Investigate the brothel.

Venus considered the options carefully as she walked over to the tavern where she was meeting the other hunters. Rondo and Mason were sitting at a table when the three women arrived. They joined them, and Venus quickly filled them in on what the bishop had told them.

“It all seems… strange,” Rose said. “There’s something not right about this, compared to the cases of demon cults I’ve read about. But I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

Venus frowned. “Well, I’m sure we’ll find out. Probably the hard way.”

“So,” Larisa said, “What do we do?”

“Well,” Venus said, “someone should talk to the survivors, but if they had much useful to say the city guards would already have got it from them. As for the records in the catacombs, there might be something useful there, but that’s the job for a scholar, not a team of Shadow Hunters. The brothel seems the best lead, but we can’t just charge in. We’ll have to infiltrate it.”

“Infiltrate a brothel?” Mason grinned lecherously. “I’m game.”

Venus shook her head. “No. They’ve got to be careful about giving anything away to their customers.”

“Oh, yeah,” Mason said with a chuckle. “Those girls don’t give anything away.”

Venus ignored him. “No, the only way to infiltrate them would be as one of the, um… workers.”

Everyone looked around at a low, savage growl. It was Rondo, looking angry. “I will not let other males bed my mates,” he snarled.

Venus frowned. She’d agreed to be Rondo’s mate, yes, but it annoyed her to find him being so possessive, especially when she had been fine with sharing him with Rose.

“It won’t come to that,” she said. “Whoever goes in will arrive in the morning, look around, and be ready to leave by the time they open in the evening. There’ll be no need to have anything to do with the customers.”

“Seems a bit risky,” Larisa said. “Who gets to play the whore?”