Feral Mage Book 2: Chapter 20

Bryce walked through the inner part of Witchbrook toward the Rim in the crisp early morning air. He left Vex sleeping in their bed, Omelet curled up beside her feet. The wolfkin had quickly turned his ‘talk’ to her last night into something else.

“I’ve fought monsters, bandits, and soldiers,” Bryce sighed. “Just to be defeated by a pair of tits.”

Really nice tits.

He started to see the buildings become rougher and the number of holes in the cobblestone road increase. The people were more guarded, and everyone eyed each other. Some were doing their best to keep themselves and their possessions safe, and others were looking for an easy mark. Bryce wasn’t too worried about muggers. Anyone who tried to rob him would have a very bad day.

He pulled out one of the contracts Isabelle had left at the guildhall for him. Alice reluctantly gave it to him, along with several warnings that he should be careful. The message was very similar to the one he had received from the fence, minus the reference to people looking for him and being written in blood. The key difference, though, was that this one had an address for him to report to.

A brothel.

The place was called the Red Lace and stood out with its bright red paint. Bryce knew it had a reputation as the best brothel on this side of the city. It was safe for both clients and those who worked there, which was rare for the Rim. He didn’t know that it was where Isabelle operated out of.

The catcalls started as he neared the establishment.

“Hey, handsome, looking for a good time?” a topless human woman said, her hand coming up and teasing her nipple as she looked him up and down. “I can make this a morning you won’t forget.”

“Oh, he is handsome,” A catkin purred. She was wearing an outfit that exposed both her breasts as well as her womanhood. “I think he would be perfect to help me out. I have a kitty that needs some heavy petting.”

Her hand ran down along her body to her slit, and she spread herself open to him.

“Meow,” she said with a sultry grin.

Vex would not be happy.

He could already picture the wolfkin starting a fight with these two as he stopped in front of the building. Both girls approached him, striking poses as they ran their hands along his chest.

“I’m here to see Isabelle,” he said. “Can you take me to her?”

Instantly, the flirting stopped, the girls’ hands fell away, and they stared at him suspiciously.

“The boss doesn’t—” the catkin started.

“Wait, it’s him. Look, he’s wearing a steel dog tag,” the human woman said, cutting the catkin off.

The catkin’s eyes widened.

“Shit, sorry. We didn’t realize you were the boss’s man. Come in, we’ll let her know you’re here.”

The boss’s man? Yeah, Vex would be starting a war right now.

He said nothing. Instead, he followed the two ladies through the door. Music, incense, laughter, and faint moans greeted him. The girls didn’t lead him into the parlor, where clients would sit, drink, and visit with their prospective hookups. They ushered him to a small set of stairs off to the side. The stairs led to a hallway on the second floor, and one of the girls gestured to a cushioned chair sitting against the wall.

“Wait here. We’ll get you when the boss is ready,” the catkin said.

“It might be a minute,” the human added. “A girl’s got to look her best for her man.”

She winked at him as they disappeared from the hallway and entered a set of doors.

He only waited a few seconds before the doors opened again. The two ladies slipped out, leaving the door open.

“The boss will see you,” the catkin said.

“You two have fun,” the human added with a laugh.

Bryce stood and made his way into the room. Isabelle sat behind a desk. The white fur coat she wore made her fiery red hair stand out even more. Her green eyes twinkled mischievously as she smiled at him.

“So we finally meet again,” Isabelle purred.

He closed the door and moved to take the seat in front of her desk. The room was twice the size of Mark’s office, and it seemed Isabelle had a penchant for decorating with weapons. Dozens of blades in varying styles hung on the wall around them.

“You were pretty insistent on it. I got your letter from a fence and was told about the multiple contracts you left at the guildhall when I arrived in Witchbrook.”

“Good to know you just got back. I was afraid you were ignoring me,” she said, resting her chin on her hand. “Or that you might be hiding since the organization was after you.”

Bryce felt his heart start to race faster. Erika, the assassin who had hunted Alice in the Red Pine Kingdom and was responsible for the death of most of the Redpine family, said she was a member of the organization. Were they here in Witchbrook?

Isabelle smiled warmly at him.

“You have a poor poker face, Bryce,” she said. “If you played the strip variety with my girls, they would have you in the buff after a few hands.”

He schooled his expression to something more neutral, even if his mind was worrying about Alice.

“What can you tell me about them?” he asked.

Isabelle shook her head, her smile growing wider.

“Information isn’t free, even for a cute face like yours,” Isabelle said. “Do a job for me and I’ll tell you about the organization. I’ll even show you where their little nest is in Witchbrook. The real members, not their little cockroach hunters that were scurrying around my city until I squashed them.”

Bryce gritted his teeth.

“What’s the job?”

