A dull throbbing pain crept  into the gunman’s head as he regained consciousness. He could feel the beat of his heart in his temple and an ache radiated from his jaw. Despite the pain he forced his eyes to remain closed and tried to keep his breathing steady. He knew he wasn’t alone and while he hadn’t recovered enough to understand the words he could hear voices around him. Gingerly his tongue prodded at his teeth. Luckily there were no gaps, just a few loose molars that would tighten back up in a couple days. From the way his head hung he knew he was sitting up and the pressure on his wrists and ankles told him he’d been restrained. He didn’t try to test his bonds just yet and instead focused on getting a count of how many were in the room.He could recognize three distinct voices but could feel the presence of at least two more. 

“What are we waiting for? Wake him up and see what he knows.” The voice was female, somewhat coarse but with a rhythm indicative of someone from a place of high standing. The tone was desperate. 

“Every minute we waste that fucker could be getting further away with her and if this guy has anything that can help us track him need to get it out of him.”

He could hear the loud thumps of boots on hardwood start toward him then abruptly stop. 

“We’ll get everything we need, but we will not be stupid about it.” This voice had a similar tone of aristocracy but there was a coarseness around the edge. This was someone who had practiced the tone and had to remain conscious of it lest it slip. 

“You saw what that shit did to Fauny; Ressa could be going through that right now in a ditch somewhere while we’re waiting for this bastard to finish his nap!”

“I’ll wake him up,” came another voice. Male, and so gravely it was as if the man’s vocal cords were made of granite. The gunman recognized the voice as the one who had laid him out. 

“Have both of you forgotten who’s in charge here!” It was the second voice again though that practiced tone had dropped. “This is MY inn and the safety of its people is my responsibility. I won't have anyone putting them at risk do you understand?!” Whether they did or not, the room fell silent after that. 

“Think you’re all caught up now?” Despite not seeing the speaker the gunman knew the question had been directed at him. It seemed the rest of the group knew it too and he felt their gaze draw to him. Dropping the subterfuge he opened his eyes and raised his head to face his captors. 

Megra, Boran and Miriana stood facing him a few feet away. Off to his left Jazel stood over a table examining one of his firearms. Craning his neck he looked back over his shoulder to find Cas seated near the back. The demon was reclined in a kind of leather swing gently swaying back and forth. They gave a small wave then pulled themselves up by the swings chains to join the rest of the group. 

With his captors now gathered in front of him Adrian split his eyes and searched the details of his surroundings. The room was filled with scandalous attractions meant to ride the line of pain and pleasure but what caught his attention was the large ornate circle that had been laid out in ash on the floor.

One of his eyes snapped to Jazel as he heard the familiar sound of one of the pistols being cocked. 

“I’d be careful with that, I tuned up the action and it can go off easily if you’re not used to it,” he said. 

Jazel halted what she was doing and laid the weapon back onto the table.

“So you can still speak,” Megra said, her aristocratic tone returning. 

“Seems that way,” the gunman answered. 

“Good, then you'll be able to answer our questions.”. 

“One of those doesn’t necessarily follow the other,” he said. 

“Well today they will,” Megra said. “I’d like to ask you to please look at me as we speak and then I’d like you to tell me who you are.”

The gunman's eyes returned to Megra. It looked like he might be ready to answer but he hesitated. His jaw tensed  and it looked as though he was trying to keep his tongue from wriggling in his mouth. His gray eyes darted to Cas who gave a guilty smile. 

“Something the matter?” Megra asked. 

The gunman looked back and spoke carefully. “Seems my tongue has developed quite the aversion to lying.”

“You wish to lie to me?” Megra asked. 

“I like the option,” the man answered, looking at the demon who gave a small shrug. 

Adrian suddenly felt as though fingers were gliding over the wrinkled gray surface of his mind. Not a painful sensation and not unpleasant but the implication was clear. Should he try to resist those invisible fingers would reach in and peel his mind apart like an orange.

“Sorry love, boss's orders. I’ll try not to make it too uncomfortable but it’s best if you don’t fight,” Cas said. 

Rather than respond with anger the gunman instead gave a grin, “Well where would the fun be in that?” He responded, before giving a wink and then a quick mental flash of himself restrained in one of the room's devices; Cas’s chortling reaction making it clear the demon could also see it. 

Megra shot Cas a glance then repeated the question. 

“ I'm just nobody looking for a payday,” Adrian said with a shrug.

Megra gave no reaction. They had confirmed at least part of his story, finding the handbill with Drummond’s crudely drawn face amongst the stack of notices. Adultery, fraud, and indecency had been listed along with kidnapping, rape and murder as if the crimes all carried the same weight. There had also been a large warning across the bottom just below the fifteen hundred gold  piece reward, “Those of feminine persuasion avoid at all cost.”

