Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I’m trying not to be nervous.
More specifically, I’m trying not to make the fact that I am nervous obvious to the others in this seedy bar. Everybody here is up to something, but I am up to more than most of them and they’ll sniff it out in the way criminals do. Breaking the law and not being arrested is all about instinct. Everybody in this place is trying to read one another, trying to sniff out weaknesses and scout for opportunities.
I’m used to dangerous, nasty hideouts. They feel like home most of the time. But today there’s so much more at stake. I have just performed my greatest heist, and now I have the most precious and valuable cargo that ever came through this place.
I get up and look out the window, gazing toward the docks. It’s hard to make out entirely, but I am pretty sure I see the flatbed. It still looks flat. Dammit.
I take a sip of my drink. A long sip. Okay, I basically down half of it.
The unloading is taking far too long for my liking. I’d be out on the dock myself, helping and watching, but I’ve got my eyes out there as it is and I’ve been soaked to the bone on the boat. The ocean never stays in the ocean. It likes to splash over the sides of the boat and quite often even goes so far as to fall from the sky.
Right now, I need a fire, high-proof alcohol, and a few minutes in relative comfort. I just have to relax. I’ve got a port seal, and that’s my ticket out of here. I am so impressed with myself. I did that so smoothly. It was practically professional.
The drink starts to hit my stomach and seep out through the rest of my body. It makes me feel warm and languid and before I know better, my eyes are feeling heavy. I force myself to stay awake. Nothing would be more dangerous than falling asleep in this den of iniquity.
I reach into my pocket, pull out some Zip, and snort it. Hard.
The buzz is immediate. I am instantly more awake than I would be if I slept a thousand days. It doesn’t get you high, it just gets you clear. Focused. It’s not like I was going to get to rest any time soon anyway. Okay. Maybe it gets you a little high. Maybe it gives you a hell of a kick.
Alright. Now I look high, which is actually an improvement. There’s plenty of other jittery people around the place. I’m blending in. It’s good. It’s perfect. It’s making the time seem to go even slower, but you can’t win everything.
I think about joining one of the coin games. Might take my mind off things. Might help me blend in better.
Just as I’m trying to work out what to do with myself, the door swings open and three big men enter. They’re all wearing black leather of various kinds with gold wolf skull details. I notice them immediately, both because I am paying attention to everything going on here, and because the Zip means that absolutely everything is screaming at me, every light, motion, and sound leaping into my various cortexes.
They also have the kind of presence that draws attention. I stare at them, not worrying if I appear rude. Who cares if I am rude. I am a criminal in a criminal hangout. Rudeness is going to make me fit right in. Everybody is staring at these people.
Long thick curling hair shadows the leader’s face. He’s broad and strong and wearing two munitions belts across his chest in an X pattern. I have to assume the weapons they’re for are underneath the long leather coat. His deep hazel-green eyes scan the room like he’s daring someone to breathe wrong.
Menacing. That’s the best description I could possibly come up with.
Behind him, a tall man with short blond hair who has the features and stature of a Viking is also scanning the room. They’re looking for something. Or someone. This guy is wearing a beige plaid waistcoat with matching pants. It’s an outfit that might look nerdy or outdated on most people, but it looks absolutely incredible on him. He has a swimmer’s body, or a dancer’s build. Both. Narrow waist, thick ass, big shoulders. He looks like he could dance the night away or massacre a small army. His features are faintly aquiline and quite aristocratic. His hair is styled impeccably. He looks like the only real adult in the room, in a sense. Like everyone else here is a silly little criminal playing silly criminal games.
I almost don’t notice the third man in the group, but that’s not because he’s not striking. It’s because he has the bearing of a shadow. He has dark hair, dark eyes, and a scar running over the bridge of his nose. He hangs back, lets the first two draw all the attention. He puts space between them and him, and he’s wearing plain black attire. There’s almost nothing to indicate he matters as much as I instinctively know he must. He is giving off big don’t-come-near-me energy. I can respect that.