Misfortune Market: A HASEA CHRONICLES STORY (BOOK 1.5) Read Online Free PDF

look up.
     
    *
     
    We re-emerged into the chaos of the market. Reactivating our belts, we pushed our way through the crowds, heading deeper into the fray. As if the mayor’s words had wiped clear my eyes, the more I looked around, the quicker the place lost its quirky charm, and I found myself becoming disgusted by the things I witnessed. Filthy, malnourished Luminar and Umbra children of various species ran between the legs of the revelers, getting roughly barged to the sides or beaten by vendors when they were caught trying to steal a piece of meat or fruit from one of the stalls. An arena had been set up to one side of the market and baying crowds were waving tickets and money, betting on a fight between two bloodied Manticore cubs. The Fera circled each other, screeching and stabbing out with their stingers. I couldn’t bear to watch the outcome.
    “Sweet jesus,” breathed Delagio and I followed his gaze. A Yokai was standing in front of a grubby tent, sorting through a handful of notes and coins. A handwritten sign had been pinned to the wall behind him.
     
    Shinroba whores. Only £10 for half an hour with the exotic Elf women of the Bloodsand Desserts. Satisfaction guaranteed.
     
    A group of undeniably beautiful but dispirited female Elves draped in a garish rainbow of dresses stood either side of the tent, their bronzed skin marked with cuts and bruises. As we watched, a Bloodling with a shaved head walked up to the Yokai and handed over twenty pounds. The pimp collected the note with a smile – exposing his needle teeth - and signaled to two of the Elves. Fixing plastic smiles to their faces, they linked arms with the smirking Bloodling and lead him inside the tent.
    This place is awful.
    I turned to look at Gabriella and could see that she was barely keeping a lid on her anger. It seemed that the further we sank into the mire that was Misfortune Market, the darker the secrets we unearthed became.
    A group of drunken Skinshifters barged past us, shouting and leering at the remaining girls and pouring beer they had purchased from a nearby bar through mouth holes in their garish masks. The Yokai pimp tried to get their attention but they waved him away.
    “Oi!” slurred one of them as he passed by Gabriella, leaning in towards her. “Fancy some dog meat?” He burst out laughing and was joined by the rest of his gang. Their behaviour reminded me of Terry and his idiot crew. Worlds apart and still some things never change.
    “Not if you were the last mongrel on Earth,” she hissed and shoved him out of her way - hard. He collided with the pimp and received a giant fist to his jaw that dislodged his mask and sent him sprawling onto the grimy floor. Other revelers stepped over him without so much as a second glance. As the other shifters scrambled to help him and argued with the pimp, we slipped into the crowd before any real trouble could start.
    We kept moving towards the back of the market, each of us getting angrier at the things we saw.
    A cluster of apparent ‘criminals’ of the city were bound by ropes and suspended from the tall ceiling – bloodied and barely conscious. Signs with words like Thief and Escapee hung around their necks. A Pixie whose face was pulled back into a permanent sneer was offering people the opportunity to throw small knives at them for cash prizes. ‘Three pound reward if it sticks!’
    By the looks of things, a lot of prize money had been handed out that day.
    An Imp child was on his knees, scrambling through the putrid mess of the floor, desperately searching for food, yelping as he received kicks from passers by. Delagio deftly swiped a piece of meat from a nearby stall and slipped it into the child’s hands. His eyes went wide as he stared at it, and then he scurried away into the crowd.
    A Bloodling was selling various human body parts wrapped in brown paper. The harvesting of organs for sale on the Red Market was something that had supposedly been abolished back in