A Toiling Darkness by Jaliza Burwell Page A

restaurant-slash-hotel acted
as a cover for the underground tournaments Kay loves to put on. The
underground arenas were available only for the chosen few to go and
place bets on specially chosen fighters. I went down there once out
of curiosity and hated it. The place reeked of death, blood and
magic, and while there were shadows to play with in every corner,
there was nothing fun down there for me.
    I get my kicks out of many things, but
fighting for money was not one of them. If I was to hate a deadly
sin the most, it would be greed, and the place was filled with
nothing but it.
    Half the occupants that usually occupied the
restaurant part of the hotel were greedy little shits hoping to get
the invite to go beyond the door with the ‘No Admittance’ sign on
it. The door led down to an entire underground area as big as a
football stadium and set up with an arena in the middle, surrounded
with seating for the clients, and lockers, and sparring rooms
hidden in the back. Think coliseum underground.
    There were even living quarters down there
for the teams when tournaments were going on and they had to stay
in them for a couple of days. I stared at the door that led down to
the dark arena stained with blood and thought how I never wanted to
go back down there again. The upcoming tournament was going to
start soon and I wanted to be out of the city before then. With the
way things were going, that wasn’t going to happen. I had my
priorities and life preservation triumphed avoiding annoying beings
every time. I’ll just have to stay away.
    The other half of the clients who frequently
visited were usually naïve humans making use of the dining
experience before they take their companions up to one of the
rooms. They really could not read the atmosphere in the place. It
was dark and so they thought it was romantic, it was always busy
and so they thought it was popular and good. They didn’t know the
darkness hid the real purpose of the place or that the other half
the occupants weren’t even human and just wanted to suck up to the
most important person in the city—Lord Kay.
    Sadly, Kay was as greedy as they came and
for some unknown creepy reason, he adored me. He was small, looking
more like a college kid who hasn’t had time to grow into his frame,
and yet also a man who should be modeling the clothes he always
manages to make so sexy and enticing. He was the kind of man that
attracted both young woman and the crazy teen fan girls, or the
couple of cougars who couldn’t keep their hands to themselves. He
prided himself in making use of everyone, including those old
kooks.
    There was always a light glaze of silver
covering his entire body that acted as a barrier against any magic.
Silver has always been a favorite when it came to magic
manipulation and Kay would be considered the most talented in the
entire east coast. I’ve seen him completely covered in the silver
glaze only a hand full of times, today was not one of them. They
were more like swirls that moved along his body. Yes, they were
moving. Soft waves rippling across his skin. Humans couldn’t see
the markings, or if they somehow could, they would just think it
was really intricate body art.
    Kay didn’t fear me like other beings—he was
too powerful to feel the kind of fear I instilled in others.
Tonight, his two lackeys of the month sat next to him, kissing his
butt to stay in favor. I approached them slowly, taking in the
surroundings. The place was empty except for them. They whispered
to each other, Kay facing the entrance with the other two flanking
him. They sat on an elevated stage, looking just like a real lord
surrounded by his two favorite vassals. The only lighting was by
the candelabra on the table in front of them and another in the
corner of the stage. Kay was old fashioned, really old fashioned.
You know: dungeons, torches, chains, whips, and horses.
    One of his lackeys was a Fae. Fae have two
forms, their real form and the human one they