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woman and wondered what her kind was. The Jix slammed a cup down in front of
him. She poured him some ale from a pitcher, then brought the ewer up to her
mouth, tipping it straight down her throat, chugging more than half of the
contents.
    A putrid, chunky burp bellowed from
her. She laughed, wiping the drips from her chin with the back of her hand,
smearing the droplets of beer on her cheeks. “So, young chap from Siegna, you
got a name?”
    “Craze.”
    He sniffed at the brew. It smelled
vinegary and weak. It’d be rude not to drink it though, and he needed her to
think she had him where she wanted him. The beer tasted worse than it smelled
and had bits of grain floating in it.
    He did his best to keep his disgust
out of his words. “What’s yours?”
    “Gattar.” Her finger traced through
a moisture ring on the table, drawing swirls and squiggles.
    The shapes became more suggestive,
phallic, and Craze mimicked the figures on his cup. No species had the
advantage in the seduction game like the Verkinn. Once Gattar touched him,
Craze would have her. He’d be in control.
    The tabletop sported a sheen of
stickiness. He wanted to gag, swallowing hard not to. Few races found vomit
sexy.
    “You just arrive on Elstwhere or
you on your way out?” he asked.
    She swigged more of the swill.
“Just got in from a place out on the Edge. Bossilik .
Know it?”
    Craze rolled the liquid in the cup,
but didn’t dare take another drink. He didn’t think he’d be able to keep it
down. “No. Never heard of it. What’s it like?”
    She chewed on her lips, reddening
them. “Fiery. Volcanoes going off all the time. Only one habitable island in
all that chaos. Occupied by the Syliks . Know them?”
    The rancid beer had a big bang.
Already warmth flushed Craze’s skin and his thoughts fuzzed, wandering. They landed
on wondering how long the Jix would remain female. He didn’t want to find
himself satisfying the other gender later. Oh jeez. He should have thought of
that much earlier.
    He threw back half of his cup,
getting the foul ale down his throat before he really tasted it. “No. Any
around here?”
    Gattar toyed with the zipper
running straight down the center of her silver romper. “Haven’t seen them
anywhere but on Bossilik . They very dark with hard
shells.”
    Craze let his eyes linger on her
cleavage. As long as the Jix kept up those bosoms, he could handle carrying
through with his plan to best her while she thought she had already bested him.
“Shells?”
    The Jix lowered the zipper,
creating a deeper valley of flesh. “Yeah, like armor. When the volcanoes get to
be too much, they curl up inside their own skin ‘n wait it out.”
    He had to give her points for
bringing up volcanoes. He stroked his cup, meeting Gattar’s gaze. “Strange.”
    She traced the rim of the pitcher,
picking up the droplets of ale, then sucked them off her finger. “Strange is
often lucrative opportunity. Bossilik is a world very
rich in gemstones. It’s the only place fire rock comes from.”
    The action of her mouth tantalized
him, but, ugh, she’d taste like that rotgut. And what if the Jix wasn’t wholly female?
This game grew ugly, but he had to at least see it through until he stepped out
of this dump.
    “Used in safe lanterns, right?” he
said.
    Her play halted, her hands slumping
into her lap, eyelids narrowing. “Ah, you not as blank as you first come off.
Not so fresh out of the Petri dish, huh?”
    Craze grimaced. He’d messed up,
revealing he might be more than she’d judged. Shit. He could recover. All he
had to do was think of how he would know that and quickly. He went with the
obvious. “Everyone knows about safe lanterns where I’m from. It’s the only form
of lightin ’ we use in our village. Good beer there.
You’d like it.”
    Her frame relaxed, her fingers drew
patterns on the table again. Phew.
    “You a trader then?” he asked.
    Her squint didn’t waiver from him,
scrutinizing his