"Of course," I mumbled, stepping out of the car. Of course Alister would also live in a mansion.

"What's that?" Nathaniel said, coming to stand next to me. His black hair swallowed the orange sunset. He looked dashing in a three piece suit, with the silver pocket square that I made for him on his birthday and the matching silver tie. A black three quarter coat completed his look.

He usually dressed this way for work. But he had been working from home ever since Mark's accident, and seeing him like this after his casual look the last few days hammered home the point that he was one of the most successful men in the country, and one of the most handsome. I bet Mrs. Huang's eyes would turn into hearts if she saw him this way. I smiled at the thought.

"What's funny?" Nathaniel asked, taking my hand and putting it on the crook of his elbow. What a gentleman.

"Nothing. Just thinking that all the mothers in the country would love to have a son-in-law like you."

His eyes crinkled. "I'm not interested in being anyone's son-in-law, unfortunately for the female population of the country."

We walked up the driveway. The setting sun glinted off the windshield of another car parked in the driveway. There were very few. Not all guests were here yet.

"So modest, too," I mumbled. The back and forth helped me ignore my nerves. I tucked my other hand in my coat's pocket and touched the knife. The feeling brought me a small measure of comfort.

A flight of gray stone steps cut through the garden surrounding the house, leading to the front porch. The house itself was a modern two floor, the square shapes of the design made alternatively of steely gray stone and glass.

The bodyguards stayed down the steps. I glanced back at them.

"Chris has his men around the property," Nathaniel said, noting my gaze.

Sure enough, two men stood at attention on either side of the front door. Before Nathaniel could knock, the chrome black door was pulled open. Chris stood in the doorway, dressed in a navy suit, a white shirt and a striped silver and blue tie. His blond hair was combed back, and his blue eyes were dark and intense.

"You're here. Good. Come in," he said and disappeared inside. Nathaniel and I followed. Nathaniel obviously knew his way around. There was no butler this time, and Nathaniel hung his coat and mine in the entryway closet. I held onto my knife and tucked it in the pocket of my dress. All dresses should have pockets.

I glanced around. High ceilings, steely walls and... was that a pool? Inside the house? I blinked.

The area was almost too... sterile. The ground was set in varying levels, with a couple of steps leading up or down. The pool was in the middle of the space in the lowest level. To the right was an open kitchen with chrome black cabinets and a granite island. To the left was a seating area with dark blue couches, a long glass coffee table, and a pure white carpet.

Right across from the front door, the wall was made entirely of glass. It overlooked a garden. It was busy with waiters and workers setting up the space with slim, high tables and a buffet counter at the side. An outdoor party? In this weather?

Chris was running up a flight of stairs, leading to the indoor balcony of the second floor.

"Come on," Nathaniel said. My heels clicked on the pristine gray floors. For some reason, this place suited Alister perfectly.

We went down a couple of steps to the pool and walked alongside it, then up three steps to the glass wall that overlooked the garden outside. I glanced up. The entire garden was covered in glass. It was like a hothouse. Now the outdoor party made sense.

I stopped at the bottom of the steps. A see-through, floating staircase. Why in the world would anyone have see-through and floating stairs? Nathaniel was already two steps up. I held onto the wall and walked up the stairs.

"Do you want me to hold your hand?" Nathaniel asked, a teasing grin on his face. He stayed one step ahead of me as I slowly climbed up.

"Right. Laugh at the country pumpkin," I said, taking my time. It was easier if I didn't look down. We finally reached the top.

A long hallway lined with doors stretched in front of us. Nathaniel took my hand and strode ahead. He knocked on the second door to the right and pushed it open immediately. Rude.

Three people looked at us. Chris, Alister and another man I didn't recognize.

The spacious room was set up with a desk and three monitors on one side, a white L-shaped couch on the other. The wall across the door was also entirely made of glass.

Chris and Alister stood behind the third man, who was sitting at the desk and typing on a keyboard, his spectacled dark eyes going back to the screens after a quick glance towards us. Nathaniel closed the door behind us.

"Make yourself comfortable," he said, nodding his head to the white couch. He made his way to the men.

I didn't sit. I headed to the glass wall. It overlooked the garden below. The glass panels covering the garden stretched from the roof of the house and enveloped a big swathe of the garden. Sunset sliced through the glass, bathing the greenery in a soft orange glow. Overhead, several ropes were strung in a star shape, holding lanterns, and the tables below were all surrounded by fairy lights. Well, whatever his faults, Alister sure knew how to throw a party.

"The guests will be coming in now," Alister said. "I should get going."

"Wait, you should see this before you go," Chris said. "Remember I told you guys I'm looking for a live satellite feed of the House."

My heart jumped. I turned and walked closer.

"Well?" Nathaniel asked.

"I got it," Chris said triumphantly. He patted the shoulder of the young man sitting on the chair. "Show them, Danny."

