The Amber Columns (The City of Dark Pleasures Book 2) by Bibi Rizer Read Free Book Online Page A

first time I wonder what the original purpose of these strange buildings was. There are periods of history that are never discussed in school. The Expiation is just one of them.
    I step through a patch of low yellow light emanating from a narrow passage leading off the main one. At the end of the passage a small man with a round belly is receiving oral sex from a servant kneeling at his feet. I stop to watch for a moment, until I’m certain the servant isn’t Tully. What on earth would I do if it was? Interrupt them? As I ponder this the citizen turns his head, fixing me in a frank stare, as though daring me to judge him.
    “Lost, sweetheart?” he says after a moment. The servant beneath him doesn’t even pause, his lips working the man’s turgid cock rhythmically, almost robotically.
    I dash away, back into the dim main passage.
    “ Are you lost?” a voice says. The slight young man, leaning on a column, is smoking a fragrant cigarette. “You don’t look like someone who has something to buy or sell here.”
    I can tell by the sweet timbre of his voice, he’s a Cull, and one who doesn’t much bother with the synthetic hormones that maintain masculine characteristics. If it weren’t for his slim flat chest in a fitted blue sweater, and his boyish haircut, he could pass for a girl easily. But there’s something quite captivating about his androgyny. I imagine he has no shortage of admirers here in the Columns.
    That said, he’s nowhere near as handsome as Tully. Not to me, anyway.
    “I’m looking for someone,” I say
    He takes a step towards me, a slick smile lighting up his smooth face. “I can be someone,” he says. “I can be anyone you want.”
    “Someone in particular,” I say. “His name is Tully. I was told he might be around here somewhere.”
    The Cull takes a drag on his cigarette, wafting the smoke around his head like a halo. “I saw Tully down in the courtyard about two hours ago. He might still be there.”
    “Where is that?” I fight to hide the urgency from my voice.
    The Cull tucks his cigarette into the corner of his mouth and holds out his hand.
    I fish in the pocket of my media jacket and come up with a silver coin. It’s a paltry sum, but all he’s selling me is information. I hardly need pay a fortune for that.
    He closes his long fingers around the coin, nudging his head back the way I came. “There’s a side passage. You’ll recognize it by the row of recycling conduits along one side. Down the end of that is a courtyard with a bunch of concrete tables. Look under the tables. That’s where I saw him.”
    “Under the table? Is he all right? Is he ill?”
    “Not ill. He’s having a little party for one, I think.”
    I have no idea what that means and the young Cull, with my coin in his pocket has lost interest in me. He wanders off, trailing smoke behind him.
    I take a deep breath, the lingering sweet fragrances of whatever he was smoking infusing my nostrils. Turning, I gaze back down the long passageway to where, if I look, I’ll find the side passage. And Tully, maybe. If I look.
    I could just go home.
    A noise behind me startles me into movement. I stride back the way I came, glancing over my shoulder nervously. Bray might have been right about the Columns. There’s an air of menace here. Menace and secrecy.
    The first side passage is featureless, ending in a dark nothingness. The second is strewn with garbage. There’s dense bundle in the dark end that may or may not be someone asleep on the dirty floor. Asleep? Dead, maybe. Should I check on them? While I struggle with my conscience, the bundle gets up turns twice and lies back down. It’s a dog. And very much alive.
    The third side passage has the line of recycling conduits the Cull described. There’s a cool breeze sweeping up from the open space at the end. I slip my media jacket back on as I walk, the heels of my flat boots making a dull click on the stone floor.
    At the end of the passageway is a large