“Stop looking like someone is going to jump out of the shadows and eat you!” Allegra laughed. “You’re making me nervous.”

“I’m sorry!” Gia gasped, her eyes pouring over the cavern walls with unadulterated awe. “I’ve never seen anything so… so…”

There were no words to describe the opulence of what she was observing. They were inside the Parker Palace, a structure which had known many names over the years, changing with the dragons as they shifted personas.

Once upon a time, it was a dreaded place; an eerie fortress the others avoided with great effort, the wrath of the princes real and terrifying. It had been stolen from the vampires and tried to be reclaimed many times, but the dragons held fast and strong to their pillaged goods.

Although that had been before Gia’s time, the tales of the princes’ cruel reign was not easily forgotten, even as they adjusted and adapted into seemingly “normal” creatures, not plagued by the need to destroy and control. At least, not in the fifth century way. These days, their power was seen in wealth and on paper.

The Parker Palace was the biggest building in the Hollows, though no one knew exactly how big it was. It had been built upon and destroyed many, many times. Now it was a majestic stone estate with high, domed ceilings of glass and dozens of entrances.

There were hundreds of staff members working inside, given that the castle was not only a residence for the royal princes, but also a full-on complex of businesses. The palace housed a mall, several labs, and a floor of offices, including a travel agent and a real estate company.

But Gia and Allegra were entering the seemingly endless ballroom, which had been decorated in a fairy tale theme. Gia was both impressed and disgusted by it.

“You’re grimacing,” Allegra giggled, tugging on her arm again.

Gia hadn’t realized she had stopped walking to take in the indoor English maze, constructed of lattice and thorns. She felt as if she were in a dream, floating on a cloud as Allegra guided her toward one of the many bars set up throughout the gallery.

“You work in here?” Gia choked. “How—how do you find your way every day without getting lost?”

Allegra snickered. Even that sound was musical.

“I don’t work in the ballroom,” she assured Gia. “There are entrances closer to the boutique. Come on. Let’s get you a drink before you have a panic attack.”

Gia allowed her new friend to steer her, but her mind was whirling as she wondered what it would take to live and work in such a place. Shyly, she cast her gaze toward Allegra, who was smiling at people she knew, confident and charming. Again, Gia was struck by how easy it seemed for Allegra to blend in among the people, as if she had been born and raised with a crystal goblet in her mouth.

I imagine I’d have to be more like Allegra to end up in the upper echelons of Hollow society, she thought, not slinging drinks to college hooligans in Columbus, Mississippi.

Gia had been both stunned and thrilled when Allegra called the bar a couple days after they had met, asking her out for drinks. Even though she had teased Gia about paying, Allegra happily picked up the tab, and from then forward, they had become fast friends, seeing one another almost daily.

Sometimes, Allegra would come to her work and pick her up to bring her back to the Hollows crossing, while other nights they would meet after and find a twenty-four-hour hole-in-the-wall in the Trenches, where they would have coffee and laugh until dawn.

They were together so much that Gia genuinely began to consider Allegra as her best friend, something she’d never had before in her life. She always been too awkward for friends, too meek. It was easy to be overlooked in the Hollows when everyone else was so intriguing.

What does she see in me? Gia wondered, but she dared not ask Allegra, lest the blonde suddenly realize what a mistake she was making.

“I’ll introduce you to some of my friends,” Allegra suggested. Her words made Gia freeze, unsure if she was ready to meet more creatures like the gregarious… sorceress? They had been hanging out for almost a month, and Gia still had yet to ask her friend where her power lay. Of course, Allegra had not volunteered the information, and Gia didn’t want to push her. She reasoned that Allegra would tell her if she wanted to.

They stopped before a group of chattering men in tuxedos, accompanied by the most glamorous beings Gia had ever seen.

I am so glad I called in sick tonight, she thought, trying to suppress the look of sheer admiration on her face. She felt ridiculously out of place, even though Allegra had dressed her in a stunning red ball gown that accented her slender but full figure like a glove. Gia found it incredibly difficult to breathe while she wore it. Still, she knew it was worth it.

When else would she be able to experience something like this again?

“Trojan, Lilith!” cried Allegra. A stunning couple of a dark-skinned man and woman turned their heads in unison to examine Gia head to toe before resting their gazes on her face. “This is my dear friend, Gia Cirone.”

“Charmed,” the woman said, turning her head away, disgust coloring her face. The man only smirked, but he had the decency to accept the palm Gia had offered for a handshake.

“Indeed,” he agreed, but there was nothing in either of their tones to suggest they were pleased to meet her.

Gia shot Allegra a nervous look. Her friend didn’t seem to sense her discomfort.

“Lilith and Trojan run the sector where I work,” she explained. “They might have openings for you somewhere inside the palace.”

That caught Lilith’s attention, and she jerked her silken bob back to gape at Allegra.