The guy nodded, adjusted his glasses, and began typing. He was young, maybe around my age, with curly black hair, a deep brown skin tone and a strong jawline.

"How did you get it?" Alister said. "Is it even legal?"

"It cost me a favor or two," Chris said. "But it's worth it."

I stood next to Nathaniel. There were three monitors on the desk. The one on the far right showed security footage of Alister's house. The one on the far left was running some program I could make no sense of. A video popped up on the middle screen. Blood rushed to my ears in a loud whoosh.

The view was from the top, but I recognized the compound very well.

It was in the middle of a wooded area. The tall walls surrounded three big buildings. There were some cars parked outside and inside the compound. As I watched, a figure walked out of one of the cars parked inside and strode towards the main building. I squinted. I knew that stride.

"Can you get a close up on the guy?" Chris asked.

Danny's fingers flew over the keyboard. A moment later, the screen zoomed closer, the blurry image slowly turned clear. The man looked left and right, and even though the angle didn't provide a clear view of his face, I recognized him.

"That's Luke," I mumbled. The four men looked at me.

"You know him?" Chris asked.

"Yes. He's one of the guards," I said, crossing my arms. "He's also the one who helped me escape."

"He did?" Nathaniel asked, looking at the screen where Luke had disappeared into the House. "Hmm."

There was a knock on the door.

"That's our cue," Alister said, buttoning the jacket of his brown suit. He glanced at me, his clear eyes cold and assessing. They seemed a little less hostile compared to the other day. Or maybe I was just seeing things. Trying to read his expression was like trying to read invisible ink.

We left Danny alone with his screens and went down to the garden.

The sun had disappeared, leaving the whimsical glow of fairy lights and lanterns above to illuminate the space. There were about four people around, other than the waiters standing at attention around the space.

Alister headed to one of the early arrivals and started a conversation. Nathaniel, Chris and I stood around one of the pub tables.

"Are those your men?" Nathaniel asked Chris, nodding his head towards the waiters.

Chris nodded. "A few of them are. Which reminds me, I need to have a word with them."

He made his way to one corner of the space and stood next to a waiter. They didn't look like they were speaking to each other, both of them facing forward, but I could see their lips move.

I drummed my fingers on the table, looking around. People were trickling in through an outdoor entrance in the glass wall. I kept getting glances of Robbins' face in random guests. My mind was playing tricks on me. I was that nervous.

Nathaniel put his hand on mine, squeezed and let go.

"So," he said, his eyes scanning the place. "That guy who helped you escape..."

"Luke?"

"Yes. Why did he help you?" he asked, his dark eyes meeting mine. "He's a guard. Isn't his job precisely the opposite of that."

I sighed. Luke. I never figured out Luke. "He was new then. I kind of made a deal with him concerning Mark after the other guard reneged on our agreement."

Nathaniel's brows lowered. He knew exactly the kind of deal I would be making in that place. It wasn't like I had anything else to barter with, other than my own body.

"Anyway, a few months into our agreement, he overheard Mark and I talk about escaping."

Mark and I had been in our room, playing chess. I still remember the faint light of the lamp set on a stack of books between our mattresses. We both sat on the ground at the foot of my bed, with a chipped chess board between us.

Ester had been gone for a couple of years by then. And the idea of escaping had been brewing in my head ever since. I started looking for ways out during our times outside in the gardens. But there were always guards around, and the walls were too tall to just climb. The only way out was the gate, which was always manned by several guards and opened automatically from inside the security booth next to it.

"Mark, do you want to leave here?" I asked.

Mark, who usually rarely looked at my eyes, snapped his head and looked at me head on.

"Leave?" he asked out loud. I shushed him. He looked down with a frown.

"Yes."

"Can we do that?" Mark asked.

"I don't know yet," I replied, moving my pawn in an uncalculated move. My brain was too busy elsewhere. "We need a plan."

Mark's fingers started flicking on his thigh. He was usually very calm whenever we played chess. The topic must be agitating him. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up. But I would burst if I didn't speak to anyone about it.

A knock on the door.

I jumped, looking at the door. It was early in the afternoon. Usually, guards wouldn't summon us until clients started trickling in later in the day. Wary, I motioned for Mark to step out of sight. He knew the drill by now.

I cracked the door open. Luke. My blood chilled. How long had he been there?

Luke grinned and looked past me. I stepped out and closed the door.

"What is it?" I asked as one of the Dispensables limped past us to his room down the hallway. He'd been hurt by a client the night before.

Luke tracked the Dispensable with his eyes until the guy disappeared into his room before he looked at me. "Interesting conversations you and your brother have," he said in a low voice.

My heart leaped to my throat. I glanced down the dim hallway. No one was around. I cursed my carelessness. I usually didn't talk to Mark about sensitive topics unless it was early in the morning when the guards hadn't arrived yet and the clients had long left.

