Free Traitor by Claire Farrell Page B

between them.”
    “Who attacked the business?” I asked, automatically thinking of shadows and tattooed assassins.
    He looked as though he couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “Humans.”

Chapter Six

    “I can’t believe you’re taking me to a brothel,” I teased as Gabe parked behind a paddy wagon. I was just glad to see he had pulled himself out of whatever pit of depression fallen angels tended to land in.
    “It’s not my fault the humans took it upon themselves to go vigilante on the succubi.”
    “About that. I might not be the best person for this. My past experiences with a succubus were all bad.”
    “Just get out of the car,” he said wearily. “I need you to deal with the humans if they get out of hand. That’s all.”
    The brothel looked run down and dull, apart from the rather overt advertisement hanging on the door. Only one Guardian stood out front. When we approached, he stared insolently at Gabe for too long before moving to let him pass. A swift run-in with my knee soon had the Guardian doubled over in agony.
    Gabe looked back in surprise at the moaning. “Ava?”
    “My knee slipped.”
    I caught his smile before he turned away. I followed him up a flight of dark stairs lit only by chains of red lights on either side. The banister felt sticky, so I kept my hands to myself, just in case.
    We stepped into a large, sleazily decorated establishment that reminded me of a vampire bar I had once visited. The scene was chaotic. A group of humans were handcuffed to chairs while some half-dressed women tended to a wounded succubus. Shay was smiling at a Guardian who was busy shouting in his face.
    Gabe put on his Council hat and got into the middle of the argument. “Enough. Somebody update me on the situation.”
    “But—” the Guardian began.
    Gabe held up a hand. “Not you.” He nodded at Shay. “You. Speak.”
    Shay raised his eyebrows but responded, “The succubi are freely advertising their… services. The man on the left there is sitting next to his wife. She smelled a woman’s perfume on him and followed him here. When he got back home, she tore strips out of him, and he claimed that he was brainwashed by the succubi. She gathered a small mob together, him included, and came here to confront the succubi. The succubi claimed he was a paying customer, and the wife somehow got close enough to give one succubus a minor injury.”
    “Is that it?” Gabe asked.
    “No. One of the men who was part of the mob is critical in hospital right now. The succubi say it was self-defence, and—”
    “And he’ll die happy,” a dark-eyed woman called out, her arm wrapped protectively around the injured succubus’s shoulder.
    “The problem,” Shay continued, “is that we’re in iffy territory. Prostitution is illegal here, and whether the succubi like it or not, that includes them, too.”
    “We have our own laws, and this is how they survive,” Gabe said.
    “But we’re here to protect,” Shay said. “Situations like this are complicated. Was he brainwashed? Are humans dying here? Your people won’t give me anything, and if that man dies, who’s to say his brother or son or wife or girlfriend or whoever won’t burn the place down?”
    “They have quotas,” I said. “Vampires and other beings, too. The Guardians are supposed to keep an eye on that kind of thing.”
    “Things are getting heated on the streets, Ava,” Shay said. “There’s no trust, no open communication. Suspicion and paranoia are things that will get people killed.”
    “Let the Guardians deal with the succubi this time. I’ll arrange for the human to be taken to our clinic instead. Our medical staff might be able to keep him alive,” Gabe said. “Your people can deal with the humans, and I promise you I will answer any questions you might have.”
    Shay hesitated. “I’m supposed to deal with Erossi.”
    “If he isn’t helping, then I will. You’re part of Ava’s deal. I can’t allow harm to