Heaven Hath No Rage - Book Two

Potential

Content Warning: explicit drug use, struggle with addiction, and substance use issues

Theo and Cooker were standing shoulder to shoulder, looking at a hatch in the ground right outside of a brothel on Stumber's row.

"This is it?" Cooker turned her head to Theo with a raise of her brow, "doesn't look like where we need to be."

"Basement entrance to Haverty's brothel. Marked by a small purple mark on the top right of the entrance," Theo reached down and pointed at the mark, "I'm pretty sure this is it."

"You're the captain. You should go in first," Cooker laughed as she opened the hatch and motioned for Theo to slip inside.

Theo took a few steps forward and dropped herself into the hatch. Which was not a drop at all. Her feet hit stairs as soon as she put them in and she chuckled at their hesitation, making her way down the stairs, "You know, as the captain I should actually be going last. Protect the leader and all that."

"I like this way better," Cooker said as she followed behind Theo and then shut the hatch behind them.

"I should have left you behind keeping watch of Marian's and taken Kaia instead," Theo teased.

The area was lit by torches leading down the stairs and it only took a few more steps until they were at the bottom. They were faced with a closed door in a small entryway at the base of the stairs. They exchanged confused glances and Cooker shrugged, taking the initiative to knock on the door.

It opened and there were two uniformed men in front of them. One donning purple throughout his outfit and the other in plain silver and gray colors, a Mithren and a Cooker guard.

Theo held up the letter that she had picked up that morning with the instructions for how to arrive. The Cooker guard reached forward and took it from her, opening it for inspection and then handing it back.

"These are the right ones," the guard told the Mithren.

Within seconds, the Cooker guard was leading them away from the door and into the tunnel system. It was a sharp transition, they had just been in the basement of a building and it had casually opened into a massive cavern and underground maze. Theo was surprised at how spacious it was. The Mithren had used their long reign on the island to reinforce a system that was rumored to only be crawlable at its inception when the island was inherited by them.

It was well-lit and well guarded too. There were torches fixed to the wall with Mithren guards littered throughout their path. They weren't alone either, they passed people and large shipments as they walked.

"Do you know how we managed to get access to this?" Cooker asked as she looked around.

"No," Theo shook her head, Cooker had seen the letter. If Cooker didn't know then neither did she, "I'm still under the impression that we will get to wherever we are going and the Mithren will be waiting, then they'll kill us for being in their tunnels."

"Brandon has to have gotten us permission somehow," Cooker chuckled but Theo didn't think her concerns were all that humorous.

"The Mithren hate us. Why would they just agree to give us use of the tunnels?"

"Involved in the revolution?" Cooker provided.

"Never took them for the type," Theo shook her head, keeping an eye on her surroundings as they walked.

"Suppose not. They've got a good deal right now. Niveal is left alone while the world burns," Cooker agreed with her, which was a nice change of pace.

"So, what's the catch? What did Brandon give up for access?" Theo asked, putting out a call for theories that would be neither helpful nor accurate.