Azrael

Twenty

Emeraude stood in an alcove at the end of a garbage-littered alley and raw, moist heat prickled over her skin and slick sweat bloomed on her forehead. She was breaking a million Jupyter rules by doing this. If she got caught, the punishments would be a lot worse than a suspension or a slap on the wrist.

"Keep clear of the supernatural security there," the troll warned. "Those winged bastards will not be happy at a Viper running around their home, fully armed, hunting."

Emeraude turned to the Mage once more. "And you're sure it's Seraphim that took her?"

"Yup," he replied, voice slurred.

"Dom would have been too drunk to tell apart a dragon from a Seraphim," one of the other trolls joked. "Wouldn't be my life on his word."

As the trolls broke into uncontrolled laughter, Dominic put a hand on Emeraude's shoulder. Despite his drunken state, his grip was firm and steady, and his eyes were clear.

"I know what I saw," he told her. "They took your werewolf."

"Why don't you come along then? And help me find track down the ones that took her?"

Dominic waved her away. "I'm not getting into another bloody war cause of a girl. I gave her a dagger encased with teleportation runes."

"Why didn't you just teleport her away before they took her?" Emeraude asked.

Dominic wagged a finger at her. "Teleporting with other creatures is difficult to learn, let alone put into a rune. It wasn't my best work, but I felt it when she used the dagger. She's out there somewhere, but those godless angels are going to hunt her down unless some demon gets to her first of course."

He then disappeared with a pop.

"There he goes," the lead troll said, "most likely back to Tusky's to refill his glass."

"He's an idiot," Emeraude said.

"He's the smartest man I've met," the troll said. "Unlike you. If it weren't for Tusky calling in a favor I would not have helped you with this madness."

"You're staying on the other side of the door. You're safe."

"I'm not worried about what goes into that place," the troll said grimly. "I'm worried about what comes out. Wherever your friend is, even if she might be alive as Dom says, she's gone."

"Just open the portal," Emeraude insisted.

"It's all set. Just right through that door. Been nice knowing ya young lady."

Emeraude's hands fiddled with the leather holsters at her back. Her guns were secure. She was as ready as she was going to get. A nervous breath gusted out of her and she braced her shoulders and went through the door.

It was dark, and the sounds of music and festivity came first, then the smells of all kinds of food. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light, and then her jaw dropped and she stood still at the sights before her.

Brightly coloured decorations lined the streets.

Various buildings and establishments hoisted sails of red and blue, vied with those of green and yellow, and almost every conceivable hue of colour. Walls painted black, gold or silver lined every corner she could see.

Supernaturals of all sizes lined the street as far as could see, both humanoid and otherwise, too many and too quick for her to identify - who scrambled over the various food stalls, shouted commands, laughed, danced, sang and cursed in their native languages.

Emeraude groaned. There was some sort of carnival or festival going on, and public events of this size were the worst hunting grounds of all. Finding someone in a crowd of thousands, let alone shooting at a target moving amongst them was insanely difficult.