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“Shouldn’t I cover my hair?” I asked Ayanna in her office, once I was done. I always got told to cover it on prior raids, because it made me instantly recognizable.

She gave a rare laugh. “For once, no. You’ll fit right in with this crowd.”

Kimmy joined us a moment later, wearing a skintight, hot pink dress that hit her at the knee and otherwise left nothing to the imagination. I raised my eyebrows.

“Where are you gonna keep your gun?” I asked her.

She winked. “I have my ways.”

I decided I’d rather not know. It was time to leave, anyway, and we only had a few hours to pull this off. Ayanna was giving Kimmy a predatory sort of look.

“You clean up nice, Kim,” she said with a sly smile, and Kimmy actually flushed.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, in the world’s flashiest disguise. Let’s get this shit over with.”

Chapter 21

John

The Onyx wasn’t what I expected.

Knowing it was apparently a secret hub for the Order, I thought it’d be kind of dingy and dirty. Like the old pub at the Post, where everything looked a thousand years old and it always stank like sweat and stale beer. That seemed like the kind of place a raging death cult would hang out, if only because the despair in the place was practically part of its character.

Instead, The Onyx was slick, with black polished floors and countertops, mirrors everywhere, and a large dancefloor complete with flashing lights that hurt my eyes. I’d never seen lights like that before, and I wondered how anyone could stand them. They were playing music with strange electronic sounds, and it was so loud that I swore a mirror hanging on the wall was vibrating. A guy sitting in a big booth seemed to control the music, because it changed when he manipulated the console in front of him.

It was already loud and busy, packed with people dancing and drinking and probably making bad decisions. They all wore neon colours like we did, so at least Ayanna had been right about the clothes, and she was also right that with the hairstyles these people had—unnatural colours, lots of shaved heads and mohawks—I didn’t look too out of place. On top of that, it was so busy that nobody looked twice at me or Kimmy.

How can anyone enjoy this? I wondered as I looked around. We had dances at home often enough, but this didn’t feel like a dance—this was a fucking assault on my senses. I couldn’t even start looking for the bar, I was so overwhelmed. I could see it affecting Kimmy, too, because she rubbed her eyes with her hand, squinting under the stupid flashing lights.

“We should look for the bar,” I shouted at her over the music.

“What?” she yelled back, and I wanted to punch someone.

We spent a few seconds trying to mime a plan to each other, but it was useless, and a random guy wearing a glowing necklace stared at us. We couldn’t afford for anyone to notice how totally out of place a couple of farm kids were here, so I took charge.

“Come on,” I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her through the crowd. At the very least, I could move us farther away from the tall speakers near the music guy’s booth and be able to hear myself think again.

Thankfully, after a few minutes of pushing our way through the crowds, we reached the long bar at the back of the space. The high stools around the bar were filled with people drinking, and there were three different bartenders serving.

“Who do we ask?” Kimmy said, standing on tiptoe to reach my ear.

“Dunno,” I answered. “Only one way to find out.”

I waved at a big guy with tattoos and a blonde goatee. He shot me a look of annoyance, but came over anyway. Sorry to interrupt your enjoyment of this attack on my ears.

“Two Immortal Eyes,” I managed to tell him despite the noise. I gestured between Kimmy and me. “One for each of us.”

The bartender arched an eyebrow. “You sure you can handle that, son?”

Trying to hide my frustration, I answered, “I’m sure. We’re expected.”

He regarded me for a minute, openly doubtful, but then shrugged. “Whatever. Not my business who they invite.”

He moved away and started mixing something. I watched him, confused, because I didn’t realize there’d be an actual drink. I thought it was just a coded phrase. He added a strange gold power to the drinks, making them shimmer in their glasses, then presented them to me. He didn’t ask for payment, even though Ayanna had given me a card that she said had money on it. Instead, he reached underneath the bar, and it looked like he pressed some kind of hidden button.

“Wait for her to come collect you,” he said to me. “You’re the first ones here.”

I waited at the bar, Kimmy at my side, and neither of us touched our drinks. As tempting as getting drunk might’ve been given the current state of our lives, we needed to keep our shit together.