He said I was beautiful. Not garish.
“You could dye it,” Maslow replied, and the angel sneered.
“Youcould.”
The two men faced each other, impossibly different but somehow the same. I was wrong about Narcissus saving me. He was stunning but scornful, and I saw now that his colorless eyes were devoid of anything but cold calculation.
Maslow smirked at the angel, likely feeling in good company with someone as wicked as he was. “Where’s your uncle?”
“Upstairs,” Narcissus replied.
“Best not to keep him waiting, don’t you think?”
Narcissus huffed and tossed his head. A reluctant concession. Before taking a step, he held his hand out toward me. “I’ll take it,” he said.
It.
Maslow released my wrist, then nudged me toward the angel. I struggled to free my feet from what felt like a sucking mire. It wasn’t the tile or carpet that bound me, but a profound sense of unease. I was unsure of what we were doing here, who this angel and his uncle were, and why I had been brought to meet them.
After crossing the casino floor, we boarded an express elevator with two options for floors: twenty and twenty-one.Not as high as Beck’s suite at the Grecian but still guaranteed to offer an enviable view of the city. I couldn’t enjoy the thought. Couldn’t feel anything but queasy and confused as I snuck glances at the angel beside me.
His face was fixed forward, posture rigid, so I couldn’t see much besides his jawline and the upturned tip of his nose.
The elevator door showed the blur of our reflection like the one at Beck’s hotel had. I’d liked what I saw then: Beck standing behind me with his arms curled around, shielding me from the world.
In contrast, Narcissus stood aside, frigid and distant. His fingertips bored painfully into my bicep.
“You know,” Maslow drawled from behind us. “I find the red rather striking. It’s half the reason I picked him. He blends right in at the Dollhouse.”
Narcissus didn’t bother turning around. “Yes. Quite the fixture for your den of sin, I’m sure.”
“You should come by sometime,” Maslow continued, casual despite the angel’s contempt. “Meet the other boys.”
“Are they incubi as well?” Narcissus asked.
“No,” Maslow replied. “Cherry here is a one-off. For now.”
The elevator dinged our arrival on the twenty-first floor, and the door slid aside. A wave of perfumed air drifted in, sharp and floral, but undercut with something metallic. Narcissus moved ahead, tugging me into the room.
It wasn’t like anything downstairs. The casino floor had glimmered with gold and showmanship, lights and movement and noise designed to distract and dazzle. But this was hush and hush money. This was the seat of power.
The floor beneath my sandals was veined marble, polished to a mirror shine. The tray ceiling overhead wasframed and lit to showcase paintings of cherubs in sapphire robes, flitting between lush white clouds.
At the center of the room sat a sprawling poker table carved from dark wood and covered in ivory felt. Around it lounged five men holding cigars and cocktail glasses. Three seats remained empty, one at the head of the table and one to the right of that. The third was farther down, separated distinctly enough that I got the feeling it was reserved for guests.
Along the wall, attendants stood like shadows—a mix of humans and angels—all wearing ivory uniforms with gleaming brass buttons and expressionless faces.
Maslow veered off without ceremony, angling toward the refreshments in the corner. A round table boasted a tower of crystal flutes, trays of sliced fruit and sugared nuts, and puff pastries studded with edible flowers and flecked with gold.
Narcissus remained beside me, statuesque. When he spoke, his voice was low but commanding.
“Gentlemen,” he said. “A little diversion to elevate the afternoon.”
Five sets of eyes lifted in unison.
Their attention wasn’t hungry. They weren’t loud with their lust like the crowds at the Dollhouse, but I sensed their interest all the same. Their gazes moved across my frame the way a jeweler might inspect a gem—checking the cut, seeking out flaws.
Narcissus released me, but I remained fixed in place by his words. “I present to you a rare specimen. New to the city. Singular in nature. Handpicked for tonight’s enjoyment.”
