𝕾𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖉𝖘 - 𝙺𝚊𝚣 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚔𝚔𝚎𝚛

IV

Brekker sent her to Hellgate on an earlier boat. Presumably so she would either die alone, get caught, or just to keep her away. Dealer's choice really.

The boat cut through the water smoothly. Mira rolls her eyes at how smug the oarsman was looking when she was the one doing all the work. She debates stopping her help, but her orders were clear.

The fog lay thick and heavy, seeping under her Komedie Brute mask. It carries the smell of the forsaken who were burned at Reaper's Barge.

The boat ground ashore and she stems her flow of power. A Mister Crimson offers her a hand. She can see the tattoo of the Dime Lions on his wrist. She takes his hand, it'd seem out-of-character not too. After she pays her way in, she discreetly wipes her hands on her shimmering clothes.

Mira follows the people from her boat as they ascend the stairs, she spies three other Scarab Queens, two Imps, a Madman, and a Lost Bride. They disperse into the crowd and leave her to find her own spot. She couldn't be more thankful. Another moment next to the stuttering Imp and sleazy Madman would've led to bloodshed.

She weaves her way through the crowd and finds an open spot with a clear view of the fights.

A soft chiming, presumably from the city, lets her know Jesper should've arrived.

Three fights and two deaths later, she hears multiple shuffling feet behind her.

Two Madmen, an Imp, and a Lost Bride stand beside her.

"When did you get here?" Nina's voice comes from the Bride's mask.

Mira waves a hand in dismissiveness and nods to the arena. "I haven't seen a good death that I had no part in for weeks. Let me enjoy this." A scrawny man, once strong but no longer from the looks of his baggy skin, steps up and spins a wheel. It landed on something they couldn't quite see, but the crowd roars.

The announcer, who was dressed in a garish lion pelt, and the guard were lifted out to safety as the prisoner picked up a flimsy knife that wouldn't do anything against any of the beasts on that wheel.

The portcullis rises and a rinca moten lazily makes trails in the sand. Mira claps excitedly, she loves seeing it again. In fact, on one of her jobs, the man worked for these shows and had let her take a little peak before she slit his throat.

"What is that thing?" Nina again.

Inej answers, her eyes on the reptile too. "Rinca moten, a desert lizard. The poison from its mouth is lethal.

"Tsk tsk," Mira clucks. "Venom. Poison is ingested. Venom is injected."

Inej nods a concession, but Nina is just confused at why that distinction matters. "Anyways, it seems pretty slow on its feet."

"Yes, it seems that way." Inej says with resignation.

The prisoner lunged, and the moten was faster. In the blink of an eye, the beast is on the other side of the arena. In another, it's on top of the man. Its venom drips and leaves smoky trails across his flesh. It drops its weight and starts mauling the prisoner. Mira smiles under the mask even as the rest of the crowd boos. The show was over too quickly, but the death was painful

"What is this?" Mira hears the disgust in Nina's voice.

"Welcome to the Hellshow." Brekker's raspy voice sounds from one of the Madmen. The other was too big to not be one of his bouncers. "Pekka Rollins got the idea a few years back and pitched it to the right Council member."

"The Merchant Council knows?"

"Of course they know, Nina. There's money to be made here." Brekker's condescending tone makes Mira want to slap him. And from the way Nina's hand is clenched, so does she.