It was the anonymity of prostitution that attracted her the second time, but she had not remained a whore for long. Mirar found her. She smiled to herself as she remembered how popular he had been with the girls and his surprise at finding her there. Though he understood why she had retreated from humanity in that way he insisted it was bad for her. He took her away into the Wilds, long before they were colonized by the Siyee. They’d been both lovers and friends, but she had never been infatuated…

“Jade,” a breathy voice called.

She looked up. Two women stood at the end of the corridor. One was Leaf, a friendly middle-aged woman who organized the girls for Rozea and had given Emerahl a tour of the brothel when she first arrived. The other was the brothel favorite, Moonlight, a curvaceous beauty with dark hair, pale skin and clear violet eyes. Those eyes were travelling up and down Emerahl’s body, and the fine nose was wrinkled in distaste.

“Panilo just arrived,” Leaf said as Emerahl reached them. “He’s asking for you.”

Moonlight’s eyebrows rose. “So this is the street whore Panilo took a liking to.” She met Emerahl’s eyes. “Don’t get too attached to him. His attention never stays on one girl for long.” A sense of bitterness emanated from the woman.

“You speak from experience, then?” Emerahl asked mildly.

Moonlight’s eyes flashed with anger. “Panilo’s kindness is the only part of my early years that I have in common with you.”

Emerahl smiled, amused that this woman had taken offense so easily. “I doubt your early years were anything like mine,” she replied. “Excuse me, but I…” She paused. Her senses were telling her something else about this woman. She focused them on the woman’s belly. Something stirred there.

“I have a customer to attend to,” she finished. Turning away, she strode back to her room. Before entering she paused and looked back. Moonlight had bent close to murmur to Leaf. One hand rested lightly on her stomach and her face was tight with worry.

So she’s pregnant, Emerahl mused. I could use that to gain her trust, or to weaken her position if she proves to be a problem for me. She shook her head. Better to ignore her. I don’t want to attract too much attention to myself.

As she stepped into her room she saw that both of her room companions were awake.

“Look, Jade. Tide’s in,” Brand said, pointing to the other woman.

Tide rolled her eyes at the joke. “Are you ever going to stop that? It’s not funny anymore.”