“Even nobodies have names, and I want yours.” Megra said coldly. 

The gunman opened his mouth to answer before hesitating. His brow furrowed and he grit his teeth. It looked as though he was trying to keep his tongue from wriggling in his mouth. His gray eyes darted then to Cas who gave a guilty smile. 

“Something the matter?” Megra asked smugly. 

The gunman looked back and spoke carefully. “Seems my tongue has developed an aversion to lying.”

“You wish to lie to me?” Megra asked. 

“I like the option,” the man answered. 

Adrian suddenly felt as though fingers were gliding over the wrinkled gray surface of his mind. Not a painful sensation and not unpleasant but the implication was clear. Should he try to resist, those invisible fingers would reach in and peel his mind apart like an orange and take by force whatever they sought. 

“Sorry love, boss's orders. I’ll try not to make it too uncomfortable but it’s best if you don’t fight,” Cas said. 

“Well where would the fun be in that?” He responded much to the amusement of the slight demon. The man accompanied this with a quick mental flash of himself restrained in one of the room's devices; Cas’s chortling reaction making it clear the demon could also see it as they pried into the man’s mind. 

Megra ignored the demon's laughter and repeated the question. 

“Adrian Pierce,” the man answered. “I don’t have much use for pseudonyms, I don’t belong to any guild and I came here alone,” he said, heading off a few of the obvious questions to save a bit of time. 

“Well Mr. Pierce I would like to let you know where we all stand. You knew this man was coming here, you knew how dangerous he was and you chose to use us as bait. And now we’ve lost two of our own, one kidnapped and the other taken ill so severely she may not last the night. So I hope you understand that while you didn’t hurt those women with your own hands, we hold you just as much responsible for whatever happens to them.”

Adrian didn’t look away as the woman said her piece. His eyes scanning the downturned faces of the rest of the group, his gaze lingering on Miriana in particular. 

“I am sorry,” he said finally after a moment of silence. “I should have just shot him.”

“Why didn’t you?” Megra asked.

“Bounty only pays, if he’s brought in alive.”

“And you of course wanted the reward all to yourself and were more than happy to dangle us out like meat on a hook,” Megra said, giving voice to the inn's collective sentiment. 

“If I had let you know what kind of payday was coming we both know I wouldn’t have been a part of that equation,” he said. 

“That’s right, can’t trust a bunch of seedy whores can we?” Megra spat

“No, a group of savvy professionals,” he corrected. “You spike your drinks with lotus to bump up the sales, slip the johns aphrodisiacs and use magic to make your guests more pliable. You’re out to make money and you make sure to give yourself the advantage at every turn. To dismiss you as a bunch of whores would be making a very poor calculation.”

Megra didn’t respond. She knew it wasn’t simply flattery, the man was incapable of lying at that moment but the compliment did little to quell her rage. 

“So what has he done to our girls, is  some kind of poison? A spell?” Megra asked, shifting the conversation to the most pressing issue.

“A little of both,” Adrian said. “That stuff he produces is mind altering and HIGHLY addictive. The first hit lets him get inside, allows him to poke around a bit and find weaknesses. Once he’s there he can push them to do things by turning the right screws.” He then looked over at Cas, “It's kind of like what you can do, only with a lot less precision, and he doesn’t need a summoning circle.”

When Adrian mentioned the circle directly he took note of how both Cas and Megra seemed to tense slightly.

“Is there any way to break the connection?” Miriana suddenly interjected dissatisfied with the pace of the questions. 

Megra shot a scolding glance at the woman but held her tongue as she waited for the answer.

“His access fades after a day or so but the addiction remains and only grows worse with time. That's how he keeps under his thumb, a steady diet of his poison and good ole fashion manipulation. Hells, some girls even come to love him in their desperation.”

Megra nodded as he described the process; it wasn't much different than how the pimps she knew in her youth operated. An old trick with a different twist. 

“That explains what happened with Ressa,” Megra said, looking first to Miriana then back to Adrian. “Our other girl though she’s afflicted far worse.” 

“What I described is how it works with a normal dosage, a touch or kiss, something like that. However when he concentrates the venom he can melt minds instantly, withdrawals start immediately and instinct pushes the victim to do what he asks without question. He calls it ‘burning’ them, because after that there isn’t much left to salvage,” Adrian said solemnly.

The faces of his interrogators dropped at his explanation. Miriana began to pace more rapidly and Megra’s fingers rapped frantically against her thigh. 

“If we remove access to the poison they should recover, correct? Like how the sanitariums lock up the poppy smokers to break their addiction?” She said desperately. 

Adrian shook his head, “It doesn’t work like that. No matter the dose, no matter the time passed, no one who’s afflicted survives more than a few weeks without the poison.”