As Jaycee entered, the bar was deserted, yet as day shifted to night, it became a sanctuary for a diverse crowd. Nestled in the corner, Jaycee nursed the joint’s most affordable beer, its bitterness sharp on its descent.

Above him, the dim lights flickered, and the fan trembled, circulating the stale odor of sweat and perfume. It had been ages since his last visit to a bar, and he would be lying if he claimed to have missed it. The alcohol tasted even worse than he remembered.

He downed the rest in one big gulp, eyes burning as he held in a cough. The man next to him eyed him warily. The rugged outfit and the sword resting on his lap suggested to Jaycee that the man was probably a mercenary. This revelation wasn’t entirely unexpected, yet given the upper echelon part of the city they were in, it still managed to surprise him.

Even the city in the sky had its issues, relying on hired help to weed out the thieves. That thought made him laugh. The government’s lapdogs carried more sway here than anywhere else, yet they were just as useless. Maybe the world below wasn’t as different as the one above.

As the seconds ticked by with his target nowhere in sight, Jaycee considered that they may have jilted him. He looked up at the clock on the wall; its hands were moving past midnight. Well, Plan B it was. The situation was uncertain; it was only a matter of time before his escape was discovered, and he had mere pennies to his name, not to mention lacking any weapon for self-defense.

Just as he rose from his seat, a hand forced him back down.

“You’re late,” said Jaycee.

A voice let out a sigh and sat down on the stool next to him, its other patron long gone. “There’s been a change of plans.”

A girl? Jaycee turned to see a figure no older than twenty, with short black hair framing her face and blue eyes fixed forward.

“Who the hell are you?” He reached for a weapon, cursing when he realized he didn’t have one. They had managed to break him out of jail, but providing him with protection was apparently too much to ask for.

The girl rolled her eyes. “Chill out. Your guy sent me instead. He got a little, should we say, preoccupied?”

Jaycee didn’t want to know. The organization that helped him escape was a less than honest one. Once he repaid his debt, he had no intention of ever associating with them again.

“Shall we go? The airship is leaving in the morning. We don’t have a lot of time to prepare.”

Jaycee was taken aback by her matter-of-fact tone. Despite her frail and diminutive appearance, he felt there was something amiss. As she sprang from her seat and made her way to the exit, he noticed the two knives strapped to each of her hips and mentally logged the observation.

For now, he had other things to focus on. His actual mission was only just beginning.