by Ellie Margot
“It’s a hard question to answer,” said Trinity.
“If it was a restaurant, you’d say restaurant,” said Riette. “It’s fairly straightforward.”
Trinity’s face fell.
“I’m not a bitch,” Riette said. “I promise, but if I’m sleeping somewhere, and if I hear the shit I’ve heard, I want to know if my people are safe.”
“Oh, she would never hurt you,” said Trinity.
“You sound sure of that.”
“You’re a guest. She treats the guests like royalty.”
“And you?” asked Guy.
“Well, I’m not a guest.”
“It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be treated well,” said Cassian.
Trinity’s cheeks became flushed again.
“Yeah, common decency and all that,” said Guy. He nodded, and Riette rolled her eyes again.
“Does she sell magic?”
Trinity looked at Riette. She smoothed her red hair. It hit her shoulders just so, and she had a small smile before smoothing her features again.
It was something she did often, Riette noticed, and it made Riette less and less sure of her company and her intentions.
“It’s called Letting.”
“What?”
“When you sell your magic.”
“And that’s what she does?”
Trinity took a breath, and then she nodded.
“What the fuck would possess someone to sell that part of them?”
“Riette, that’s enough,” said Cassian.
Riette turned to face him. “You were all but saying the same shit earlier.”
Cassian shifted his weight from foot to foot and looked at Trinity. He cleared his throat. “I’m not trying to judge your lifestyle.”
“It’s not by choice,” Trinity said. “It’s a family line of business. I’ve said more than enough. Too much I’m sure.” She stood quickly. “Have you all seen the bathroom? I helped design this one.”
“It’s gorgeous,” said Guy.
“You haven’t even looked at it,” said Riette.
Guy cut her a look. “If she designed it, I’m sure it’s next level.”
Trinity smiled again, but she turned toward Cassian. “Is he always like this?”
“I try to ignore him, so I couldn’t say,” said Cassian.
“You just tune everything out, don’t you?” said Trinity. “All the noise, all of the—”
“I’m starved,” said Guy. He walked to close the distance between the two of them. He leaned his face in closer. “Something smells delicious.”
Trinity looked him over. Riette saw the tip of her tongue show before it darted back inside, but she stablized herself again.
“Dinner will be soon, but there’s Vitan in the closet here,” she said, and she moved away from Guy to open the doors and pull out a small glass box from an upper shelf.
Trinity walked it over to Riette’s bed and sat down easily this time, like they were friends at a sleepover Riette had never had.
“It’s really good. I’ve never had Vitan from the homeland, of course, but I’ve heard this is the next best thing.”
“You’ve never been home?” Riette said.
“My mother had me out here. She died shortly after birth, and my grandmother—”
“She raised you,” said Riette.
“Yes. She took me on, and I’ve been trying to repay her ever since.”
“Well, if your mother was anything like you—”
“Guy, really?” asked Riette.
He shrugged. Walking closer to where Trinity sat, he kneeled in front of her. “I can’t help it. When I see art, I must appreciate it.” He took her hand and raised it to his lips, but before he could consummate it, she took her hand away and stood up. She ran her hands down the front of her dress and shook out her hair.
Riette could see the color on her cheeks, and from the way she was flushed and the smile on her lips before she lost it, she knew she liked Guy’s attention, maybe even him, but the thought was lost as she walked over to where Cassian stood.
“I should head down for dinner. You’ll be there?” She leaned closer and put a hand on Cassian’s chest.
He looked at Riette first, letting Trinity’s hand rest there.
Riette didn’t react. She wouldn’t.
The look alone told her that Cassian was playing a game that she didn’t want to play.
It was never like that between them. It was everything they had told anyone who dared to ask, but now? He looked at her as if they had spent years lying.
His eyes narrowed as they flitted over Riette’s face. She was tempted to raise an eyebrow, but she did nothing.
She didn’t turn away.
Cassian put a hand on top of Trinity’s. “There a bar here?”
Riette could see Trinity nod, and she twirled the end of her hair before releasing her hand from his.
“I’ll show you.”
“What about—” Guy started.
Trinity turned to face him. “We’ll see you all at dinner?”
And with that, she walked out, taking Cassian with her.
Chapter 7
Mekhi and Corin entered the room as they left.
They shut the door behind them when they came in, but Corin’s attention was over her shoulder until she couldn’t see Cassian and Trinity anymore.
“Where are they going?” she asked.
“To get drunk, I assume,” Riette said. She ran her hands down her hair and readjusted things.
“My brother?”
“He had enough practice at the last place,” Riette said. “He’s probably good at it by now.”
“Jealous?” asked Guy.
Riette rolled her eyes again. “As if. I’m more worried about Trinity’s intentions.”
“If the look on her face showed anything, I think her intentions are fairly straightforward,” said Mekhi. “As gross as that is for me to picture.”
