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The driverout the number froine, hurtling us into the street I held back the curtain and looked up to my old room

So that was the end of my time at Paradis

I would miss Mel and Bea, especially, and Blue and Blaise and the other girls I hadn’t gotten to knoould e and the feel of the ladder under my feet as I ascended to the catwalk But there were other cabarets and other cities, and I refused to believe that Blue’s five scarred fingers represented every option I had Hell, at the very least, I could alalk back to Callais, busking to pay for a quick air trip across the Channel Criminy would take me back He’d very likely dock e, anyway But maybe I could persuade hiic to find Cherie I just had to survive long enough

The streets gloith gas laht It was Mortes that left echoing laughter and billowing feathers and glitter in their wake, the scent of lust heavy on the air Every cabaret spewed its own brand of color and light and music, while s lit with red bulbs beckoned lonely fellows upstairs for a treat, if they had the francs We passed a gendariant bludhound strained at the end of its chain, the ridiculous poof of hair on the thing’s head at odds with the silveritsnose We locked eyes, and it shivered all over and lunged for endarme yanked it back

Finally, we stopped in front of the familiar town house, and relief flooded me The invitation had merely named the date, not the time, so technically, I was here by request, even if many hours early and half-dressed Lenoir would understand He always understood And a drop of bloodwine and absinthe wouldn’t go ae before the driver could help s into his lap

"Jewelry is not accepted currency," he said with a Franchian sniff

"What about blood?" I ss He drove off in a hell of a hurry

While the cabaret districts had been lively, this was a residential area, and ht I shivered on the doorstep Not froht and I was a Blude city, reduced to begging from a benefactor And I hated it

After a long while, a light went on upstairs, and the door opened to reveal Lenoir He was fully dressed, not a hair out of place and eyes bright and amused as ever despite his stern mouth And he seemed entirely unsurprised to see ht, but your clock appears to be incorrect"

I alht better of it I was a Bludirl, even if that’s exactly what I’d felt like right up till he’d opened the door

"It would appear ed, uest bedroom where I could freshen up?"

His lip quirked up, just the barest bit "Thrown out of a cabaret? Good heavens I can’t ians you’ve perpetrated"

He stood in the doorway a fraction longer than he needed to, and I understood that he was letting e That he could still slam the door, ruin my reputation, or toss ht bow, and held the door open

"Of course, my dear You know my home is open to you But I take it this means the prince has lost his bet?"

I stepped inside, where the air was still and cold, the lamps unlit

"What bet?"