“Why’d you bother coming back?” He stares at me. “You could haverun.”
“And go where?” I turn away. “You know what happens if you break a contract. They’d find me.”
He’s tried more than once. Begged for death, rather than be forced to stay. But Red prefers to torture him.
Leaving Buck to his shaking, I head straight for the Palace. Better to get it over with.
Red’s personal area overlooks the main dancefloor, an elaborate balcony filled with her current chosen court for the night. I pass film stars, musicians, and several members of the highest law court in the country as I duck through and approach her.
The most influential members here, I won’t recognise at all. Those with true power always prefer the shadows.
But all of them fund Red’s ventures. They invest their money into Wonder, and in return, Red gives them what they want.
Whateverthey want.
Flip the pretty, glittering world of Wonder over, and something much darker, crueler, lies beneath.
Red holds up a palm as I approach her. Her latest devoted toy, Knave, gives me a filthy look from where he hovers behind the throne she’s seated in.
Stopping, I push my hands behind my back and wait.
Eventually, she sighs. “Hatter, Hatter. What am I to do with you?”
Her hands grip the carved golden armrests. “I trusted you. You wanted a longer leash, and I was kind enough to give it to you. And in return, you try toleaveme?”
“I came back,” I say steadily. I meet her glittering green gaze, note the savagery behind it. “I was assessing potential attendees for the club. That’s all.”
The lie tastes sour as it leaves my mouth.
Only the best for our investors. The prettiest, the most handsome. The most fragile, the most broken. The most scarred. Red receives a wish list of traits, and her Pack hunts them down and gives them a mysterious invite to the most elusive club in existence.
They’ve never failed to bring a target in.
“That’s not your job.” Red’s eyes flash. “Is it?”
“No. It’s mine.” Knave smirks at me, but it slides off his face as Red twists to glare at him. He bows his head, keeping it there until she slowly turns back around.
“You’ve disappointed me,” she says quietly. Her eyes shimmer with emotion, feigned or otherwise.
You can never truly tell. Although something tells me her upset is real. For whatever reason, Red keeps a tighter grip on me than any of her other toys, much to Knave’s disgust.
She waves a hand decked with long, scarlet nails. “Wait for me in bed. I’ll decide what to do with you later.”
I sweep into a bow, even as my stomach plummets, nausea swooping. Knave looks as though he’d like to slit my throat. “Fine.”
Her eyes narrow, but she says nothing else as I leave. Knave is already crouching to drip his poison into her ear – not that she needs it.
Some of the regulars smile at me in invitation, others assessing me as I pass, but I keep my eyes straight ahead.
One of Red’s minions stays close behind. He gives me a hard stare when I glance over my shoulder. “Straight there.”
A tighter leash, in exchange for my stolen time.
I cut through the dancefloor, slipping into the dilapidated area behind the main club with him still behind me. Red doesn’t bother with anything fancy behind the scenes, aside from in her own area.
The guard trails me as I walk past the makeshift beds and pallets, thrown together in the dust and the dirt. We sleep where we can, when we can, and never for long enough. Only a few bodies are sleeping, despite it being close to dawn. Buck is propped up against the wall, a sleeping bag half-dragged over him. His eyes flicker to my guard, but he says nothing. Just pulls the bag up, as if it might cover the tremors that wrack his body as he closes his eyes.
We pass the costume rails, dozens of them lining the corridor further down. Extra sets of wings are stacked up on a table, one of the costumers holding up a broken, ripped pair. The gauzy blue material is spattered with dark red stains.
