That was absolutely the last time I did anything for Chasey.

And what kind of fucker was this guy? He took the crystal out my necklace? Why? I knew why, to sell it obviously. But why pay me and take the crystal? He could have just kept the money and left my necklace untouched! I swore if I ever saw him again, I’d choke him to death.

I was still seething when I walked into the brothel the next morning. I didn’t even acknowledge Leesa when she said hello. I reached into my pocket and fingered the necklace inside. When I’d gotten back to my flat, I’d replaced the stolen crystal with another one. I had two crystals; one I’d found when I was about ten in Oderra, and the other one had been left behind by a client about six months ago. The crystal I found in Oderra was more special to me, so I’d never put it on a necklace. Since the other one was now gone, I’d used that one to replace it; however, I’d decided not to wear the necklace around my neck anymore.

I had to walk around the entire god-damn brothel before I found Chasey who was of course, sitting at the bar. I went behind the bar so I was looking right at her. “I hope you’re happy. That guy was an asshole. He stole the pendant from my necklace.”

“Did he pay you?” she asked sipping from her cup.

“Yeah he paid me.”

“Buy yourself a new pendant.”

My hand itched to reach across the counter and slap her, but I kept both my hands shoved deep in my pockets. “Why did you ask me here today?”

“I need you to go to Scultera for me.”

“It's my day off.”

“Exactly. If it wasn’t, you couldn't go because you’d need to be here.”

“I’m not going.”

Chasey rolled her eyes. “I’ll pay you for the time you’re not here.”

It was a two-day trip to Scultera from here and a two-day trip back, plus however many days it took me to accomplish whatever Chasey wanted. I hated running errands for her, but it was worth getting paid for that amount of time. I’d possibly make more than I would here at the brothel.

“And what exactly is it you want me to do in Scultera?” I asked.

“There’s a brothel there—”

“Scultera is known for its brothels,” I interjected.

“—A new one, and its racking up a lot of business. I’d like to know about it. What’s got people so drawn to it, you know?”

“Maybe because it's in the capital city for sex,” I suggested dryly.

Chasey glared at me, but I knew she wasn’t going to dare say anything to me in fear that I wouldn't run her little errand for her. Really, she could do something like this herself, it's not like she had that much to do here.

“I’ll leave in an hour or so,” I said.

“Thank you,” Chasey said, possibly in one of the most ingenuine voices I’d ever heard her use. “Don’t take too long.” She flashed me a black look. “And if you even think of taking a job in Scultera, Farris and I will have your neck.”

I didn’t even entertain that with a response. I had to get out of her sight to calm down before I left for Scultera. No point pissing someone else off just because I was mad about some shit here in Indeedra. Taking a seat at one of the tables, Leesa came and sat down across from me.

“You seem frustrated,” she said, resting her chin on her hand.

“Frustrated is an understatement,” I said. My eyes flickered up to her face where I noticed a glittery sheen over her eyelids. “What’s up with your face?”

“Heidi lent me some stuff,” Leesa said, looking away. “I thought I’d try some of it.”

I scoffed. “Do you want to be like Heidi? Hopefully in love with a moron?”

“I need more money, Milena,” Leesa said. “You’ve been giving me your clients, but I have to get them on my own, and everyone still looks at me like a child.”

“You are a child,” I said. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Leesa changed the subject. “What were you talking to Chasey about?”

“She wants me to run a little errand for her.”

“Which is?”

“Some reconnaissance in Scultera.”

Leesa’s eyes widened. “That’s not a little favor. Scultera? That place is—”

“All kinds of revolting,” I sighed. “Yes, I know. I’m thrilled to go.”

“Need someone to go with you?” Leesa asked.

Shaking my head, I stood up. “Even if I did, it wouldn’t be you kid. Scultera is no place for sweet girls like you.”

Leesa scrunched her face into a pout, but I ignored it and simply waved to her as I walked out of the brothel.

It took me a little under an hour to get a knapsack packed with the essentials for my journey. I’d been to Scultera a few times before, so I knew the route. The wagon left midday from the edge of Indeedra, and that particular day it wasn’t crowded. Thankfully, because I was still seething over both Chasey’s request and the pilferer from the previous night. When the wagon stopped at Lester’s Point, I got off and walked for a few more miles until the light was completely gone, and at that point I set up camp for the night. If it was one thing I appreciated about the errand, it was the time alone. A few hours after the first signs of light, I packed up my campsite and headed on foot to the bustling sex keep of Scultera.

Arriving in Scultera, I knew it wouldn’t be hard to get information on the new brothel. Scultera wasn’t a reputable city; it teemed with sexual activity, and not all of it consensual. If you actually lived in Scultera and didn’t just visit frequently, you either owned a brothel, worked in one, or there was something seriously wrong with you. All I had to do was walk up to a group of men, probably in their late thirties, gathered around a leaning wood post and ask, “I heard there’s a new brothel in town.”

The man with a dark mustache that surprisingly didn’t match the rest of his hair was the first to jump to conversating. “You say it so casually, like it isn’t the talk of the town.”

I kept myself from rolling my eyes. The fact that something like that was the ‘talk of the town’ just proved how filthy this town was really was. I could feel the other two men’s eyes tracing the lines of my body. “Do you know where it is?”

“Are you trying to get a job there?” one of the staring men, the one with slicked back hair and noticeably greasy palms, asked. “I’m sure they’d take you.”

“Now why would you get her hopes up like that?” the third man asked him.

I crossed my arms, raising my eyebrows at him. “Are you saying I couldn’t get a job there?”

“Oh no,” the man replied quickly, his eyes doing another scan of my body. “I just mean they’re very picky there. Well, kind of. I know a lot of girls around here who have been turned down to work there, but they always have a lot of girls working there. I don’t know where they’re coming from if it's none of the girls here. Maybe they only farm out their women.”

“You should still try and get a job there,” slicked-back hair said to me, trying to make direct eye contact with me.

I ignored him and turned my attention my back to the man with the mismatched facial hair. “What’s the name of it?”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t have a name, at least not one publicly. But it's located on the other side of town. There’s a small door between a blacksmith’s shop and one of those spirit reading places—if you’re not careful you’ll miss it—and that’s where it is. You shouldn’t miss it though, there’s always someone coming in or going out that door.”

“Thank you,” I said, beginning to walk away.

“Come find us if you get the job!” I didn’t have to look back to know which one yelled that. I rolled my eyes now. I didn’t know who I hated more in Scultera, the men or the women. The men were just absolute sleaze balls, wasting both their time and money on a good time. The women were no better, mostly just a bunch of bored, insecure women or women who wanted to make some easy money without any regard for their self-respect. Of course, it seemed hypocritical for me to think that being a prostitute myself, but at least many of the girls under Farris and Chasey had at least a shred of self-worth, and most of the men who came in just needed to relax for the night before they returned to their work.

It didn’t take long to find the brothel door located between the blacksmith’s shop and a spirit reader. There was practically a line of men making their way to it, and even more hanging around outside. Without a doubt I’d have to see the inside, but for a few minutes I hung around the exterior listening to conversations and random outbursts.

From the conversations, it was clear the brothel was “outsourcing” their girls. And I had a very good suspicion their outsourcing was less than ethical. If I could find proof to bring that information back to Chasey, she’d love me.