Raum picked a random street and headed down it, just to get away from the worst of the crowd. Sellers hissed at them as they passed.
“Dried maggots?”
“Shriveled gargoyle hearts?”
“Incubus semen? So fresh, it’s still warm.”
“Currency exchange—we have all types of Earth money.”
“Inescapable chains! Even the strongest demons can’t break them.”
He ignored them and looked down at the angel beside him, making sure her cloak covered her properly. If someone caught even a glimpse of her, there would be a massacre.
Because of its unparalleled ability to incapacitate demons, angel blood was a valuable commodity in Hell where everyone was enemies with everyone. In fact, Raum was sure if he looked hard enough, he could find someone selling it for an exorbitant price. And here was a fresh, untapped source, standing right in the middle of it all.
He hated it. He hated that he’d brought her here, and he felt like shit about it. But she’d forced his hand. He ought not to feel sorry for her at all.
The fact that he was still blinded by this notion that she was sweet and gentle was so fucking stupid, it made him want to punch himself. The fact that he was having sex dreams about her made him want to gouge his own eyes out. It was one thing to be fooled by that innocent smile when he hadn’t known what she was, but that wasn’t the case now.
“Do you know where we’re going?” she asked as they hurried down another lane. “It’s like a maze in here.”
“Gorath saliva?” A demon with a hunched over spine stepped in front of them, holding out a bottle of liquid. “Dissolves bones in minutes. Finest quality.”
Raum sidestepped him and spoke over his shoulder to Sunshine. “I have some idea.”
“How?”
He pointed to a dark point looming in the distance over the tops of the stalls. “That’s her building. She put the spike on top so people could find it easier.”
“Who isshe?”
Raum shook his head. “A psychopath.”
“You’ll have to be more specific than that.”
He didn’t get a chance to respond as another seller stepped in their path, brandishing what they claimed was the finest quality wyrm leather but what Raum could tell was just dyed gargoyle skin.
He steered Sunshine around the demon and they turned another corner, entering a small clearing where a dozen or so streets intersected. With laser-like focus, he pushed through the crowd, keeping the tower in the distance in his sights.
Sunshine tugged on his hand. “Look.”
He glanced back at her and then looked to see where she was pointing.
In the center of the clearing there was a tall noticeboard covered in dockets. Gathered around in typical demon fashion—pushing and shoving—were some of the roughest looking creatures in Hell, big demons with weapons strapped all over their armor-clad bodies.
Most of the dockets on the noticeboard had images with descriptions underneath. When Raum squinted to get a better look, he saw five recognizable faces at the very top of the board, all in a neat row.
“That’syou,” Sunshine hissed. “And all of your brothers.”
“They’re bounty hunters,” Raum explained. “And those are the job postings.”
“You’re at the top of the board!”
“We’re pretty high profile, Bel especially.”
“But— All these demons are searching for you?”
“Some, not all. There are other jobs there too.” The bounty-hunting business had likely taken off in popularity after Mist defected. There hadn’t been much need for it in the past when the Hunter was so damn good at his job.
