KDBookOnline
Share Us
Tuesday, April 28, 2167
The Fringe
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
Taking a claw to the side made a mess of things. Had the mercury dragon wanted me dead, I would have made easy prey for him. Instead of prematurely reaching my expiration date, I woke up in a plain white room reminiscent of a hospital but lacking in medical equipment and devoid of windows. A digital clock informed me I’d lost almost the entirety of Tuesday. The red letters and numbers taunted me, giving off an almost sinister glow.
A woman with quicksilver eyes and a pair of ram horns, fashioned of a silvery metal, stared at me from nearby, her arms crossed over her chest. She wore a business suit a size too large for her, and it hung off her gaunt frame at an angle, revealing loose skin around her shoulders and throat. The overhead lights gleamed off her horns, and I realized they were made of some clear substance and held mercury within. “You are not in the register of brothel workers.”
Well, I’d wanted to find out more about who’d been attacking brothel workers; I hadn’t even developed a suspect list yet, but mercury dragons wouldn’t have been on it. “That’s because I’m not a brothel worker.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You live in a matron’s apartments.”
“That doesn’t make me a brothel worker.” To my dismay, talking sapped my strength, and a persistent burn in my leg indicated the bastard mercury dragon had poisoned the blade—or I’d gotten an infection, although to my understanding of medical science, it typically took two days for an infection to take hold in a wound. “I pick up bounties and odd jobs to get by.”
She stared at me as though I’d grown a second head. “But you live in a brothel apartment.”
I shook my head. “Those apartments are part of her community initiative; she offers low rent housing to transients or the anonymous. I’m anonymous.” I sat up, and the movement indicated that if anyone had noticed my derringer, they’d left it—and my bra—alone. A quick glance down informed me that my shirt had been left mostly intact, and blood stained an alarming amount of it. “Well, thank you for not letting me bleed to death.” Upon inspection, I determined my left side had taken the brunt of the injury, and I used my right hand to move away my shirt and get a better look at the wound.
The twenty-seven stitches might hold, assuming nothing drastic happened. I worried moving might undo the shoddy work, which would cause me problems. I set my chances of getting an infection close to a hundred. Some divine entity might intervene and change my opinion about the existence of higher powers.
Once I figured out how to free myself and head home, I’d take myself to the nearest hospital, and I’d dish out for an ambulance to help get me there. Add in my calf, which I couldn’t make out beneath the blanket someone had thrown over my legs, and I wouldn’t be walking anywhere anytime soon.
So much for my mother’s prediction I’d sprout scales at the first sign of trouble. Transforming would do me a world of good by giving me the tools needed to escape. However, as the equivalent of a hatchling, I’d end up being a sitting duck for the first dragon to cross my path.
In retrospect, it was a good thing I hadn’t sprouted scales at the first sign of trouble.
“You’re really not a brothel worker.”
I turned my gaze at her, baffled by the disbelief in her voice. “I’m not a brothel worker.”
“But all of my information says you are!”
Suspecting I dealt with someone who’d gone over the edge into the realm of insanity, I needed to be cautious with my approach, make certain she couldn’t catch me in a lie, and play at being cooperative until I could figure out how to extricate myself from the situation. “Your information is wrong. Brothel workers would have clients, and you’ll only find one entity in the entirety of Dragon Heights I’ve shared a bed with, and we’ll get married eventually.”
Well, assuming I stopped screwing things up. I worried about what Erik and my parents would do, especially as I’d gotten snatched outside of the gun shop.
Would the mercury dragons survive when my parents got a hold of them? I doubted it. I suspected Erik would be at a higher risk of sprouting scales than me. I had no idea what a carbunclo and a hummingbird could do to anybody, but I worried I would find out.
Her eyes widened. “You’re engaged? But you have no ring. Someone is going to miss you?”
I stared at her. “Considering I was accompanying Mr. and Mrs. Ramons, and they had my carbunclo and hummingbird with them, I think it’s safe to say I’ve already been missed.”
The woman spouted curses, spun, flung open the door, and left the room.
Careful to keep my left arm still, I raised my right hand and rubbed my temple, telling myself to be patient. Patience might win me a great deal, including information on what the mercury dragons had against brothel workers—and if they were associated with the pilgrim attacks.
The cascade of curses quieted, and a few moments later, the woman returned. “And your reason for going to Shrine Hill?”
“Garnet needed crystals for her collection, and the Ramonses wanted to go to Shrine Hill. It would be easier to move the entirety of Dragon Heights than to convince those two to change their minds. I went to keep the peace, thinking that perhaps they’d lose interest and go away.” It was truth enough, although I did love my parents. However, when they were misbehaving, I wanted them to go away and leave me in peace for a few minutes. I heaved a sigh and played at having my patience tested. “They did not lose interest, nor did they go away. I’d never been to Shrine Hill until this week, and they wanted to show me more of the city.”
“You’re not a pilgrim?”
“I was told about what it entails to be a pilgrim, and I didn’t do anything like make a sacrifice at any of the shrines. They were pretty careful to teach me how to avoid an accidental pilgrimage. I was just looking around, taking pictures, and admiring the artistry of the shrines. It’s a really interesting place. And Garnet loved the stalls.”
“Garnet?”
“My carbunclo.” I stared at her, wondering if she had any idea about Garnet or Tourmaline. “I accidentally attracted a true creation, though. That’s Tourmaline, my hummingbird. He was born on Friday.” After making a show of hesitating, I gestured at my side with my right hand. “This was an accident?”