Lexi suppressed a snort of disbelief anddipped a hand into her pocket. It was highway robbery, and theyboth knew it, but she couldn’t risk drawing attention to herself byhaggling today.
She hated being fleeced by the witch, but atleast she could rely on the witches’ discretion. The sign next tothe register announced all sales were final and confidential.
The witches were known to keep the secrets oftheir clientele. Immortals and humans wouldn’t buy from them asoften if they were running around discussing their purchases. Thewitch would never reveal what Lexi purchased here.
She removed her small wallet from her pocketand took out two hundred carisle. She didn’t have to look at theShadow Realms' currency to know that dragons marked the front ofit.
The witch smiled as she took the money andslipped it into a leather pouch. She took the potion from Lexi andput it into another leather pouch before giving it back toLexi.
“Thanks,” Lexi muttered and stifled herimpulse to add, “for screwing me.”
Turning away from the makeshift, woodencounter, she ignored the people gathered inside the small hut asshe made her way through the shadowed interior. Everyone else inthe store was human; she could tell by the distinct lack of poweremanating from them. They all stopped their browsing of the potionsand trinkets lining the shelves to watch her go.
The humans didn’t have Shadow Realmscurrency, but the witch behind the counter would take their money.Lexi felt a stab of guilt as she met their curious stares. They alllooked tired and more than a little beat down by their new lot inlife.
As she passed a woman, the woman shoved ablack lump back onto the shelf. A sign above the lump guaranteed itwould provide enough food for a week.
Pity tugged at Lexi’s heart when the thinwoman bowed her head and her lank hair fell forward to shield herfeatures. The humans hadn’t asked for this; they’d never known itwas coming, and now they were suffering the consequences because amadman wouldn’t give up the throne that had corrupted him.
She barely had carisles left, but she foundher hand dipping toward her wallet. The price on the stone wasfifty dollars or about twenty carisle. The witch had robbed herblind, but apparently, she had a soft spot for the starving masses.Maybe she wasn’t such a smug ass after all.
The woman lifted the stone again, and Lexiscented tears before she put it back and turned away. Lexi stoppedand pulled her wallet out. She removed a twenty-dollar carisle andwalked over to the woman.
The woman started to turn away, but Lexigrasped her wrist to halt her. When the woman turned back to her,Lexi saw her round belly. She was only weeks away fromdelivery.
“Here,” Lexi said as she shoved the moneyinto the woman’s hand.
The woman started to shake her head. “Ican’t.”
“Take it,” Lexi insisted.
She could feel the witch’s eyes on her, butshe didn’t look back. The woman’s fingers curled briefly aroundLexi’s as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Lexi pulled her hand away and walked out ofthe store before she started to cry too. She’d grown up in themortal realm; she was more comfortable around humans thanimmortals. She’d grown up with them; they were her people, theywere suffering, and shehatedit.
Stepping onto the crowded dirt road, sheignored the crush of humans and immortals surrounding her as sheswung the leather pouch onto her shoulder and slipped into thecrowd.
•••
Cole despised the crowded human and immortal marketsthat had sprung up in the cities and towns since the war ended. Heunderstood their necessity as humans scrambled to survive, andthose who still had fortunes sought to get their hands on thingsthey’d only ever dreamed about. However, he preferred it when themarkets only catered to immortals and were hidden from themortals.
“Watch it,” Brokk growled when a passinglycan’s shoulder hit his.
The lycan turned to look at Brokk, who liftedhis hand in the air. The lycan took in the ciphers on Brokk’s handand kept walking. Not many immortals sought to pick a fight withthe dark fae. The lycan was larger and stronger, but they allfeared the dark fae’s powers.
“Bunch of hairy assholes,” Brokkmuttered.
Cole didn’t take offense to his brother’scomment. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d called vampsbloodsucking leeches around Brokk.
“I do not have a hairy asshole,” Colesaid.
“You never know what the future holds.”
“It better not hold hairy assholes.”
Brokk grinned at him before turning to avoida herd of humans who scurried past with their heads down. Colebarely acknowledged the humans as he tried not to inhale the stenchof dirt and body odor wafting from them. The sweet stench ofwitches’ potions and burnt wood, as well as the ever-present reekof the distant burning city, hung heavily on the air.
The open road that vehicles once traversedwas now a thoroughfare crowded with ramshackle huts and hastilyassembled buildings. They’d turned the broken and cracked four-laneroad into little more than a lane.
