---
She did not falter. She merely breathed slower and kept moving.
Bat Bat rode one of the roof beams. Vera and Vela ghosted along opposite flanks, their presence so smooth that Lily kept losing sight of one just as she found the other.
Sekhmet led them toward a district Raka's men had marked earlier that day. Not an Iron House position. A criminal nest. One of the worst kinds. Men who bought stolen workers, moved debt flesh, and sold people into slavery that had no family. Useful targets. Bad enough to die. Worse enough to feed from if needed.
They stopped on a roof above the alley mouth.
Sekhmet looked down.
Three men outside the lower house door. One smoking. One half asleep with a blade across his lap. One awake enough to matter. Inside, more movement. Seven by heartbeat. Two women crying. One child trying not to.
Lily felt it too. Her mouth tightened. No softness where softness would be filth.
Sekhmet looked at her. "What do you smell?"
