that’s what he took. For Stone, it might be something less. A kidnap for a kidnap, or a person for a person.”
Angie took a deep swig of her drink, her voice starting to slur. “I thought you loved the guy!”
Kirin cackled, gulping down the entire glass and calling for more. “I did, but he disrespected you, and you’re my new best friends!” she announced. “Plus, he wouldn’t forgive me. I’d like to see him squirm a bit, and a little infighting is always a good laugh! As long as you ain’t going to kill him, I’m game!”
“We just want to know where our friend is and punish him for taking her!” I declared, feeling a little tipsy. I stared down at my drink. “You sure this doesn’t have something… in it?”
“Yeah, man, you gotta let these guys know who’s boss!” Kirin whooped, banging her hands on the table. She’d ignored my last comment, but by then I’d forgotten what I’d been worried about.