Page 51 of Suspicions on the Stage
“Says the man with a secret magic scanner on his phone,” Liam retorts. “Ignatius, I believe our mate knows that we are not the typical children of affluence. We don’t have to remind her simply because her distaste for the bad seeds makes us uncomfortable.”
“Point of fact, when I sound disgusted, I’m usually talking about the shitty assholes.” I wink at Iggy, who rolls his eyes, and shrugs. “But you must admit, especially at this time and place, being critical of the Uber wealthy is kind of important. Supernaturals aren’t any better than humans with hoarding shit; we just have a better social safety net built in.”
“See? The Society isn’t so bad,” Slade says as he expands the menus to show the categories of things available. “They make certain everyone has health care and shit is managed—mostly. That helps when you decide to defy your dickhead parents and move across the country to study something they disdain.”
I frown as I see the headers ‘Human’ and ‘Supernatural’. The thought of them allowing human peddlers to take part makes my gorgon angry. There’s little chance any of them have a clue what they’d be getting into and that requires risky abilities to wipe their memories. It might backfire and do worse damage,which no one would be monitoring. Growling softly, I click on the supe header, watching it open to reveal sub-menus labeled ‘delectable, cerebral, sensual, and securable’.
“This is terrifying,” I mutter. “I don’t even want to know what falls under sensual. It will set offbothof my sides.”
Looking up at me, Slade reaches over with his free hand to pat my arm. “I’m with you, Morgana. There may be perfectly harmless things in it, but I imagine that isn’t always the case. I don’t care if any being wants to get high or whatever, but things that require others to be unsafe bother me.”
You’re telling me, my gentle musician.
“You thinkthis is how we find him, right?” I flex my fingers in and out of fists as we follow the curvy rusalka through the club. “You’re sure, Li?”
The Prince nods, his handsome face resolute as his hand covers mine on his arm. “I do,Macushla. Kaspar probably believed he could procure a specific service that would help us. I’m just uncertain which one he was seeking.”
“We have a lot of needs at the moment,” Lucas grumbles. “Figuring out what the hell was in my dorm, getting rid of your ex’s cursed shit, questioning the staff, forcing the cops to back off me…”
I blink as that hits me. Our little family definitely has a metric ass ton of supernatural needs, and any of them could have been what the dragon was fishing for in this gilded pond. I almost want to let him off the hook, but then I remember he worried thefuck out of Li. My mate isn’t making out like it’s a big deal, but I can feel his concern. He knows Kaspar can take care of himself, but the picture of Lucas being poisoned and the other attacks have to be plaguing him.
We have no idea who all our enemies are—which means anyone could be a bad guy.
“Even if we do, he should have told us where he was going. Or set up a distress signal orsomething.” My voice is firm as I look at them. “It’s not fair to worry us all like this. We could be at home drinking margaritas and licking salt off one another… butno. We’re here, chatting up slime balls in this damn club.”
The groan they all share makes me grin. I hoped that bringing sex into it would rile them, and I was right. Liam flashes his fangs at me, his eyes playful, and I return the favor. “Morgana, now is not the time. You know that.”
I shrug. “We need an edge. No one said it can’t be that one.”
Iggy gives me a smirk from his spot at the front of our pack. We agreed he should stick closest to our frustrated hostess to make certain the nymph doesn’t fling anything magical our way. “I suppose it’s not the worst plan I’ve ever heard, as long as everyone keeps their heads in the game.”
“We’re almost to the receiving rooms,” Jayla says. “I would be remiss if I didn’t do my duty and advise that nothing within these walls is private. Entities who are contracted may request footage of contractual obligations should negotiations result in a completed transaction that falls through at a later point in time.”
“Very business-like,” I whisper to Liam. “The criminals want to make certain they can punish those who don’t hold up their end of the bargains—or whatever they strike.”
Jayla stops in front of a door labeled ‘XII’, and raps her knuckles on it. The sound of a lock disengaging echoes in the much quieter hallway, and our guide gives us a fake smile. “This is where I leave you. Whatever is purchased will automatically be added to my totals, including a thirty percent tip. Should you wish to add to that, you can let Dixie know. I have other customers, so good luck.”
She walks off, wiggling her way down the corridor without even allowing us to respond. I sigh, my frustration at the lack of care she showed once we stopped her flirty bullshit eking out. “That girl isdefinitelyone of the ones Dixie was angry about. She didn’t give a shit about anything once she figured out that we couldn’t be coaxed into buying more for a peek of her tits.”
Lucas sniffs, then shrugs. “I don’t blame her. The people who work in the gray areas at elite playgrounds are often bosses who run programs like boiler rooms for stocks in the human world. They turn and burn deals as fast as possible with as much profit as they can. Anyone who isn’t ‘making numbers’ won’t be employed for long and the kind of money they make can affect their lifestyles. Our new friend isn’t wrong in her assertion that it basically traps them into a ‘trafficked’ mentality.”
Eyeing him suspiciously, I ask, “How do you know so much about this?”
He shrugs again and mumbles, “At times, my parents go between being super wealthy and extremely in debt to their vices. Once I was old enough to understand, Nana explained to me why my parents were basically cut off and what causes them to crash out so often. It’s notjustdrugs and party people's behavior—it’s what they do when they get in too deep and can’t get out.”
Slade makes a soft sound, reaching out to grab my bear’s hand. “Yachting. Or… something similar. Right?”
I frown, unfamiliar with the term, but Liam grimaces. Iggy doesn’t, and I note he looks curious as well. Obviously, there’s a fine line delineation between mega wealthy and stupidly rich that he falls just on the other side of. “What the hell is that?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know,” Slade murmurs. “Suffice it to say that the uber rich, especially those who arenewmoney, have a lot of ways to pump up their bank accounts that most people would be horrified to hear about. It’s not the usual business deals and nepotism bail outs, either. I know because… you know. My mom has arranged a lot of shit in Bay City—anything to do with the water is theirs. This occurs there more often than anyone realizes.”
By the looks of shame on his and Lucas’ faces, plus Liam’s grossed out expression… I don’t think I need him to elaborate.
the deal
LUCAS
I’m glad Morgana didn’t press the subject much. Nana kept me in the dark as a kid, but when I got old enough to understand the media coverage of my parents, she had to share a lot of hard truths about them. Nothing age inappropriate—unless rumors at my school got out of hand and she didn’t have an option to hold back. That wasn’t a ‘one time’ thing, unfortunately, and before I graduated high school, I was more educated in the depravity of the ultra-wealthy than any teen should have to be.
