Page 20 of Land of Monsters

“Sweet thing, why would you want the basement when you could have—” Maestro stopped, his fake eyelashes fluttering. “Oh. You don’t have any money.”

“Not technically.” Ash grinned more, and I swear the room became hazy, like he was the drug.

“Technically?” Maestro’s lids tapered, his lips pinching in skepticism.

“We have mushrooms.” He flipped open the top of the bag strapped around me. “Good quality.”

Maestro Silk leaned over, peering in at the soil-covered, smooshed mushrooms.

“Those are fresh?” His eyes widened. Farming was difficult nowadays, but in the dark recession of winter, vegetables and plants were almost impossible to get. Unless you were growing them in a hothouse, which no one could afford, but where Iacob’s group lived, it was always warm and protected.

“Yes.” Ash nodded.

“Where did you get them?”

Ash smiled in response, and Maestro nodded in understanding. He didn’t need to know.

“They’re a little unprocessed—”

“You think you can find this kind of quality anywhere right now?” Ash lifted a brow, closing the bag. “This is the high-priced stuff you eat, and also smoke without getting a hangover. And people will pay a lot for it.” He jerked his chin to the people around us, desperate for an escape, to feel happy.

“One bundle for a room, food, unlimited alcohol, and whatever room we want to play in.” Ash laid down the price.

“Unlimited alcohol?” Maestro touched his chest in shock, knowing it hit the hardest out of all of them.

“How serious are you about your patrons forking over money for raw, unrefined fae mushrooms?” Ash taunted. “That’s our deal.”

“Wow, aren’t you just the hottest little dealer.”

“Nothing little about me.” Ash tilted his head. The insinuation heated my skin under the jacket because my mind pictured it, and he was correct.

An impish smile spanned over Maestro Silk’s mouth. “Brains, beauty, and cocky. I think I just fell head over heels in love with you.” He slipped his hand into Ash’s. “Deal.”

Ash shook in agreement, then put his hand on my back, leading me deeper into the room.

“Uh-uh.” The procurer tsked. “Payment first.”

Ash exhaled and reopened the top of the bag, taking a handful of mushrooms and holding them out.

“You expect me to touch those filthy things?” Maestro exclaimed. “I don’t do dirty, darling.” He nodded to a door. “Drop them in the kitchen while I take this exquisite thing upstairs and get her into a bath.”

Ash gritted his jaw, his expression clear he wasn’t comfortable letting me go off without him.

“So possessive,” Maestro teased. “I promise, loverboy, she will be perfectly fine in my care.”

Ash’s eyes met mine before he took off for the kitchen, his hands full of mushrooms. If anyone here was sober and saw what he was carrying, they’d realize the bounty he had in his arms.

“Now for the really important item.” Maestro’s attention moved down me.“Draga.” Sweetheart. “You are severely insulting your beauty in such a disgusting ensemble.” He wrinkled his nose at my clothes. “I will find you something far more appropriate to wear.”

“Oh, um—”

Maestro had already turned away, his arm waving in the air for me to follow, not allowing me to decline his offer. We wiggled deeper into the throng of people—drugs, alcohol, and sex already freely being distributed throughout.

Maestro took me up two floors, pointing me to a bathroom. “This is your stop. I will not let you in any of my rooms with so much filth.”

“Coming from someone whose place is covered in cum and bodily fluid.”

Maestro let out a howl of laughter, waving at his eyes so he wouldn’t smudge his makeup. “You two are like my medicine cupboard.”

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