Page 53 of Gilded Curses

This was the symbol inside the pub. Thrown off a little by hearing the sounds that were so familiar and so far away, sounding as if they were in the next room, Orin almost touched the symbol.

Maybe they could somehow connect with those they’d left behind. Maybe they could shout a warning and tell them to stay far away.

“They can’t hear us through it,” Sheree said.

Like the freak she was, she’d materialized from somewhere to the right of him. Even more disturbing was that it seemed she’d read his mind.

“This is the pub,” he stated the obvious.

“Yes, and if you walk around our beautiful amphitheater, you will find the library, mercantile, stable, granary, infirmary, and jail.”

“Then, let’s take a little stroll,” Orin suggested.

When Sheree smiled at him, he knew it was because he hadn’t been able to keep the hostile tone from his voice and knew they’d struck a nerve with him. After what Sahira revealed about this woman last night, he knew she was the creature waiting to spring its trap. Her sweet smile hid the soul of a monster.

Together, Desmond and Sheree led the way around the amphitheater. As they walked, it sank in that each floor of the arena had a symbol to match the town they represented. The figure eight on this level had all the arrows inside it and no sand.

“So, you were listening to us,” Elsa said as they stopped in front of the next symbol on this level.

The way she said it led Orin to believe she’d already suspected such a thing, but the dagadon hadn’t tried to hide it from them. They’d dangled it like a hook they kept pulling away at the last second.

“I’m afraid it is a necessary evil,” Desmond replied. “We must know what’s going on in the towns and when someone is leaving Ground Zero, but we don’t monitor your homes.”

He said this as if this lack of eavesdropping made them decent beings. It didn’t, and they weren’t.

Only because they built those homes after you established the town, but Orin didn’t speak those words. They all already knew that truth.

“Well, of course, you must listen,” Sahira said sarcastically. When Orin shot her a warning look, she glowered at him while continuing. “How else could you place your bets.”

Orin’s eyes narrowed on her. They were already on the chopping block; she shouldn’t instigate them further.

Desmond laughed. “Exactly! She gets it!”

Sheree’s sweet smile remained as she turned away from them and waved a hand at the next symbol. “This is the mercantile.”

Across from the symbol sat a handful of dagadon. There weren’t as many seated here as in front of the pub, but they still numbered higher than they had on the upper floors of the amphitheater.

This is insane.

Orin felt like he’d stepped into one of those game shows the humans liked so much, but instead of spinning a wheel or jumping on float-like things, he’d entered one full of powerful magic determined to destroy them all. This game consisted of them being thrown in a cage and given a wheel to run in circles while their captors watched in amusement.

His nails dug into his palms as anger and power thrummed through his veins. When he found those Augmentation Stones, if they existed, and they could finally break free of this realm, he would pulverize the smiles off Desmond and Sheree’s faces.

The whole time while he was killing them, he’d have that same shit-eating grin Desmond always sported. And if all went well, he’d make them feast on their insides before he finished. The vision made Orin smile.

They moved on to the next symbol, and the next, and the next. At each one, at least a couple of conversations were going on; all were mundane. Immortals made purchases at the mercantile, and at the stable, a small group discussed if they should sheer the sheep.

Zeth had pretty much run that stable by himself, but a few immortals had replaced him. Someone sang an old pixie ballad at the granary, and Gromuck gruffly discussed how to stock the library shelves.

“A new lycan arrived yesterday,” Desmond explained. “They chose to work in the library.” With a sly smile at Sahira and Elsa, he continued. “There are two job openings there now, after all.”

Neither of them acknowledged his words before they continued. When they’d circled back to the pub, Orin stopped to listen to the voices that had become so familiar to him while he worked there.

He could pick out a dozen different immortals he knew, and it was still early in the day, so the place was quiet. And none of them had a clue of the horrors awaiting them beyond the town.

“What do you think?” Desmond inquired.

Before anyone could respond with what they truly thought, Orin spoke. “Fascinating.”