Page 35 of Terror at the Gates

“No one calls me that,” I said.

“I do,” he said.

I held his gaze as I replied. “Like I said…no one.”

He chuckled quietly. “You know, my brother has fuckeda lot of other women, and none of them act like they own his territory the way you do.”

“I haven’t fucked your brother,” I said.

His gaze swept down my body. “Whatever you say, Lili-Billie.”

He stepped past me and disappeared into the club. I wanted to stick my foot out and trip him, but I’d rather just not look at him anymore.

I walked to the curb before calling Coco. Down the street, a man was shouting as he paced. Despite the mild weather, he wore a long trench coat, a scarf, and a beanie.

His name was Tori.

Or at least that was what the locals called him.

He was the opposite of an open-air preacher. He was more of an open-air dissenter, and while he spoke out against the church, the stuff he preached didn’t make any sense.

“We are living in a simulation!” he yelled. “The true gods are trapped beneath the mountain. They are knocking at the gates! Can’t you hear them? Can’t you hear them? Wake up! Wake up!Wake up!”

“Lily?”

I was startled at the sound of Coco’s voice. I hadn’t even heard her pick up.

“Coco,” I said as Tori’s shouts faded into the background. “Sorry, I—”

“How did it go?” she asked in an excited rush. “Did you get the job?”

I tried to pause and build anticipation, but I couldn’t contain my excitement.

“I start tomorrow,” I said.

She screamed. “Oh my God! Tell me everything! Whatdid Hassenaah say?”

I should have expected her to ask that question, because she was assuming I had auditioned for her. I hesitated to lie, but I also would prefer going to my grave with no one knowing I’d willingly danced for Zahariev. It was bad enough those two enforcers left thinking we were in some kind of a relationship.

“I don’t think Zahariev gave her a choice,” I said, which was true and something Coco already knew. “She’ll hate me even more now.”

“She doesn’t hate you,” said Coco, but that was because Hassenaah loved her. “But even if she did, it doesn’t matter. You have the job! And if she decides to pick on you, just tell Zahariev.”

“I’m not going to run to Zahariev every time I have a problem, Coco,” I said.

I hadn’t even liked involving him in the situation with Abram—I’dtriednot to—though I didn’t think there had been any other option.

“I’m just saying you have friends in high places, Lilith. A lot of us would kill for your connections.”

“A lot of people do,” I said.

Guilt seeped into my chest, a poison I couldn’t shake no matter where I turned. I realized I was lucky to have been born with the status I had. The only reason I was able to behave the way I did was because of it. My life had been far easier than most, but that didn’t make it the life I wanted.

“Are you on your way home?” Coco asked.

“In an hour or so,” I said. “I want to stop by Esther’s.”

“Oh, tell her I said hi!” she said. “Text me when you’re on your way.”