“I’ve never seen my brother act like that,” said Corin.
“Act like what?” Guy asked. “A cockblocking—”
“We could hear you all fighting through the walls,” said Corin. She directed her words toward Riette.
“Look,” Mekhi said. “This place has shit vibes. I heard stuff in the other room that I can’t unhear. I was happy to hear you all yelling over that.”
“Like what?” Riette asked.
“The people in the next room were getting acquainted?” said Mekhi.
Riette’s face burned and so did her tattoo. “Just what kind of place is this?” she asked.
“Maybe it’s a power with benefits situation?” asked Guy. The rest of their eyes got wide.
“That’s a thing?” asked Corin.
“Anything and everything are a thing. It’s kind of built in the word.”
“Can we not?” asked Riette. “I want under a bed, and it’s not even sunset yet.”
“What about Cassian?” asked Corin.
They all looked at Riette.
She held up her hands. “I’m sure I’m the last person he wants to see right now. You all heard us.”
“But you’re the only one he listens to,” said Corin.
“Not true. You’re his sister.”
“And you’re... whatever it is you all are. You’re a sister plus? I don’t know to phrase it.”
“Their weirdness is defies categorization,” said Mekhi. “I’ve been around it for years.”
“If we spent less time psychoanalyzing me—”
“Then we’d all have too much time on our hands?” Guy started. “And can we talk about Trinity? No offense to your brother, but she’s the hottest fucking thing. Her t—”
“Ugh, Guy, it doesn’t look like she was after you,” said Riette. She thought about Trinity’s hand touching Cassian and the look that Cassian had given her. Guy wasn’t on the radar then. Anyone with eyes could have seen that.
“Are you crazy? Cassian is the pretty boy obvious choice. Of
course, she wants you all to think she likes him. I’m the dark horse.”
“What do horses have to do with this?” asked Corin.
“Shit. It’s an expression. I come behind—”
“What you all do or don’t do is y’all’s business,” said Mekhi.
“Exactly! I’m saying she digs me.”
“Then why is she downstairs?” asked Riette. “And why are we even focusing on them? We need to find the book.”
“We can’t find the book if she has my brother in a compromising position,” said Corin.
“That’s not a visual I need,” said Mekhi.
“Yeah, seriously,” said Guy.
“Do we even know to trust her?” asked Corin.
“Of course not. We don’t know her at all, and whatever the fuck is happening with Ella and her—”
“Something strange, for sure,” said Mekhi.
Acid burned in Riette’s stomach. Her hands twitched again, and she looked down to see flames hovering above her skin.
It had been ages since she felt out of control and since the flames appeared without her calling. She shook her hands at her side. Maybe it was intuition saying she needed to fuck shit up. Frankly, she felt like that might be overdue.
“I’ll check on him, okay? Not because he needs it but because I need to see what the fuck is going on with this place.”
Corin nodded, but she wrung her hands at the same time.
Guy looked toward Riette’s hands and back up to her. “You sure you don’t want me to come with?” he asked.
“No, you’ll hump her leg or something, and you all will have a battle of your own making,” Riette said.
Guy laughed, but he didn’t deny it.
“I’ll make sure he’s square and see the place in the process. She was supposed to be giving us a tour anyway.”
“It looks like she wanted to give Cassian a private tour, if you know what I’m saying,” said Mekhi. He held his hand up for Guy to give him a high five.
But Guy didn’t take it. He shook his head instead. “Be a little more mature, okay? This is a lady we’re talking about.”
“I’m not talking about the lady. I’m talking about the unl—”
Corin put a hand over his lips and shook her head.
“I’ll make sure everything is straight up here, okay?” she told Riette.
Riette grabbed her bag and headed toward the door. “I’m not sure who has the tougher job.”
Riette could breathe better when she shut the door behind her. She could still hear them inside. The walls were thinner than she liked, and the only comforting thing that the last hour had given her was the understanding that she could be heard by anyone who bothered to have interest.
The hallway was long and covered in wallpaper that spoke of a different time.
Everything was luxurious but artificial, and there weren’t any plants or windows to give the space air.
Riette walked down the main stairway to the landing where they had just stood before. To the left, there was a sitting room, and to the right, there was a living room. It had the makings of a house, one that was far larger than any one family would need, but a house all the same.
Behind the stairs though, things changed.
There was a doorway that led to another area all together. Riette walked through the hallway, and her tattoo tingled on alert. She waited a beat for the flames to lick her hands, but they didn’t come. She was glad something decided to listen to her.
There was another hallway to her left. There was room after room, with one on the end that could barely be seen for the shadows that cloaked it.
Riette walked down that hallway and heard the soft playing of music come through one of the doors. She paused to listen, one hand on the door itself, but the door moved at her touch with a soft click, and then it gave way, and the scene before her unfolded.
It was another room filled with plush decor. There were pillows, a world of them, on the poster bed, and a fire going in the fireplace that took up the entire far wall.
