Page 131 of King of the Cage

He placed a hand on the small of my back when we walked into a hotel Uptown, and I had to resist sinking my stiletto heel into his custom-made patent loafers.

Instead, I stepped to the side, far enough that his hand fell.

“Thanks.”

I’d tried calling my brother but hadn’t gotten through. It felt dangerous to be doing this for some reason, but I wasn’t sure why. All I knew, was that I was going. No one could have stopped me.

We entered the building, and a guard waved us toward the metal detectors.

Aldo puffed out his chest like a self-important rooster. “She’s with me.”

He swept us unchecked past security and toward an elevator at the end of a long hallway. The place was all velvet drapes and dark, ornate antique furniture.

“How many members does your investment club have?” I asked.

“I have no idea. We don’t publicize the membership roll. Things with this group are a little more discreet than that.”

“I’ve never been to this hotel before… I bet it cleans up at Halloween,” I observed, eyeing the old-fashioned metal cage elevator skeptically.

Aldo nodded. “It would, but it’s not exactly open to the public anymore. It gets so many bookings from The Enclave, it’s not worth it.”

“Wow, what kind of bookings could make up for keeping a whole hotel empty?” I mused.

Aldo smiled and ignored my questions. Man, I was really regretting not pushing my brother and Sol to tell me more about what I’d been getting up to lately, other than getting married. Then again, maybe they didn’t really know. The only person I’d been spending a lot of time with, according to everyone, was Bran. I should have researched a little, or something, but I hadn’t felt inclined to even look at my computer. That was a weird feeling for me. I just wasn’t myself. Losing a few months had rendered me a different person, and I didn’t like that at all.

We got into the elevator and started downward.

I glanced around. “The club meets underground, quite literally?”

“Our initiations aren’t always for the faint of heart. Tonight, and any night we hold a match that members gamble on, we take it underground for safety. Discretion, remember?”

“Right.” I tapped my nose and gave him a conspiratorial wink, while stepping slightly farther away.

Aldo took creep to a new level. The lower we went, the more nerves stirred in my belly. My instincts screamed at me that this was dangerous. Maybe I shouldn’t have come here.And leave Bran alone?

I took a deep, steadying breath and pushed my shoulders back. Everything was fine. The members of this club were some of the richest and most influential people in the city. We were in public, at a hotel, right in the middle of the city. I was overreacting and getting spooked.

I tried to make myself believe it, until we got out of the elevator, headed to a coat check, and Aldo handed me a long, black cloak.

“What’s this for? I had no idea this was a dress-up party,” I murmured. A feeling of déjà vu hit me hard.

Aldo chuckled. “We are a traditional bunch. Like barristers in England wearing wigs, it’s just part of our heritage. If we don’t respect the past, we are doomed to repeat it, aren’t we?” he asked.

His smirk clearly communicated that he was making an inside joke, one I wasn’t part of. I nodded and took the cloak. The people around us already had theirs on and had added masks.

“Masks, too? This isn’t a swinger party, is it? I’m not putting my keys in any bowls,” I warned Aldo.

“It sounds like anEyes Wide Shutscenario!”Sol’s voice echoed in my mind. A memory.

I stopped, my head swimming. Was that real? Had I worn something like this before?

“Are you ready?” Aldo asked, poised in front of a heavy wooden door.

The lower levels of the hotel were nothing like the upper ones. Down here was darker, much darker. Black roses sat in a huge urn on a lacquered console table. Incense drifted from a holder shaped like a skull. The faint strains of strings, a haunting violin, sent goosebumps rippling across my skin. It was like The Tartarus hotel had decided to rent out their basement for a horror movie production.

“Yes, I’m ready,” I told Aldo.

I followed him into the room and stopped dead in the doorway.

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