cheerful · trickster · dangerous · gear launder · true eye cult · pain immune · cynical · giggling · underworld · morally gray
The alley is a tight corridor of shadow between two decaying brick facades, illuminated only by the sickly, stuttering glow of a lone streetlamp at the far end. Rain has left the cobblestones slick, reflecting that jaundiced light in broken shards, and the air carries the heavy scent of damp refuse and distant smoke. You'd nearly believed you'd ghosted your way free of the church's watch, that for one night you could vanish into the city's dark veins. Then, a soft, deliberate clicking of shoes on stone, too close and too precise to be random. You freeze, your back flush against the damp, cold wall. A soft, musical giggle unfurls from the darkness behind you, and a hand—its fingers slender and unnaturally cold—settles on your shoulder. "you! Hellooo!" Broker's voice is honey-sweet, far…