She taps her chin. “Depends what level of service you want. Basic cleaning and picking up, deep cleaning until even the walls shine, or the platinum package.”
“What’s the platinum package?”
She winks at me before schooling her face and rolling onto her stomach, crossing her arms on Atlas’ lap to look at Luce easier. “All the services of the deep package, but I’ll do it in racy outfits.” She waggles her eyebrows, catching him off guard. He rewards her with a kind smile, surprising even me.
“Platinum, go for platinum!” Atlas encourages, smoothing his hand up and down her back while she stares down Luce.
Lucien dons his business face. “And that would cost?”
She licks her lips. “Room and board, food, and three hundred per week.”
Just how little was she making at the club?
“Deal,” Lucien agrees without hesitation.
Cambria smiles flirtatiously before stretching out her hand. “I’ll need an advance so I can go shopping for work uniforms.”
Luce finishes off his drink. “Atlas can take you in the morning since he’s off tomorrow.” He pulls out his wallet, withdraws five hundred dollars, and I nearly fall out of my chair as he passes it over to her.
This is the man that will refuse to turn on the air conditioning in the summer because he’d rather suffer and save the money. The man that goes over his credit card statements and bank account transactions with a fine toothed comb.
Goddamn enchantress is what she is.
She stuffs the money into the back of her jean shorts with a grin, laying her head back down on her crossed arms. Atlas’ hand still traces a slow path up and down her spine and she arches into him like a kitten, closing her eyes.
“We better get some sleep, it’s late,” Atlas points out with a yawn, leaning his head back on the couch.
I set my drink on the coffee table and offer Cambria a hand, but she’s already half asleep. “Come on,” I chuckle, scooping her up and freeing Atlas.
She groans and curls into my chest as I carry her to her room and lay her in bed, scooting the trash can closer just in case. I’ve heard plenty of stories of fairies overindulging in fae wine, but I have no clue if those are just fables. I’m not sure how different our actual biology is, if she heals quicker than a human, or can even get hangovers.
I turn to leave, but her words make me pause in the doorway.
“Please don’t,” she whimpers, turning her face into her pillow.
My fingers clench around the doorframe so tightly it risks splintering. “Cambria?”
But she says nothing else, pulled into a drunken sleep and lost to the world. I stay there for several more minutes, just to make sure, and each second that ticks by without answers my mind is left filling in any number of scenarios. Each is more terrible than the last, leaving me agitated beyond belief. I keep the door to her room open, throwing myself back onto the couch in the living room with a growl and slam back the rest of my drink.
“You were gone for two seconds, what the hell could have put you in that bad of a mood?” Atlas complains, stretched out on the opposite couch with his arm thrown over his eyes.
I fill them in and the room goes deadly silent. No matter the solid buzz that Atlas has going, my words seem to sober him up quickly. Lucien sets his glass down on the table forcefully, threatening to break the glass.
“You don’t think?” Atlas trails off in concern, unable to say the words.
I share a stoic look with them both. When I meet Lucien’s stormy gaze, I see that same darkness from all those years ago, lurking just beneath the surface.
“I sincerely hope not,” he states icily, rising to his feet and leaving the room, slamming his bedroom door behind him.
There’s no point going back to my room, because I already know I’m barely going to be able to sleep. I’d rather stay close enough to hear if her nightmares threaten to overwhelm her. She’s gone far too long battling the monsters alone. But now she has us, and I’ll be damned if she has to fight them on her own anymore.
