He continued, "My name is Dahren. Dahren Silver. And who do I have the pleasure of acquainting myself with?"
"Essmay Azulin. And this is Skyee." She had avoided using my last name, even though it was likely he had already heard of me. Dahren turned his head slowly and gave me a toothy grin, like a cat playing with his dinner.
"Ello love. It's truly a pleasure to have a Starborne back in this District. My bed has been cold for far too long. I hear you Starborne women are good at keeping them warm." He was to toe to toe with me, eyes greedily taking me in. His breath reeked of alcohol and I reminded myself to remain cool. The laughter from his clansman did not help subside rising anger.
"Really Mr. Silver?" One of his boys called from behind him, "I heard Starborne's were better at whoring themselves." I might be supposed to hold my tongue with the District Leader, but there were no such customs with their crooks. I looked the lad straight in the eye and he flinched. He could not have been older than seventeen.
"I thought we were better known for disemboweling our enemies." I smiled nastily at the boy and then at Mr. Silver, who knew what Vala had done to the previous owner of his title.
"Still a whore!" Spat the boy, but I could see his feathers were quivering.
"Still wouldn't fuck you, child." I bit back, hands clenching so hard I thought they might crack.
Essmay stepped in, moving me away from Dahren, whose eyes then wandered back to her.
"The boys right you know. I thought this whole time I was paying for playthings, not Hunters."
I ground my teeth and I could see even Essmay, my ever patience Essmay, clench her jaw.
"Sorry to disappoint Mr. Silver, but neither my partner nor I are of the sort."
"Partner?" Dahren licked his thin little lips and my shoulders tensed.
"I like the sound of that. Is that why, uh, you won't dance for me hm? Already too pleased with each other's company?" The sick way he looked at us made me think he was fantasizing about just that.
"Anything to avoid men with as much taste as you." I grinned, showing him my canines. Flashing prey your teeth was a subtle way of reminding them they could easily end up in your jaws. Of course, he was far more of a predator than I, but he did not know that.
Dahren waved me off, a stupid smile still plastered on his face.
"I like this idea. We should do that, hm? Watch them do each other until we come in and give them a taste of what a real man can do."
"Sorry, but I do see an issue with that. I can't seem to find any real men presently." Essmay pointed out, voice relaxed and light. She even gave the bastard a smile. He was going too far, and there was no way Essmay and I would allow him to talk to us in such a manner. It was still a delicate balance- we did not want to come off as too harsh for fear of angering him nor did we want to be doormats. I concentrated on the masked man instead of the horrible footstool of a District Leader. He had not once chuckled or made any sound of amusement nor had he moved from his standing position. It was difficult to see his wings for they must have been tucked close to his back. His mask was steal of some sort with small but simple swirling designs and a sharp beak where the nose should be. It should have looked odd, but it somehow fit him. He wore black leather gloves and a matching coat that's hem reached just above the floor. He had a top hat which reminded me of Mr. Gray, with the same dangerous demeanor. Whoever he was, he was far more of a threat than the man standing before me. Had Mr. Silver hired an Upper City assassin? That would explain his outfit. But why would he hire him? Who was he planning on killing?