It wasn’t the bar, Riette was sure, but she heard something that made her stay. It was the quiet sound of someone gurgling. The noise only someone in pain made.
She took another step into the room, the tattoo on her back burning all the more for her choices. One step was all it took to reveal the happenings in front of her.
There was a man. He was tall. She could see that even as he sat. His long legs stretched out in front of him. His hair was dark, the color of ink, and oiled, and he had a beard, closely cropped to his face and well manicured.
He wore slacks and a vest, all in black and stripes. His shirt was red, and she could barely see it for the girl sitting in front of him.
And she was a girl. She had the wide eyes that Riette had only seen on Corin years before when she was innocent. She had mousey brown hair, and her mouth was open as the man’s hands were touching her neck.
The noise he was making made the scene entirely different. It was something guttural. Something that made Riette knew how wrong it was.
Something blue and charged was crackling in the air between them. The girl looked like a doll, quiet and still. The man had his mouth open, and the blue energy that looked almost like flames were leaping off of the girl’s skin and into his.
He closed his lips, and without raising his head, he spoke. “If you’re going to watch, you should get more comfortable.”
“What in the fuck are you doing to her?”
Riette looked at the girl, but she didn’t say anything. She shook her head for barely a second, but Riette saw all she needed for the flames to appear at her hands.
“And look at you,” the man said. He released the girl and sat back on his hands.
He licked his lips, and his voice was low, lower than she thought was possible. Like the Devil had his own register and this man on his payroll.
“My name is Frank.” He didn’t reach out his hand, but she saw it twitch as if he were about to. “What’s your name?”
“Let her go,” Riette said. She didn’t raise her hands, but she didn’t quiet the flames either.
The man wasn’t quick to shift. He smiled at her before turning to the girl. “Do you want to leave?”
The girl shook her head for the negative.
Frank watched the exchange with a smile that couldn’t be taken off his face, though Riette sorely wanted to. He looked back at Riette. “Well, it looks like the only one unhappy here is you.”
“Fuck you,” Riette said, and she took a step closer as the flames in her hands grew bigger and bigger still.
“What brings on such animosity?” he asked.
“Whatever you’re doing is sick.”
“I assure you that she’s happy and well compensated for my sickness.”
“There isn’t enough money in the world.”
The man laughed louder. He touched his stomach as if he were in pain. “There are more things in this world than money.”
“Are you okay?” Riette asked the girl. She leaned down a little to be at eye level with her. The man watched her every movement.
“You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
“I’m okay,” said the girl. “Please.”
“See? Everything is above level. Now you’re welcome to stay, little flame, but if that’s not your aim, I suggest you leave before you see something else that would upset you.”
Riette swallowed the bile that was quickly rising in her throat.
She looked at the girl again, but the girl still shook her head and pushed back to be closer to the man that touched her again in turn.
He didn’t start the process for a second, as if he was daring her to do something else, but she left before she burned him into something not even his mother would have recognized.
With the door shut behind her, she wondered if she had just met with something evil or if she was the evil one for leaving.
Chapter 8
The door at the end o
f the hall was cracked open. It had a different shape than all of the rest. It was more ornate with flowers etched into every inch of it.
Riette pushed the door open more, and she heard more music when she did. The music was being played by a small band on the side. They were Elves. She knew that by looking at them, and they looked small and brittle.
There were three of them playing on a slightly elevated piece of floor that they were using as stage. On the right side of the room was a bar. It was circular, there wasn’t a bartender that she could see, and only two people were at it, Trinity and Cassian.
Their heads were huddled together, and she watched Trinity listen to something Cassian said and then throw her head back and laugh.
It was something real and showed all her teeth. Trinity recovered and put a hand on Cassian’s shoulder and leaned in at the same time.
Cassian turned toward his drink and finished the brown liquid that was left in it.
Three other glasses sat in front of them, all empty except for the ice still melting inside.
Riette tensed. She was still burning hot from her altercation with Frank and still second-guessing herself for leaving that girl at all.
And now she was faced with something else that gave her pause. She saw Cassian was alive. Wasn’t that all she needed?
She watched the two of them together before Trinity’s eyes found her.
“Riette,” she said, and then she gestured for her to come closer.
Riette did, but she checked to make sure the flames had fully left her, even if the awareness that burned in her tattoo hadn’t.
Cassian turned and watched her close the distance to them. She saw something she didn’t recognize on his face, but he turned away before she could figure out exactly what she saw.
“Come sit,” Trinity said. She stood up a little to pull out the chair from a nearby table to complete their triangle.
Riette sat in it, but she didn’t take her eyes off of Cassian. She didn’t want to be there either, but he wasn’t giving her anything to work with to know she could leave without worrying about him.
She wanted to leave the entire place. It had taken most of what was in her to not tear through every room to look for her grandmother’s book.