Lumi stumbled back to her room well after midnight. Her fingers ached from clutching the hefty weight in her pocket. She hadn’t once let it go, anxious it might slip away if she dared loosen her grip.

She shut the rickety door behind her, its hinges groaning in protest. She kept her back to the wooden entryway, ensuring nobody would disturb her. Then she took out her nightly earnings.

The pouch of gem, first. She counted it—twice, just to be sure.

Fifty thousand gem. The number echoed in her mind as her gaze drifted to the stain on her wall, a familiar smirch in the tiny room.

Fifty thousand gem. It was the kind of sum she would scrape together over moons of endless hours and sleepless nights.

Fifty thousand gem. To make that much in a single night was unthinkable. It was outrageous.

Then her stomach knotted. Surely, a sum like that wouldn’t go unnoticed. She was used to pilfering a few coins from the pockets of drunken fools, men too far gone to miss what they’d lost. But this time was different. He had been perfectly lucid. And he knew her face.

Lumi shook the worry aside. Fifty thousand gem was a fortune in her world, enough to alter the trajectory of her life. But in his? It may have been nothing more than spare change, carelessly tossed away.

Next, she drew out the rounded object she had stolen—a compass. The metal was dull, the casing scratched and battered from years of use. When she flipped it open, the needle wavered, pointing stubbornly in a direction that was definitely not north.

Broken. Useless, perhaps. Still, she would take it to the pawnshop in the morning. Even junk like that may fetch a price in the right hands.

And finally, the scroll. Lumi unrolled the piece of parchment, her fingers brushing over its brittle edges. A map. Its surface was ancient, discolored in patches, worn thin with age. She itched to study it, but caution won out. Her earnings came first.

Her heart thundered as she dropped into a crouch. In the silence of her cramped quarters, every creak and scrape was deafening. She crawled beneath the bed, and pried the warped floorboard loose. She slipped the pouch and compass into the hollow beneath, nestling them alongside her hard-earned stash. Then she pressed the board back into place.

A weight lifted from her chest. She plopped onto the bed, limbs heavy with relief, and unrolled the scroll again.

At the top, in faded ink, it read: The Kingdom of Dracule.

A name she’d heard before, somewhere. She could feel it stir something deep within her—a memory? It was just out of reach.

Lumi startled at the sound of the knob turning. Quickly, she rolled up the parchment and tucked the map into her pillowcase. The door creaked open, and a black cat slipped inside.

“Kit,” she heaved out a breath, “You frightened me.”

The cat meowed, rubbing against her leg. Lumi pet its head, and it purred in pleasure. “Such a good Kitty,” Lumi soothed, “Done working for the night?”

In the blink of an eye, the cat transformed into a woman.

She was naked as the day she was born, her brown skin somehow glowing despite their muted surroundings. Ebony hair cut at the nape, thick eyelashes framing a pair of stunning yellows. She was shorter than Lumi, with wider hips and softer curves.

“I have a client in the other room.” Kit had a voice that could make a grown man crawl. Sultry, dripping with honey and spice. “Sir Holt, a nobleman from the citadel.”

She twirled through Lumi’s tiny lodgings with the grace of a feline and grabbed the robe she’d abandoned during her last visit. Slipping it on, she shrouded her nakedness in its silky folds.

Lumi angled her body to face the other girl, pressing her back up against the cold wall of her bedroom. The chill bit through her tunic, sending goosebumps across her flesh.

“Won’t he miss you?”

“He wept in my lap for hours before finally falling into slumber. He’ll be dead to the world until sunrise.”

“He wept?” Lumi scrunched her nose, “Why?”

Kit’s tales never ceased to fascinate her. It was a ritual of theirs—talking after the day was spent. Even the hardest days felt bearable when she knew this moment waited at the end.

“The love of his life vanished. Went out shopping one day and never returned. They were engaged. Had the wedding planned out and everything. He’s convinced she was taken.”

Lumi frowned, “Taken by whom?”

“Pirates? The navy? He blamed just about everyone but himself.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Why would they take her?”

Kit stepped closer, lowering her voice, “She was gifted by the gods. He claims her gift would fetch a hefty price in the black market.”

“And you don’t believe him?”

“I think she walked out. Probably figured out that marrying him wouldn’t be worth the sacrifice.”

“Sacrifice?”

Kit dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “He’s, uh…not exactly equipped for the job.”

Lumi blinked, “You mean—”

“Tiny. Minuscule,” Kit bit back a laugh, “Poor thing probably had to use a map to find it.”

Despite herself, Lumi snorted, quickly covering her mouth. “Kit!”

She didn’t mean to laugh, but she couldn’t help herself. Her cheeks burned with the effort of an expression she so rarely used.

“What?” Kit widened her eyes, “It’s not like I told him to his face.”

“Does that happen often? The weeping?”

“No. I’m paid to perform, not to listen.” Kit tipped her chin down, “Enough about my night. How was yours? You’re back early.”

“I got lucky.”

“Lucky, how? Did you meet a man?”

Lumi nodded, “A wealthy one.”

“The best kind.” Kit smirked, “Was he handsome?”

“He was rich—everything else seemed irrelevant.”

