The woman walking toward them was one of the most elegant Nasheenians Nyx had ever seen. Being pretty wasn’t an asset in Nasheen, but this woman wore it like it was one. She was strikingly beautiful, the sort of insidious beauty that knocked you flat in the street when you saw it. Her complexion was smooth as a child’s, brown as burnt butter. She had a face like a proud cat—large eyes, plump cheeks, generous mouth. She wore a pale yellow shalwar khameez stitched in red and orange geometric designs. Her hijab was purple, wound loosely around her head so her cascade of dark, wavy hair hung free to her waist.

“Is this your employer, then?” the woman asked as she approached.

“Yes,” Kage said. “Nyx, this is Safiyah.”

Nyx said, “Sorry. Been a misunderstanding. I don’t run with rogue First Family. Too much trouble. Too much paperwork.”

Safiyah laughed, a surprisingly ugly sound considering her pleasant exterior. She sounded like a rabid dog hacking up a bit of foam. “Oh, they won’t pay anything for me back home if you try and turn me in. So don’t bother working out how much I’ll go for.”

“Come on, Kage,” Nyx said, and started to move past Safiyah.

“You have another way over the Wall, then?” Safiyah said.

“We have plenty of other offers, thanks.”

“Oh do you? I admit I am surprised. Only one of those red djinns can get you over.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Of course, I could get you over.”

“Is that so? And how would you do that? Dig?”

“Fly.” Safiyah turned to Kage. “And your little friend here can help with that. It’s why I approached her in the first place.”

“I think we’ll make our own way,” Nyx said.

“What, with the Chenjan? Oh, please. Ask her what work she has for you. Ask her what she traffics in. There’s a thriving market in human flesh here. There will be money made for your bodies, no doubt, but you will not be collecting it.”

“You seem to know a lot about what we’re up to.”

“I have a single-minded interest in arriving on the other side of this wall. To achieve that, I need a Drucian. It so happens one works for you. I propose a simple partnership until we reach the other side. Is that so remarkable?”

“Fuck, you even talk like a First Family,” Nyx said.

“I’ve found it’s easier to be who you are instead of pretending at something else. Fewer things to remember.”

Nyx regarded her once more. She was slight in stature, a head shorter than Nyx, and it made the size of her generous breasts and hips altogether more distracting. But Nyx was not so besotted that she failed to notice the fine scarring on the inside of the woman’s wrists as she spoke, the peculiar worm-wheels of a venom addict.