AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Satisfied with her reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror that dominated the lobby, she tucked her stealth kit into a purse and marched to the escalator.
It rose two levels to where the swell of music hit her with force.
The vast venue was packed, the air thick with synth smoke, ‘hol essence, the scent of delicious bites and the headiness of perfume.
She sensed none of it, pushing past the laughing patrons indulging in the refinement and sophistication wrapped around the nested, birdcage-inspired set-up.
Where were they last spotted?
Sika replied, speaking into Sana’a’s neural node. In the rooftop gardens, just through the large open sliding doors.
The intelligence was tapping into Sana’a’s vision, and digitised markers glowed in her sight as Sika led her to her mark.
The Shotelai threaded through plush furnishings and intimate booths.
Above her swung gold bird enclosures overflowing with shrubs, plants and flowers.
The effect was a calm oasis that was an escape from the heat and chaos of Eden II’s bustling metro just outside its doors.
Beyond the front of the house was an open kitchen swarming with sous chefs from where heavenly aromas wafted.
The restaurant opened to a deck area with sweeping views of the city.
The long-haired woman paused at the arched entryway, her eyes darting around the bar, where busy mixologists dreamed up wild-hued cocktails complete with flames and fireworks.
Patrons packed the tables and couches under bobbing fairy lights, and servers danced through the crowd with platters overflowing with enticing fare.
Sana’a ignore it all, searching the vast space for her prey.
Behind you.
She turned and was hit with gales of raucous laughter.
It emanated from a group of people bunched together at the far corner of the rooftop garden, half hidden behind a large pot of trailing plants.
Many of them women, some men.
All crowding around a trio of oversized beings.
Sika chirped. Those are the so-called Katánians. I have never seen anything quite like them.
Sana’a huffed in surprise. Neither have I.
For they were giants, towering over the assembled punters like outsized demigods.
Two of them had craggy faces, handsome and chiselled yet with an eagle-like menace. They each sported short silver hair with shorn sides and an unusual glowing jewel at the centre of their foreheads.
Their bodies were extensive, with ropey muscled limbs under their tight, dark suits that fit them like a glove.
Their posture was alert, their eyes darting in lethal sweeps across the rooftop terrace, their relaxed postures affected.
She sensed they’d leap to action at a moment’s notice. Their vigilance told her they were in high shielding mode.
Protecting whom?
That soon became clear when her eyes wandered over the third man alongside them, who was now easing into a lounge chair, stepping away from the adoring crowd.
He was the polar opposite of the other two in style and stance.
