Page 8 of Hide From Me
“Masked, huh?”
She scoffed.
“Do you pay attention to anything?”
I shrugged, even though she couldn’t see me.
“I’m not really into art. So not really. But the invitation came with a mask and a dress.”
I swear her laughter was a little manic.
“Don’t question, just go. These things are invitation only. This site is all gossip, but I guarantee it’s not wrong. Social media says that it’s invitation only. Only the rich, that is. It’s nice for them to supply you with a dress so you at least don’t need to worry about that. Did they give you a plus one by chance? I’d leave the old stiffs just to see that place.”
I wrinkled my nose.
“Girl, we need to get you someone with a pulse that would actually miss you.”
I could hear her sigh.
“Don’t judge what you don’t know. I’ll be working late on this new body, so stop by on your way home?”
I glanced at the clock on the oven.
“Shit, yeah, okay. I only have an hour to get my ass looking like I belong. I don’t know why me. It feels weird.”
“Sometimes life gives you shadows, Rylee, and all you can do is use them to your advantage. Go and hide in plain sight and get a glimpse of the other side from the shadows.”
She hung up without another word, and I didn’t know if I’d said something wrong or if she was just being her odd self. She was right though. She and I had a bond in what she called our shadows, our pasts.
They followed you everywhere, and sometimes, just once in a while, they give us comfort.
Enigma. That’s all the sign said, and yet the opulence of the silver cursive said more. This place screamed money. It screamed I didn’t fit here.
I was too busy looking at the blacked-out windows with gold and silver lettering, wondering what really went on inside a place like this. I nearly peed myself when someone rapped on my door.
Through shaky fingers, I still managed to roll the window down.
“Miss Klein, right this way.”
I wanted to ask how he knew my name, but the tattoos that peeked out over his collar had me shutting my mouth and going with it.
“I’ll park your car for you.”
I wasn’t moving.
“Can I park my own car? I don’t have any money to tip you.”
He was certainly part of the Spectors. The telltale hourglass I saw with his every movement under that white collar, and nodoubt, below it, there would be the signature barbed wire and a smoky Spector’s face inside.
“No need to tip me, boss’s orders. You get out here, and I park the car.”
Boss’s orders?
“Who’s your boss? That just seems really, I dunno, controlling.”
The guy held out his hand.
“Look, I don’t need to be castrated over a car. It’s a valet only event. So please, Miss Klein, take my hand and head through the main doors. Your car will be well taken care of.”