Page 13 of The Princes of Stone and Steel

“Detroit? No. It’s too far. I’m never supposed to step foot in the city.”

“Stop worrying. I’ve been to this club plenty of times. You’re with me. You’ll be safe.”

Famous last words.

Oh, I thought it though I didn’t speak out loud. But shifting uncomfortably in my seat? That I could do, especially as Korrigan approached the lights of the city. Detroit was a bustling metropolis; we’d probably be safe if we stayed to the busier sections of the city.

Korrigan, however, veered the car left instead of right. We were supposed to go right. All those bustling sidewalks fell farther and farther away from our sight, as did the lights and wide avenues until she stopped the car on a deserted street. A deserted street, dark and scary and in a section of the city I’d never drive through during rush hour, let alone park or actually exit the vehicle. The only light came diluted, filtering down from the part of the city we should’ve been enjoying at this moment. Just enough light to showcase the burned-out buildings and broken streetlamps, which had we been in some war-torn country would’ve made sense. But we were nowhere near some war-torn country.

“Come on,” Korrigan ordered, to which I vehemently shook my head.

“I’m not getting out here.”

“Yes. You are.”

“No. I’m not. We’re leaving now. I want to go home.”

“Listen, Millie. You have to lighten up. You’ll have fun here, I promise. So I’m going to do you a favor andnottake you home. I’m going inside. You want to sit out here by yourself, I can’t stop you.”

Sitting out here by myself? Yeah… no. She had me and she knew she had me. As I exited the car, I made sure my little change purse with all my money still rested securely, shoved low in my front pocket. Even if it created a bulge, ruining the look she wanted me to go for, who knew what kind of thievery happened in places like this?

We walked across the street and Korrigan turned down a narrow alley. My stomach dropped again. A dark alley off a burned-out street? I think I saw this in the opening scene of the last horror movie we’d gone to see.

She paused in front of a door. Being closest, I grabbed the handle, but Korrigan laid her hand on my arm to stop me from opening it. “Okay, I’m going to call you ‘Mils’ once we get in, got it? I call you that most times anyway, but it’ll be exclusively tonight.”

“Why?”

“Because ‘Millie’ sounds too innocent and ‘Millicent’ sounds too pretentious. They’ll eat you alive. Trust me.”

“Oh-kay.” I said hesitantly. “‘Mils,’ then.”

“And don’t give your last name under any circumstances. Do you understand?”

“What exactly kind of club is this?”

“Hun, it’s just a safety precaution. It can get a little rough and tumble in here. We don’t want you implicated in any bar brawl, right?”

I nodded.Right.

She moved my hand from the handle and pulled the door open herself. As Korrigan walked inside, she casually turned to call over at me, “Play your cards right, and I guarantee you’ll have your um…first kiss… before you leave.” Then she winked at me. What had I just agreed to?

Eight

Will you remember tonight?

THE FIRST THING I NOTICED WAS THE LOUD, EAR-PIERCING metal music playing from a band on the stage across from the entrance. It wasn’t a song I’d ever heard before, though admittedly, Aunt Cynthia never let me listen to metal, so my only exposure came by way of the contraband Korrigan slipped me so I could attempt to be cool like her. Clearly, it never worked.

And the second thing that got my attention was the highly-acidic smell that overrode the alcohol and cigarette stench tenfold. In a bar like this, with such a rough crowd, the smell literally made me think of that old saying, “scared enough to pee my pants.”

Gross.

Totally gross.

Thirdly, the male to female ratio—there were so many more of them than us. All in black leather. A lot of spiky hair and guyliner. Tattoos. Piercings. Testosterone.

Korrigan was right. If I played my cards right, I could probably find myself in a lip lock with several men tonight. The question was: Did I want to? I wasn’t exactly in my element here. She sauntered up to the bar in full-on Korrigan mode, swaying her hips seductively, throwing me a wink over her shoulder. Korrigan knew how to work a room.

Me, I stayed close, trying not to make eye contact or any sudden movements.

---