Chapter 1

Ihave too many skeletons in my closet to be messing with lawmen, so when the Attirex city guard comes and questions me about my connections to the underworld, I can't get out soon enough. Nobody wants that kind of attention, especially not me.

The boss sent me ahead to scope out some of the more... unsavory elements in Attirex, one of the few neutral cities that exist between human and trollkin kind. He thought we could open up a new trade channel, perhaps even to humans. There are criminals everywhere regardless of which side you're on, and we all want the same thing: coin. So I came here to find out if the promise of money could expand the clan's reach to the inhospitable desert, because more coin for the clan means more coin for me. With enough money there's no scrounging up leftover bread crusts and picking discarded bones clean. Any meal I could want is within reach.

Then a few weeks back, this human man who spoke poor Trollkin tried to sell me some green salt, the kind of shit that makes you lose your mind when you snort it, just for a while. Long enough to make trouble and maybe get killed.

I turned him away, of course. The boss's operation has no need for the green. Trading in salt is a great way to end up executed or rotting away in prison the rest of your life.

But it doesn't matter whether or not I'm innocent. I've accidentally attracted the attention of the city guard—the captain, no less—and I can't have her looking any deeper into me, just in case she finds the inevitable dirt.

I still can't believe it. I fucked a human. Me, a troll, fucked a human. I'd never been given the gift before, or frankly, even considered it, but now I'm certifiably changed. It will be hard to want anything else after putting my cock inside that tiny, hot cunt, stroking in and out of her while I enjoyed her soft features and big, bouncing breasts.

I'll never forget it as long as I live.

Unfortunately, the captain I fucked and her orc buddy showed up at the tavern where I'd been scoping prospects, and interrogated me about possibly-illegal goings-on. The guy trying to sell me salt had been offed, and they were searching for a connection.

Now that I'm in their sights, my cover's blown and I can't finish the job. I hate not completing a mission, but I hop on the first caravan out of town anyway to confess my failure to the boss.

* * *

The journey back to Kalishagg is long and arduous, but I'm overjoyed to see my home city again. Kalishagg, the trollkin's biggest city, sits atop a hill above the jungle. The streets are loud and reek of animal, the shops are covered by deer hide canopies, and the windows are barred with iron.

Best of all, there aren't any humans anywhere. I think I've had enough for now.

I visit the mechanic's shop on the far end of town, where my buddy Graz is hammering away at some new gadget of his. He's always inventing new and fascinating stuff. He has a machine that reaches into a box full of rats and feeds one to his pet lizard every couple of days. Once he built a portable fire that's supposed to cook your meat for you, but it always burns mine.

When I walk in, Graz turns a tiny crank to reel his microscope into his goggles, then pushes them up onto his head. "You're back early," he says, waving. "Thought you'd be gone for a few months."

"Things didn't go as expected," I say. There are some new maps up on Graz's wall. He's been "investigating local legends" lately, which really just means tacking up some paper, drawing a big map on it and marking red dots in random places. There's even one very close by, out in the jungle. My friend has always been the curious sort, ever since we were whelps living on the street. I was the one who made sure we always had food to eat while he fiddled and experimented with whatever leftover bits of machinery he could find.

"‘Didn't go as expected'?" Graz says, arching an eyebrow. "That sounds ominous."

I have so much to tell him after getting ratted out in Attirex. He's been my best friend since I saved him from getting run over by an oxcart, so if I can tell anyone about the human cunt, it's him. He'll be amazed by it—and probably a little horrified.

But I have to report to the boss first. I head for the door on the far end of the shop and pull a lever. The elevator rattles to life, another of Graz's inventions.

"I've gotta run," I say. "Let's get a beer later."

Graz nods and slides his goggles back over his eyes, then begins soldering some metal, sending sparks flying. The elevator opens and I step inside.

It's a long, rickety trip down into the caves below Kalishagg. Almost nobody knows these gaping crystal caverns are here, right under the city, which is fortunate for us. It's the perfect place to base our operations and house all our coin and stolen goods.

When the elevator reaches the bottom, I have to really tug to get the door to open. Kugara, a spry orcess, jumps to her feet when I step out.

"Lo'zar! You're back!" She's the youngest member of the clan and a little green still. Ha, ha. There's extra shine in her eyes today as she ducks out of the store room to greet me. "Didn't expect you so soon. It's a nice surprise, though." She tucks a lock of her thick black hair behind one ear and bats her eyelashes.

A month ago, I probably would have propositioned her. Taken her to bed. Made her scream my name. But after my tryst with the captain of the guard, I can't see anything in her that I desire—just another peon who wants to impress the boss, same as the rest of us.

"Hey, Kugara," I say with a salute.

"Did you find anything?" she asks.

I sigh. "Gotta report to Gusak first, then I'll catch you up."

"Right, right. Well, go on. He's in the pit watching a fight."

I head down the first flight of stairs, which are really just steps carved into stone. Don't want to slip or you'll go tumbling down into a comfy nest of sharp crystal stalagmites.

When I say the caverns are big, I'm understating it. The main one is hundreds of feet from top to bottom, and covered in blue, green and purple crystals that jut out in every direction. It spirals off into additional cave systems that are perfect for storage and living space. I, personally, cannot wait to sleep in my own bed again, assuming no one else has taken it over while I was away.

On my way down to the lower levels, I pass caverns full of weapons with jeweled hilts, priceless paintings, even a red velvet armchair with solid teak legs. There are exotic animals, which Kugara cares for, and a collection of stolen artifacts from some long-forgotten ruin.

It's when I reach the cavern typically reserved for raw supplies—gold ingots, reams of silk, and fine furs—that I see it: a rather large cage now occupies half the space. That's odd. I have to pause and peer close to see what's inside.

It's a human. A woman. She's mostly naked, only a few strips of rags clinging to her body, and she's utterly filthy. When I approach, she retreats to the far back of her cage where she bumps into an overflowing chamberpot. It all reeks of shit and piss.

I don't understand what I'm seeing. What is a human doing here, being kept in a cage like one of Graz's rats? We keep some animals in cages, exotic creatures to be sold to wealthy buyers. But never a person. Never a human. My gut twists.

She might be one of them, but she's still a sentient creature.

My eyes land on hers. The woman's irises are a piercing gray, almost silver, and deeper than the sea. I almost stumble on the steps, which would certainly be a fatal mistake, so I pause briefly to stabilize myself. I can't help looking at her again, and taking in her huge, frightened eyes, her flared nostrils, her pink lips carved into a scowl. Her black hair is dirty and matted to her head.

There's no time for this. The boss will want to know what went down in Attirex, and why I failed to secure any new contacts there. Hopefully I'll be forgiven for getting sniffed out by the city guard before I could make any real progress.

But as I continue on down the stairs, I can't stop thinking about the woman in the cage. The worst part was that it felt like she had looked inside me, right to the core of me. All I want to know is what she saw.

* * *