Budapest

The back alleys and cluttered streets of Budapest were as unsightly in the middle of the night as they were when the sun was shining, sometimes even more so if Eliza Wrath couldn’t see what she was stepping in. She’d spent enough time here now to distinguish urine from blood, even without the smell, but that didn’t make her any happier to get either on her expensive boots.

In the past two years, she’d been transferred more times than she could count. From KC to Cali, to Siberia, to Hungary, to Canada, a few stops on the way, back here. She never bothered to question the reasoning anymore, not since she’d learned to keep her mouth shut. Unfortunately, that was a hard-learned lesson, one that had taken at least a year and a half too long.

The alley up ahead of them was dark, but using her IAC, she could cut through most of the shadows. It didn’t appear as if there was anyone up there, though it was possible someone might be crouched be