Savages

30: Pyre

A muscular arm shot out, blocking the doorway.

Come on, Sannah told herself. Act confident. You can do this. She forced herself to look up, right into the bouncer's close-set eyes, and to her delight and amazement, her nerve held and she didn't break his gaze.

They stared at each other for a moment, then a whoop from the smoking area broke the spell.

He looked away first.

"No funny business, Exotic," the bouncer snarled, dropping his arm. "Not on my watch."

Sannah just nodded abruptly, her screen of confidence faltering. She was used to being treated as if she was suspicious, but she'd never actually deserved it before.

It felt better to be accused of guilt when you really were guilty, she realised. The blame was softer without that biting edge of injustice. It made it a game, and dangerous as it is, a game is something you can win.

And win she had. Her hands went to the bag pressed against her stomach as she stepped past him.

I'm in.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness inside the church, but when they did, her heart sank. She was in some sort of dingy corridor, muffled music vibrating through an internal wall pasted with scratty event posters.

Up ahead, a bored looking woman sat in a wooden booth next to a door, a till decorated with ripped-up stickers in front of her. Her eyes stared downwards, probably at a screen hidden beneath her desk.

Skit. Sannah bit her lip. It hadn't even occurred to her that she'd have to pay.

"Five digits," the woman said, not looking up from her hidden screen.

Sannah hesitated, her mind screeching with panic. "I've come to see the manager," she said quickly. "It's business."

The woman looked up at her and frowned. "What business?"

"It's private."

The woman's frown deepened. There's no way she's letting me in, Sannah realised, and her stomach twisted.

She tried to remember the name of the guy Saint had dealt with at the chang house, and couldn't. All she could think of was the ratty woman. It'll have to do.

"Reeta sent me," she said, projecting confidence as forcefully as she could.

"Reeta?" The woman's lip curled. Was that recognition? She looked sceptically at Sannah for a moment, then eased herself out of the seat, her frown deeper than ever.

"Just wait here, okay?" she said. "I mean it. Don't go anywhere." She looked dubiously at Sannah again, then glanced at the till, taking out a set of keys and locking it ostentatiously.

She frowned at Sannah then pushed through the door. The bassy music hit Sannah like a breath.

Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself. She looked up, and the distance between herself and the vaulted ceiling gave her vertigo.

It felt like forever until the woman came back. The pattern of bass vibrating through the wall changed twice, and Sannah had to fight the urge to get out of there as fast as she could, run back to the boat, to Deera and Gaen and safety. She turned towards the exit. The bouncer was watching her.