Page 73 of A Sin So Pure

Leo buries his face in the folds of the menu. “What about drinks? Did you three order before we got here?”

“I told the server to get us a bottle of white faerie wine,” Nora says.

“No champagne?” Leo asks, popping his head over the fancy cardstock. “I thought this was a celebration?”

Nora, Hattie, and Josie all go awkwardly silent.

“Unfortunately, there’s going to be a champagne shortage for a while.” I grimace.

“What? Why?”

“Seelie bastards is why,” Nora mutters under her breath.

She reaches into her pocket to pull out her cigarette case and lighter, deftly setting light to one and tossing the lighter onto the table. It lands with a dullthunkagainst the thick tablecloth.

“Josie, why don’t you pick out a bunch of your favorites and we can all share?” I say. “I’m fine with anything, and I trust your judgment.”

Pink flushes her cheeks at being singled out.

“Okay. Yeah. I can do that,” she says. “The rest of you good with that?”

Resoundingyesessound from the table, and we fall into easy conversation. Soon enough, our food is served and my nose tickles at the indulgent smells. Butter and sage waft up from the dish in front of me, while the dish in front of Leo steams with spices. Josie explains where each dish’s human ingredients were sourced from, and we all listen, enthralled by the passion in her voice.

As we finish the dinner course, the lights dim around us. A singular light falls on the small circular stage at the center of the room, and Gluttony struts onto the platform. She’s glowing in a batwing gown of glittering gold with deep swaths of her brownskin peeking out from the dips at her chest and back. Her hair is slicked into shiny finger waves, and she’s dripping in jewels.

“Thank you all for coming tonight,” Gluttony says into the standing microphone on stage. “I hope you all are enjoying your meals so far.”

Gluttony pauses; patrons clap and yowl and whistle, all of us already buzzing from the atmosphere and alcohol. My own cheeks flush—between the two bottles of faerie wine we’ve guzzled down and the stray touches Nora places on the skin between my shoulder blades, I can’t help but feel warm.

“Now, I want to introduce a very special guest who is going to perform for you all… Miss Venus Day!”

Applause erupts as the well-known singer joins Gluttony on stage. Her skin is a shade lighter than Gluttony’s but just as warm-toned.

“Thank you, Gluttony.” Venus’s deep velvet voice flows through the microphone. “I’m excited to sing for y’all tonight. Boys?”

Three musicians step up behind her, taking their places with the instruments on the stage—a piano, a standing base, and a drum set. Gluttony quickly waves a goodbye, and the room is filled with smooth riffs and gentle jazz.

“She stole Miss V from us!” Leo says, lips pressed into a flat line as he glares at the singer who does a weekly set at the Den.

“She’s a singer, Leo. She needs to book other work. We only hire her for Saturday nights,” I say. “Plus, Gluttony’s clearly not letting her have her wings out. That’ll differentiate us enough that it won’t matter.”

He’s utterly miffed when he realizes I’m right, sinking into his seat like a sulking child.

“Maybe I’ll book her more often,” he mumbles.

Two shadows fall over our table, the air crackling with electricity. I look up and find the Unseelie King and Wrath, smirking and frowning respectively.

“Evening, ladies,” Silas says. His head tilts pointedly at Leo. “And gentleman.”

They’re backlit by the sunset; the orange glow glints off the silver piercings lining Silas’s ear and his ring-clad fingers. Meanwhile, Wrath resembles a demon, his warm sandy-brown hair glinting molten amber in the light.

I stare daggers at Silas, though his attention is focused solely on Nora. Her knuckle brushes over the vertebra of my neck, a silent, soothing gesture that she repeats.

“Your Majesty,” Nora greets begrudgingly.

Silas tsks. “Do we need formalities tonight? We’re all here as friends of Gluttony, celebrating her success.”

“We always need formalities,” Wrath mutters. His red-brown eyes cut across the room, uninterested. He can’t even be bothered to be near us.

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