I crossed my arms and leaned against my door. "What are you talking about?"

Luke's eyes flitted down to my lips for a fraction of a second. He leaned his forearm next to my head. His smell of mint, coffee and cigarettes invaded my nose. He lowered his head until his lips were next to my ear. "About escaping."

I froze. Luke pulled back a little. His face still too close. I gave him a sardonic smile. "Don't you think we all dream about escaping this hell, Luke? But that's all it is. A dream."

His expression told me he didn't buy my bluff. After a long pause. He shrugged and pulled away, straightening to his full height. "I see. Too bad. I thought I could help you if you were serious."

He turned and started walking away. My heart hammered. Was he just baiting me? Or was he serious? I chewed on the inside of my cheek.

Oh, hell. It was worth a shot.

"Luke!"

He stopped and looked over his shoulder with a satisfied smile. "Yes, Little Blue?"

"What if I was serious?" I asked.

He walked backward until he stood in front of me again. "Then I'm serious as well."

"Why?" I asked with a frown. "What's in it for you?"

Luke leaned down and kissed my cheek. Normally, I would've slapped anyone who took such a liberty outside of working hours. But Luke and I had a deal. He earned the right to my body in exchange for keeping Mark out of the management's eyes.

He smiled, his face inches from mine. "Nothing in particular," he said. "Let's just say, I'm bored. Getting you out of here would be a nice challenge."

Looking into his eyes, there had been no sign of deceit or joking. Luke had been absolutely serious then.

And he had done it. He'd helped us escape.

I shook my head, snapping myself out of the memories, and looked at Nathaniel.

"Anyway, I still don't know why. Luke said he was bored, that getting me and Mark out would be a nice challenge for him. He hid us in the trunk of his car, got us out of the House, drove us to a nearby town and left us there. He also gave me some money and a change of clothes."

Nathaniel frowned. "Mhm. Interesting."

I shrugged. "I have no idea why he'd done it. I could never figure him out."

Nathaniel looked away, his eyes looking into the distance. His mind churned behind his eyes.

"What?" I asked.

Nathaniel shook his head. "I guess it would make sense if he was in love with you."

I snorted out a laugh. I couldn't help it. Associating such a feeling with anyone from the House was beyond ludicrous. Nathaniel arched his eyebrow. He was serious.

I rolled my eyes. "Right. Let's just agree to disagree on this one."

Nathaniel smiled and threw his arm around my shoulder. "Whatever the case. Luke did me a big favor. I should remember to thank him. After I beat him within an inch of his life, of course."

I chuckled. "Of course."

Chris strode toward us, his blond hair glinting like spun gold under the lanterns' glow. His eyes were fixed on something near the entrance. "Our friend is here."

Nathaniel and I looked. Robbins. He walked inside with a young woman. The woman's hair was an ashy blond, her skin was pale and her eyes were a light color. The pale pink dress almost washed her out. My heart stung. She was beautiful, but she was a pale imitation of Ester. Was that his type?

Robbins was dressed in a heather gray striped suit, his hair brushed back into an elegant hairstyle, and his jaw clean-shaven. Gray peppered his temples. One word came to mind when I looked at him. Distinguished.

Except he was far from it, of course. He was nothing but a sick murderer.

I quickly turned from him. The last thing we wanted was for him to see me and get spooked. I slipped my hand into the pocket of my dress and touched the knife.

"Alister is buttering him up already?" Nathaniel asked, still looking Robbins' way.

"Yes, we don't have time," Chris said, looking at his watch. "He might want to leave early. Better to get him now."

I chewed on my cheek. My nerves were a wreck. Nathaniel's arm was still around my shoulder. He kissed my hair, which made the nerves in my stomach flutter for an entirely different reason.

Nathaniel, Chris and I joined Danny inside again. The feed of the House was still live on one screen. Chris set up his laptop on the coffee table, and then the three of us stood by the glass wall and watched the scene below.

Robbins and his arm candy stood in the middle of the guests with two older men. I scanned the guests. With Robbins down there mingling with everyone, and after seeing the pedophile in yesterday's party, I kept waiting to see a face I'd recognize anywhere, everywhere.

I would probably stumble upon more clients as life went on. But it was scary that I had already recognized three clients from the House in the few months that I'd been out. Who knew how many more I would see by the end of the year?

As we watched, Alister approached Robbins. He joined their conversation for a few minutes, then he pulled Robbins aside and said something, pointing to the house. Robbins laughed and nodded. He kissed his date's cheek and whispered something in her ear, then left her and followed Alister inside.

My pulse roared in my ears. I clutched the knife inside my pocket until my fingers hurt. I stayed frozen in place while Nathaniel and Chris sat on the couch.

A couple of minutes later, the door opened.