It was a lie, of course. He was handsome. Handsome in a way that left her feeling unsettled. Now in the safety of her four walls, she allowed herself to dwell on the sharpness of his jaw, the crookedness of his nose, and those eyes.

The man killed for a living, and Lumi was certain he partook in other gruesome activities too. It was no wonder his eyes had looked so haunted. She could only imagine the things they had seen…the thought induced a full-body shiver.

“Most things, yes. But not everything.”

She knew what Kit was referring to, and it made her blush.

Lumi’s days in the pleasurehouse began in its perfumed chambers, as a pleasuremaiden. Night after night she was overlooked, eyed with nothing but contempt and revulsion.

It didn’t take long for Lady Sol to realize Lumi’s worth would not be found in her ability to please, but rather in her stealth, in the way she could dissolve into the shadows.

Her inexperience often made her feel inadequate. She enjoyed Kit’s shameless banter, but sometimes she was left fumbling for the right way to react.

Kit climbed to her knees on the bed beside her and leaned towards the misshapen hole in the wall. It was a sad excuse for a window, but it overlooked the pier and Lumi liked to watch ships anchor and sail before she drifted into a fitful sleep.

“Do you ever think about leaving this place?”

Kit’s words caught her off guard. It was unlike her to speak of such things. She was always the optimist, always chasing the silver lining. Bad nights with unpleasant men became stories to laugh about by dawn.

Lumi looked upon the other girl, searching for a hint of what had prompted her question. When she found none, she spoke, “Why do you ask?”

Kit shrugged one shoulder. “Just curious.”

The movement made her robe slip down, revealing smooth brown skin. Her gaze remained fixed on the endless sea and Lumi’s remained fixed on her.

They never spoke of leaving Port Bram. Lumi did not know it was on Kit’s mind at all. Leaving always felt like an abstract idea, detached from reality. But after tonight, freedom was almost within reach. The weight of that truth made Lumi’s chest ache, and she knew why.

Kit was the closest thing she had to a friend. She was Lumi’s only source of warmth, and although it was a dangerous vice, Lumi enjoyed their stolen moments together. She knew Kit did too.

The thought of leaving her behind made Lumi sick to her stomach.

“You could leave,” Lumi said carefully, “You’re not tied here the way I am.”

A smile tugged at Kit’s lips as she met Lumi’s stare, “And leave you behind? You’d miss me too much.”

Lumi didn’t smile back. “I might.”

Kit’s teasing expression faltered. “Well? Do you ever think about it?”

“Sure. Once I settle my debt and get my memories back.”

“And you trust Lady Sol to keep her word?”

“I don’t trust anyone,” Lumi admitted. Kit’s mouth turned down and she quickly went on, “But I don’t have a choice. I have to believe she will.”

Kit considered that for a moment, “What if you get your memories back and you hate what you find? What if they’re not all that great?”

“At least I’ll know.”

“Some things are better left forgotten, Lumi.”

“Some things, maybe. But not this.”

“You’re not gonna give up on this, are you?”

“I’d die before giving up.”

Kit flinched, “Don’t say such a thing.”

“It’s the truth.”

And it was. A life in which she did not know herself was not a life worth living. Maybe once she learned who she was she would no longer feel trapped in someone else’s body.

“There are other things worth living for, Lumi.”

“Like what?” It was an honest question. She could not think of a single thing.

Kit plopped down on the mattress beside her, “Delicious food.”

Lumi considered that, then shook her head.

Food didn’t taste much like anything to her. It was always bland and the wrong texture, and if her survival did not depend on it, she wouldn’t eat at all.

“Sweet wine.”

Lumi shrugged, “I don’t drink.”

“Friendship. Love…” Kit threw her hands up in frustration, “Sex!”

Lumi blushed and Kit leaned closer. She ran her red fingernails down Lumi’s arm, making her skin come alive.

“Life is full of beautiful things. You just have to be open to experiencing them.”

“That feels nice.” Lumi sighed. She wasn’t used to being touched, and it felt good.

“That, is nothing.” Kit brushed a strand of hair from Lumi’s face, tucking it behind her ear. She came closer still. Lumi glanced down at her lips.

A sudden rush of footsteps neared and they broke apart. Kit turned into a cat just before the door sprang open.

It was Rico, Lady Sol’s main goon. His lips twisted into a snarl as his beady eyes circled over the room, then landed on Lumi.

“Have you seen, Kit?”

“No.” Lumi squeaked out.

He took in the room again, and his eyes lingered on the cat, “Get that filthy animal out of here. This is a place of business, not your own personal zoo.”

He turned on his heel and left. Lumi expelled a breath she’d been holding. Kit rubbed against her leg one last time, then hurried through the crack in the door, back to her room.

Lumi shut the door and slipped out of her clothes. She put on her night gown and stared out into the night for a while. The dark sea glimmered.

When her eyelids began to feel heavy, she lay beneath her bedsheets. Her body melted into the mattress, the stress seeping from her bones. Just before she fell asleep, a thought startled her upright.

She had made a grave mistake.

Like all her other victims, Rook would eventually realize she robbed him. Whether tonight or tomorrow, it did not matter. He would realize. And when he did, he would know exactly where to come looking for her.