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He doesn't explain, and I don't ask.

"I'm sorry," I say, and I mean it. "Is Jen okay?"

Another pause. A different kind.

"She's okay. She's tougher than all six of us."

"Six?"

"Six!" Daron yells from somewhere in the background.

I look down the bar.

Lenart is at the far end in a charcoal suit, reading the membership list on his tablet and pretending he isn't listening.

He's listening. He hasn't moved his finger in a minute.

"Okay," I say into the phone. "So what are you asking for?"

The phone changes hands again.

Daron. Breathless.

"Tickets. To the next one. We promised her a date. A real one. Nobody hunting anybody, nobody bleeding in the truck. Just a nice night out, at a nice club, with a dungeon."

"You promised her a dungeon?"

"I promised her a date. The dungeon is a feature."

Somebody in the background groans.

"Hang on."

I cover the receiver and lean toward Lenart.

"There's a guy on the phone. Daron. Says he had a Solstice invitation and missed the party because something tried to kill them on the way here."

Lenart doesn't look up.

He sets down his tablet. "How many?"

"Six men. Plus Jen."

Something moves across Lenart's face. It might be amusement. With him, it's hard to tell.

"The Autumn Equinox," he says. "September twenty-second. We're opening specially for the celebration. Lower floor access." He considers it. "Tell him the invitations will come through Corinne. We can accommodate guests who were prevented from attending by circumstances beyond their control."

"That's a very fancy way of saying something tried to kill them."

"Yes. And tell him to leave the trouble at home this time. We have enough of our own."

I uncover the receiver.

"Okay, Daron. You're in. Autumn Equinox, September twenty-second. Invitation comes in the mail, black envelope, same as before. Lower floor included."

The scream on the other end is loud enough that Kit looks up from the well.

"She said yes! The bartender said yes!"