‘Beleiro, thanks.’ Kira settled into her seat, arching her back with a slow languid sigh. ‘It’s been a long day.’ She swept her hands over her chest and down to the waist of her pants. Roving Eyes followed every move. Lips lifting in a not-unattractive smile. Kira smiled back, letting her eyes dip to his crotch ever so briefly. A chew on her bottom lip, a coy tilt of her head.
‘Are you a dancer?’ he asked.
He needed a shave, but if this had to go further, Kira would manage. The guy had some impressive bulges. Pecs trying to bust his shirt sleeves. Too much product in his wavy brown hair, one too many chains around his neck. This guy wanted a whole lot more than driving a cab in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere. She’d met his doppelgänger more than a few times.
She giggled. It had been a long time between these sorts of giggles, but the best way to stay invisible was to fuck around with a married man. Guilt was a great gag. ‘No. I’m an entertainer, though.’
‘Got it. Used to do a bit of entertaining myself, back in the day. Your boyfriend?’ He jerked his head towards Az.
Kira shook her head in a slow back-and-forth. ‘Just a friend. He doesn’t like what I’ve got.’
Queue more smiles, another dose of giggles, inane chatting while fucking the guy with her eyes. Twenty minutes later, they hit the outskirts of Beleiro. The casino town was still half-asleep at this hour. Traffic minimal. The cabbie’s hand rested on her thigh; her legs parted just enough to let his fingers slide a little lower.
‘Turn off up here, on the right.’ Kira laid her hand over his. ‘I’m working in there.’ She nodded towards the pyramid-shaped building they were passing. Shit of a place. Beds like planks. Definitely not where they would be staying, but Roving Eyes didn’t need to know that. ‘Az, get out of the car. Just need to pay our lovely driver here. I’ll be five minutes.’
It took two. The guy’s fuse was on the short side, and the dynamite was loaded and ready to go. Fare paid, Kira jumped out of the cab, wiping her hand against her pant leg. The car pulled away, and the driver didn’t look back – too busy cleaning his ring – leaving them in an alleyway that stank of piss.
‘And that is the holy trinity right there, my friend. Prostitution, adultery, and tax evasion. That dick just made us totally invisible.’ Kira raised her clenched fist. ‘Fist bump. Hit me.’
Az stared at her. Arms by his side.
‘Rather I washed my hands first? Don’t blame you.’ Kira gave him a wry smile and slung the duffel bag over her shoulder. ‘Come on, we’re –’
‘Hit me,’ Az said. Coughed, really.
‘Jesus. You talk now? Do it again.’
But Az seemed to have spooked himself. He touched his fingers to the soft skin around his pink lips. Sucking at the air, then pressing his mouth closed, too tight, as if he were trying to push out a giant fart. Open again. Closed again.
‘Okay, don’t do that,’ Kira said. ‘Not a good look.’
‘Good look,’ Azrael said. His fingers dropped to his throat, as though the sound startled him. It wasn’t an especially notable sound: not too deep, not too high. Just a male voice.
‘Okay, so you can mimic,’ she said. ‘Awesome. I’m on the run with a parrot.’
‘Parrot,’ Azrael said. He might have been smiling, or it was gas again. Hard to tell.
‘Hilarious.’ Kira raised her metal arm, hidden in its faux skin, aiming to give him a playful thump on the shoulder. He flinched. Hard.
‘My bad.’ Kira lowered her arm. ‘It’s okay. It’s okay. Look, see it doesn’t hurt.’
She punched her thigh, punching too hard in her enthusiasm to show how nonthreatening she was. It hurt like hell.
‘Whatever, let’s just get inside. I’m sweating like a fucking pig.’
The sun was well and truly up, the sky a stunning turquoise blue, completely clear. They headed away from the pyramid building, walking two blocks before she chose the Aldrovandi. Gaudy faux Italian Renaissance architecture, gardens manicured to within an inch of their lives. She’d been to Beleiro a couple of times but never stayed there.
‘Now, you need to keep quiet, okay? You’re a very hot parrot, but Parrot needs to be super quiet for now.’
She glanced at the tranq bracelet. It was down as low as the bloody thing would allow without flashing its brains out at her, but maybe it should be up a little. Dope him out. Just for the foray to their room. Kira eased the level up a couple of notches.
‘Sorry, dude. This won’t be for long.’
When Az had been staring at a ripped poster on a lamppost for several minutes, Kira took him by the elbow and guided him up the sweeping circular drive of the Aldrovandi.
They got all the way through the enormous gilded front doors, across the ridiculously spacious, might-be-real-marble foyer, and up to the reception desk. No real issues, save for a few looks. Azrael didn’t say a word, wide-eyed at the world around him like a kid in a candy store.
Deluxe suite booked for two nights. If on the run, do it in style. Handing over cash here was no big deal, and the girl at the reception desk barely looked at Kira’s ID, the one that said she was a blonde Clara Oswald and thirty-two years old. Mildly insulting that the woman didn’t challenge the age. If she pulled her eyes away from Azrael for one second, the check-in chick would totally realise Kira was so much younger. The brunette with the rosy cheeks giggled way too much, and either her lips needed some lip balm, or the lip-licking was an
