Path of the Unmentioned: The Missing Piece Chapter 54 54: The Vipers [3]

The warehouse district stank of rotting fish and burnt ozone, the sour tang of illegal mana refinent clinging to every surface.

Kyle followed Rat (broken nose) and Jory through a maze of crumbling brick alleys, stepping over puddles of sothing that definitely wasn't water.

The neon signs of Maplewood's red-light district cast garish reflections in the oily sludge, painting the trio in pulsing shades of crimson and electric blue.

Ahead lood their destination, a rusted tal warehouse with the Viper gang's serpent sigil spray-painted across its corrugated doors.

The coiled snake seed to writhe in the flickering light, its fangs dripping neon-green paint.

Two mountains of muscle blocked the entrance. The one on the left had biceps thicker than Kyle's thighs, his skin glistening with so sort of enhancent oil.

The other sported a cybernetic eye that whirred as it zood in on Kyle's face.

"Hold up," rumbled the oiled giant. "Who's this fresh at?"

Rat stepped forward, his broken nose wrinkling. "New recruit for Vipers. He passed the arm test."

The cyborg eye whirred louder. "Is that so?" He leaned in close enough for Kyle to sll last night's whiskey on his breath.

"You don't look like much."

Kyle didn't blink. "And you look like soone's failed cybernetics experint. Yet here we are."

A mont of stunned silence.

Then Oil-Biceps burst out laughing, slapping his thigh hard enough to leave a red mark. "Oh, I like this one! Risha's gonna eat him alive."

The cyborg scowled but stepped aside. "One hour. If Risha hasn't thrown him out by then, maybe he's soone worth sothing."

***

Inside the Viper's Nest

The warehouse interior hit Kyle like a physical blow, the stench of unwashed bodies, cheap synth-drugs, and gun oil mixing with the tallic tang of stolen goods.

Crates stamped with suspicious "FRAGILE" warnings were stacked haphazardly around the periter. A group of thugs played cards using what looked like soone's molars as chips.

At the far end, behind a steel desk that had seen better decades, sat the infamous Risha.

She wasn't what Kyle expected.

Early thirties, maybe. Fla-red hair pulled back in a tight braid that fell over one shoulder like a whip.

Her eyes were the color of fresh blood, tracking Kyle's approach with unnerving precision. The scar running from her left temple to jaw stood out starkly against her golden-brown skin.

"Rat." She didn't look up from the ledger she was scribbling in. "You are twenty-three minutes late."

Rat swallowed audibly. "Had to vet the new guy, boss. He's... different."

Risha's pen stopped moving. Slowly, she lifted her gaze.

Kyle felt it like a physical weight - the calculating stare of soone who had survived Maplewood's streets through sheer vicious intelligence.

"And you are?" Her voice was deceptively soft.

Kyle t her eyes without flinching. "Dain Vorsk. Heard you pay well for problems that need disappearing."

A slow blink.

Then Risha leaned back, the chair creaking under her weight. "Problems. Interesting way to put it." She snapped her fingers. "Tabs. The scanner."

A wiry man with too many facial piercings scurried forward with a battered data-pad. Kyle recognized the model - standard issue for low-level enforcers, easy to hack.

"Credentials" Risha demanded.

Kyle produced the ID chip he'd gotten from the Gray Owls. The holo-projection shimred to life:

-----

DAIN VORSK

Forr Sergeant, 14th Blackwatch

Dishonorable Discharge - Code 78 (Excessive Force)

Current Licenses: Bounty Enforcent, Private Security

-----

Risha studied it, then tossed the pad back to Tabs.

"Blackwatch, huh? Heard they chew up and spit out weaklings before breakfast."

Kyle shrugged. "Breakfast is overrated."

That earned him the faintest twitch of her lips. "Why co crawling to us? Blackwatch boys usually go corporate."

"Corporate asks too many questions." Kyle jerked his chin toward the crates. "And they don't pay extra for creative solutions."

Risha's eyes glead.

She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of sothing that slled like paint thinner and cherries.

Three glasses hit the desk with a clink.

"Tell , Dain" she poured the liquor with practiced ease, "what exactly makes you think you are Viper material?"

Kyle took the offered glass, swirling the murky liquid. "I don't think. I know." He downed it in one go, barely flinching at the burn.

"Because unlike your current muscle dudes, I don't need enhancent oils to hit hard."

Jory made a strangled noise. Rat coughed into his hand.

Risha's grin showed too many teeth. "Confident bastard, aren't you?"

"Realistic." Kyle set the glass down. "I have seen your operation. You are efficient, but sloppy. The Red Fangs have been stealing your shipnts for months because you keep using the sa routes."

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Tabs took a careful step back.

Risha's voice went dangerously quiet. "And how would you know that?"

Kyle tapped his temple. "Observant. Also heard so Fangs bragging in a bar near the docks. They think you are getting soft."

For a long mont, no one breathed. Then Risha threw her head back and laughed - a rich, throaty sound that didn't reach her eyes.

"Oh, I like you." She leaned forward, elbows on the desk. "Tell you what. Prove you are not just hot air, and I will give you a seat at the table."

Kyle matched her posture. "What's the test?"

"Tonight's shipnt. Black Sand, premium grade." She pulled a slim case from her drawer, flipping it open to reveal a crystalline powder that shimred unnaturally.

"It's enough to keep half of Maplewood's elites happy for a month."

Kyle studied it. The so-called "Black Sand" was actually refined mana crystals, illegal as hell and worth a small fortune.

"Delivery point?"

"Old factory district. Dock 7." Risha snapped the case shut. "Normally I would send six n. For you? You get Rat, Jory, and two rookies."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Confidence booster?"

"Survival test." Risha's smile vanished. "Red Fangs have been intercepting our shipnts. If they hit you..."

"I'll handle it."

"See that you do." Risha stood, revealing she was nearly Kyle's height in her steel-toed boots.

"Because if you fail, I won't bother dumping your body in the river." She leaned in close, her breath warm against his ear.

"I'll feed you to my pet serpent, scale by scale."

Kyle didn't flinch. "What ti do we leave?"

Risha checked the cracked chrono on the wall.

"One hour. Gear up in the armory." She jerked her chin toward a reinforced door. "And Dain?"

"Yeah?"

"Try not to get my boys killed. Decent help is hard to find."

Kyle gave her a mock salute as he turned to follow Rat. "No promises."

The sound of Risha's laughter followed him out, sharp as a knife between the ribs.

***