“I think not!” she scoffed, eyeing Gia through her peripheral vision.

“I think so,” Allegra replied evenly, and Gia wanted to melt into the floor. She had not suspected that Allegra had brought her to the work party to find her a job.

“It’s okay,” Gia tried to say, her inherent desire to keep the peace overwhelming her common sense to remain quiet. Allegra squeezed her arm as if to silence her, and Gia instantly clamped her mouth shut.

“Listen to your little friend,” Lilith said coldly, apparently trying to melt Allegra with the heat in her angry black eyes. “She can clearly see she is not palace material.”

A wave of shame overtook Gia’s body, and she willed herself not to show her true feelings on her highly expressive face.

Oh, Allegra, she thought. I know you mean well, but please stop! You can’t force them to give me a job! I don’t have the proper breeding to work in the palace.

She didn’t want to admit that she’d thought of nothing else since learning Allegra owned a boutique inside the sprawling building. Night after night, she lay awake staring at the crack on her ceiling, wondering what it would be like to work in such a setting. It was her dream, but she didn’t want to achieve it like this.

“Oh, how quickly they forget the little people when they become high and mighty,” Allegra sighed, shaking her head.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lilith snapped. Her partner, however, appeared uncomfortable under Allegra’s penetrating stare.

“Trojan knows,” Allegra said. “Don’t you, my ghetto brother?”

Trojan bared his teeth, fangs elongating as he hissed.

“We are not those people anymore,” he growled.

Gia stepped back in fear. She had nothing specific to worry about with the vampires. Her blood was not what they sought, but their tempers were notorious, and Gia had no interest in arousing any negative emotions. If she could avoid unhappiness, she would at all costs.

“Allegra,” Gia whispered, wanting to escape the suffocating aura of the irate immortal couple. Of course, her blonde friend ignored her.

“I can see that, but where would you be if someone hadn’t taken pity on you once upon a time?” Allegra purred, her beryl green eyes glittering with interest.

Gia realized that her friend was pushing Trojan and Lilith into a corner on her account, and it made her breathing quicken with panic. She didn’t want to get a job this way. She didn’t even know if she wanted to work in the palace at all!

As if sensing her increasing nervousness, Allegra squeezed her arm again.

“I heard there’s an opening at Parker Realty,” she continued. “A receptionist position. I think Gia would be perfect for it. She’s great with people.”

The vampire couple stared balefully at Allegra, but to Gia’s surprise, they didn’t shoot her down immediately.

“Have her come tomorrow at nine a.m.,” Lilith finally spat as if Gia was not standing right there. “If she blows it, she’s gone.”

“Blows. That’s an interesting word choice, Lil,” Allegra commented, batting her dark eyelashes innocently. The already waxen vampire turned nearly translucent, her blood red lips parting to release a gasp.

“You wouldn’t!” Lilith breathed. Allegra smiled sweetly.

“Not unless I have to,” she replied, seizing Gia’s arm and spinning away from them. “Toodles!”

Gia was whisked away, but she could still feel the burning of eyes in her back.

“Allegra!” she cried when the blonde had whisked her off to the hors d’oeuvres table. “Why did you do that? I didn’t know that’s why you asked me to come here tonight!”

Allegra popped a stuffed mushroom into her mouth and chewed it before answering.

“I asked you to come here as my date,” she replied. “You are much better company than any of the males I’ve had the misfortune of knowing lately. I need my girl army around.”

“I am hardly a warrior,” Gia sighed. “Why did you do that? You can’t force them to give me a job, and I don’t need it! I already have three!”

“You shouldn’t have three jobs,” Allegra said shortly. “You shouldn’t even be working in one shithole where you get groped by children. You should have a steady paycheck and a safe environment. The next step is getting you out of the Trenches.”

Gia questioned the security of any environment overseen by Trojan and Lilith after what she had just witnessed, but she appreciated the sentiment.

“You can’t blackmail someone for me!” she insisted, though she got the impression her arguments were falling on deaf ears.

“It will be great!” Allegra chirped, reaching for a cracker and handing it to her. “Try the caviar. It’s excellent.”

At the moment, Gia’s stomach was flipping much too dangerously for her to entertain the idea of eating, so she refused the cracker.

“I couldn’t start tomorrow even if I wanted to,” Gia protested weakly.

“Why not?” Allegra asked distractedly, her eyes fixated on the feast before her.

“I have to give notice to my jobs—”

“I already did that for you.”

“You what?” Gia screeched, attracting the attention of the nearby guests, who cast her a reproving look.

“Yep,” Allegra confirmed. “Tonight was your last night, anyway.”

Gia cocked her head to the side, a soft tendril of hair falling across her cheek as she blinked uncomprehendingly at Allegra.

“That’s impossible,” she said. “No one has even brought it up.”

