CHAPTER 1
Heather
A group of people disappeared behind the unmarked entrance. I hid in the shadows of the building, searching, waiting. For her. Hazel was in there. Or, at least, it was her last known location. This was my first time in Las Vegas, but instead of being in the bright lights, I was chasing after my sister.
Find me in the afterglow.
My sister has a knack for theatrics, even in an e-mail as short as that. But I had to take care of my sister. We had grown up being dumped into different family friend’s laps like garbage straight into the can. I had learned I couldn’t trust anyone to take care of us. Not really. Not our parents. Not Great Uncle Walter. Not even Hazel. And in our twenties, nothing had really changed.
Three people in black pea coats shuffled along, disappearing into the building too. I craned my neck around the corner at the entrance. No markings, no windows. This place reeked of suspicion.
A lone woman, her hair tucked into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, strode swiftly towards the entrance doors. She acknowledged me before passing. A thick bouncer met her at the door. He tilted his chin.
“We came for the glow,” she said, her voice loud, carrying around the corner to me. He stepped aside, letting her in.
We came for the glow? What glow? Was that a reference to the lights of Las Vegas?
The building, despite the lack of signage, was called Club Hades, but the hosts of the party—group? organization? affiliation?—called themselves the Afterglow. There was very little I could find about them, except that they held these parties.
Another large group came towards the entrance, and I followed behind, keeping my head bowed. After greeting him, the bouncer waved them through, then stood in front of me.
He was six feet tall, wider than a body-builder, but solid. In the dim light, his skin looked blue. The beard on his chin was stark white.
“Good evening,” he said. He flexed his shoulders. “What can I do for you.”
It wasn’t a question, though. More like an accusation.
“I’m here for the party,” I said. What else would I be there for?
“There’s no party,” he barked.
“The Afterglow? I’m here for whatever the hell it is. A masquerade? A ball? Did they say it was a play party? I don’t know—” I stammered. I shuffled through my backpack, finding my phone. I flipped to the gallery. “My sister was here a few weeks ago. Hazel. Maybe you know her?” I found the first picture I had of her: her bleached hair in waves, her skin luminous, that white smile.
“You know Hazel,” he said.
“She’s my sister.”
“I don’t know what Hazel told you, but there ain’t no party here.”
“I’mlookingfor my sister. She hasn’t responded to any of my messages, or anyone’s, since coming here.”
The bouncer nodded slowly. “My condolences,” he said. “But there ain’t no party.”
“What seems to be the problem?” a woman’s voice cut through. The woman with the tight bun, now donning a silky black dress hugging her curves, put a hand on her hip.
“Says she’s here for the party. There ain’t no party,” the bouncer said.
“Well, of course not, but thereisa gathering, now, isn’t there?”
And then I remembered what they all said. A password.
“Wecamefortheglow,” I said it so quickly my words slurred together. Both of them looked at me with shock on their faces. I curtsied. “We came for the glow. We came. We saw. We need the glow. That’s the code, right? The password? Please?”
The woman raised an eyebrow, then turned to the bouncer. “See? She’s with me.”
The woman grabbed me by the shoulder and yanked me into the building. The first room was a lobby; each wall was covered in black lockers. Several people shoved their belongings into bags, then crammed them into the metal cubbies. A man in the back corner stripped down to absolutely nothing quicker than a blink. I turned away.
“Are you from around here?” the woman asked.
