As they got nearer, Nyx was able to make out more of it. The stronghold was like something out of a lurid historical radio show. A bulbous, burgeoning conflagration that pulsed like a living organ in the low light. There were several towerlike structures protruding from its compass points, like minarets. The outside appeared to be ringed in the wind-effaced heads of some kind of twisted creatures for which Nyx had no name. They reminded her a bit of the beasts that attacked them early on. Monstrous, ravenous things with impenetrable skins.

Nyx noted that there didn’t seem to be much activity outside. No one was coming in or going out. She didn’t even see a door. It was just one long shimmering green skein, all the way around.

“Who runs this place?” Nyx asked. “The Aadhya?”

“They’re ruled by three brothers,” Khatijah said.

Nyx raised her brows. “And how is it you know this?”

“You think I was just sitting around in Kiranmay doing nothing?”

“It crossed my mind…”

“The men come from the other side of the Wall, many more weeks from here. It’s called Yazdan, and there’s some ocean over there, so they call them ocean people. The brothers buy and sell people out here, and a whole host of other things.”

“For what, labor?”

“Sex, I think.”

“I’m sorry,” Nyx said. “What?”

“People want to control things they’re afraid of,” Kage said. Nyx couldn’t argue with that. Still, most of the folks she kept around were good for more than just sex. Sex was a bonus, naturally, but not the main event. And people who were only useful for sex were a drain on resources. Wherever Yazdan was, it must be a rich sort of place.

“Maybe some of us could pass for them.” Khatijah peered over at Kage. “She could pass, maybe. And Isabet.”

“I’m not a fan of hiding out among loose skirts unless there’s no other way,” Nyx said. “Once we’re in, what’s our cover?”

“There is an easier way,” Safiyah said.

Nyx waited.

“I’m a magician,” Safiyah said. She sniffed. “And a far more skilled one than your torturer.”

“Yeah, but once we’re in, we need to find Raine. How’s that happen if we just suddenly appear?”

Khatijah sighed. “The people-selling angle is looking better.”

“Oh, everyone does that,” Safiyah said. She clapped her hands. “How about a glamour? I haven’t done a good glamour in… such a long time.”

Nyx said, “How many people can you realistically hold a glamour on?”

“You, the bel dame, and perhaps the Drucian. It will be very dark in there, after all, and they are better in tight spaces. We don’t need the curry eater or the torturer.”

“Kage needs to stay on the high ground and shoot the bugs. She’s not going with us.”