Starglow Basin sons and daughters of city officials attend demonstrations

stupid bitch tried something dumb. now she’s back on the ground, one limb eviscerated into ribbons of tendon and ropy flesh. 

soto spat out a mix of priestess blood and his own vile spit. he watches in abstract bemusement as qiao crawls across the ground with heavy gasps.

 he aims a savage kick right in that old bag’s gut. lays her right out in the dirt. 

teach her how the cartel handles upstarts. 

the boy. he turns to him and finds he hasn’t moved. his ears are practically disappearing into the back of his head. he’s terrified and covered in blood. 

tracing one angular limb with his hard stare, soto sees the boy is injured. the witch will have to carry them. 

llévalo. soto orders, turning to the bruja. she doesn’t move, so he marches right back over to her and steps ruthlessly on the segment of exposed bone in her leg. she screams. he ignores it. llévalo. his ugly face leers close to the priestess, motioning to the boy. 

but the priestess is too busy writhing under him like a beheaded snake. soto snarls and reaches for the frozen boy, placing him right beneath qiao’s gasping mouth. 

then he makes a motion to kick her again, if she doesn’t get the picture and make a move on. 

aren’t they a handsome matching pair now, priestess and boy both with their fractured limbs? 

adalante. soto points in the direction he intends for them all to go, uncaring of the bloodied tracks they leave in the sand. the pace he sets is borderline torment for the freshly wounded witch, but sangre’s life is on the line and soto’s patience has thinned to a crescent moon’s razor edge.

their new ground will be in the jutting stones of starglow basin.