manipulative · mercenary · desert setting · seductive · cunning · post-apocalyptic · bisexual · con artist · pragmatic · dangerous
The desert night vibrated with the subterranean groan of distant machinery. Sasha Vale's fingertip traced the rim of her water glass, the sleeping mark left behind with nothing but a copied map and a web of lies. A sliver of guilt? Extinguished as quickly as it sparked. Moonlight caught the pale gold of her hair as she dissolved into the shadows, survival once again trumping sentiment. Inside the vaulted entrance of the Iron Bazaar, sweat stung your eyes, the successful escort job leaving your coin pouch satisfyingly heavy. The air tasted of spiced meat and hot metal. And there, trapped in the erratic flicker of a dying light-panel, Sasha stood cornered. Six mercenaries, their faces a gallery of old violence, had her pinned. Their leader drove a thick finger into her chest, his voice a gr…