***

Bryce tested the blade’s edge, then felt its weight in his hand. The balance was off, as he expected it would be, but he knew he could still throw it accurately. He gripped the blade by the tip and faced his target. He had expected Isabelle to ask him to do many things, extract payment from someone, take out a rival gang boss, maybe even be her bodyguard for the day, but not this.

He threw the blade and watched it twirl through the air, striking the target in the bullseye. He heard clapping behind him.

“Well done,” the kitsune man with five tails said as he handed Bryce the prize. “I even threw in an extra one, given your skill.”

The fox winked at Bryce as he took the two apples skewered on sticks with some sugary sauce drizzled over them. He figured the old fox had done it less because he was impressed by his skill, and more to help him out with the excited woman standing beside him. He smiled at the man, wondering if he was an uncle or a cousin of Janna’s.

Bryce turned around and saw Isabelle still clapping, a grin on her face. He held out one of the candy apples to her, and she did a little jump as she took it. Red Isabelle, a woman who had made a name for herself with violence and whom Bryce had seen behead someone in front of him, was jumping up and down at the prospect of a candy apple.

“Thank you, hun,” she said, taking a bite.

Bryce ignored the nickname she had given him. Instead, he looked around at the other games and shops set up along the pier where the Horo-kitsune clan ship was docked. This was the task Isabelle wanted him to do before she would tell him about the organization.

Take me to the circus.

He thought she was joking at first, then he realized she was serious.

“Let’s look at stands selling stuff. I promised some of my girls with tails I’d see if they had any brushes for sale.”

And with that, Isabelle raced off to the other end of the pier, her white fur coat waving in the wind as she went. Bryce took a bite of his candy apple and followed behind her. He kept looking around at the kitsunes operating the games or stalls. They all had black or silver fur, and Bryce noticed more than a few bore a striking resemblance to Janna.

When Bryce arrived at the stall Isabelle was in front of, she already had a stack of boxes containing combs.

“Anything catch your eye, sir?” the kitsune woman asked, her four black tails fanning out behind her.

Bryce looked over the stall, which primarily sold brushes, something he had already gifted Vex. His gaze shifted to a set of books, thinking there might be something Janna would like in them, when he read the title on one of the spines and smiled.

“I’ll take this one,” he said.

The kitsune turned bright red at his choice.

“How did that—umm, are you sure, sir?” she asked.

Bryce smiled at the cover. It was perfect.

“I’m sure, how much?”

Bryce walked away from the stall five coppers poorer, but with the book and a plan. He smiled as he looked at the cover.

“The Secret Art of Tail Brushing: A thousand and one strokes,” Isabelle said, reading the book’s title. “Oh, look, it even has a very lewd drawing of a kitsune woman on the cover.”

She clicked her tongue.

“You certainly know how to make a girl without a tail feel special,” she drolled.

Bryce scoffed.

“I do have a girl, you know,” Bryce answered.

Isabelle nodded her head.

“I do recall the very angry wolfkin,” she said with a grin. “So that’s for her?”

“Yes, well, kind of. I need to stop by a book binder and get this cover placed on another book.”

“Huh?”

He explained to her how Vex always destroyed any books related to beastkin language and culture he purchased. He hoped hiding the book with this cover would prevent the destruction of the next one. Isabelle listened with a sly smile.

“And you don’t wonder why she doesn’t want you to learn her language and culture?” the gang boss asked.

Bryce shrugged.

“Vex can be vexing.”

Isabelle laughed.

“I have several beastkin girls working for me, so I know a little about their culture. You tried to chase her away at first, didn’t you?”

Bryce narrowed his eyes at Isabelle.

“Thought so,” she sang with a laugh.

“Okay, then tell me what’s going on,” Bryce said.

The sound of a bell echoed through the pier, and Isabelle gasped, grabbed his hand, and started pulling him toward the clan ship.

“The performance is about to start!” she exclaimed.

Isabelle ignored Bryce as she dragged him onto the clan ship and the crowd of people boarding it. The sea of people moved into a large open room with high ceilings, located in the hull. The clan members quickly ushered them toward stands, and soon he was sitting beside a very excited Isabelle, looking into the center of the large room.

“The outfits they wear are cute! Also, they’re skin tight. The brothel gets flooded with requests for our girls to wear something similar each time the circus clan ships visit Witchbrook.”

Before Bryce could respond, his attention was grabbed by the woman who stepped into the center of the large room, which he guessed would be the stage for the performance. She looked like an older version of Janna, except with nine solid black tails. She gave a beautiful smile as she scanned the audience and then threw her arms open.

“Welcome to our family’s performance!” she said as her nine tails fanned out behind her. “I hope you will enjoy our show.”

Instantly, blue flames encircled her, and music started to play.

“That’s some powerful pyromancy,” Isabelle said excitedly. “I wonder how she’ll use it in the act!”

Bryce stared in bewilderment. Blue fire was the mark of a master pyromancer.