“That’s because they don’t remember,” Allegra replied smoothly. “But tomorrow morning, when you don’t show up for work, they will.”

Gia groaned, realizing what Allegra had done. She had blocked their recollection of her notice until she was gone.

She’s definitely a sorceress. A damned good one.

“What?” Allegra demanded. “If you’re that against it, you can return to your shitty jobs tomorrow, and the spell will hold indefinitely. No one will be the wiser. I’m not trying to run your life, Gia, I’m just trying to help you get a leg up.”

Gia didn’t know what to say. It seemed like she’d had to struggle her entire life to escape the confines of being poor, both inside the Hollows and on the Sunside. She was never good enough to get ahead in the smallest way; her powers were too weak, her personality too meek. There was not enough money for her to properly educate herself, and without an education, she could hardly find a decent job. It was a vicious circle, one she had resigned herself to long ago.

And suddenly, this vivacious, caring, incredible woman was offering her a step up, a way to move forward, and she was dismissing it with a fight.

Am I crazy? I should be throwing myself at Allegra’s feet and thanking her, not giving her grief for watching out for me!

Maybe it was the way she had come to help that bothered Gia.

“What do you have on them?” Gia asked curiously. “What are they afraid you’ll expose?”

Allegra grinned and leaned in confidentially. “Lilith was a lunasnuff whore for eons. Trojan was her pimp and supplier. They are hardly in any position to cast stones when their houses are made of such fine glass, you know. A good sneeze will send it crashing into a billion pieces.”

“What?” Gia was sure she had not heard properly. “She was an addict and a prostitute? And he was her pimp?” Even saying the words felt funny on Gia’s lips, and she turned her head back to look at the couple. They had already moved on, probably because they knew Gia was learning the truth about them.

“Not all the poor take the high road like you did, Gia,” Allegra chuckled. “In fact, most don’t. I think that’s why I feel so protective of you. There’s an innocence you have that we don’t see much down here.”

The words were filled with emotion, and Gia’s cheeks grew warm as she met Allegra’s eyes. “What happened? How did they get out of it? How did they get so high up that they work in the palace?”

“Well,” Allegra said, “if I tell you that, I won’t have the upper hand, will I?” She was joking, of course, but Gia knew that was the most she was going to learn about Lilith and Trojan, and she was fine with that.

“Why are you helping me so much, Allegra? I mean, you barely know me.”

“I think I have gotten to know you quite well,” Allegra protested, her crystalline eyes widening to mesh with Gia’s. “Anyway, it doesn’t always take time to learn about someone. Usually it’s a gut feeling, which goes a long way. First impressions really are everything.”

“I know, but still…” Gia insisted, unsure of why Allegra would go to such great lengths to assist her after just a few short weeks of knowing her.

“Maybe it’s a little selfish,” her friend confessed. “But I’m looking forward to working with you. My boutique is just on the opposite side. We can have lunch and do our nails together!”

There was an infectious childish excitement in Allegra’s voice. Gia couldn’t help allowing herself to be happy with what the blonde had done.

Suddenly, a trumpet sounded, followed by the tinkle of harp strings, and a voice boomed out from the speakers.

“Fellow immortals, please stand at attention for our treasured guest of honor.”

A murmur of appreciation flowed through the crowd as all eyes turned toward the stairwell. Gia’s breath caught in her throat. She suddenly felt light-headed—it hadn’t occurred to her that she might see one of the princes that night.

“I didn’t know he was coming!” she gasped, her eyes wide with shock. “I—oh!”

“This is his home,” Allegra reminded Gia with a soft laugh. “Just relax. Didn’t you notice his brothers have been circling the room?”

Gia had not noticed at all. She wouldn’t even know exactly what any of the Parkers looked like if she saw one face-to-face.

Allegra nudged her in the ribs and pointed at a stunningly handsome man beginning to descend the seemingly endless stairs toward the mezzanine.

“Ladies and gentlemen, His Royal Highness, Prince Lennox Parker, Ruler of the Hollows and CEO of Amarok Industries.”

“All hail the conqueror!” the crowd chanted as Prince Lennox approached the railing, waving charmingly with a white-gloved hand.

He was dressed in a waistcoat that belonged to another century, a gold sash emblazoned over his chest. A sword stuck out of a sheath at his broad hips. He looked over the crowd until his gaze rested on Gia, who found herself staring into the greenest set of eyes she had ever seen.

He’s looking right at me! Dizziness swept through her, and even though she wanted to lower her head, she could not, her eyes wanting to memorize every feature of his face, even from the distance between them.

Lennox opened his mouth to speak. Gia could see him talking and could feel his voice flowing through her in a mellifluous wave of peace, yet she couldn’t focus on his words.

“He’s beautiful.”

Gia had not even realized she had spoken aloud until Allegra muttered, “He’s all right, I guess. Of all the boys, I prefer Reef myself.”

For the first time since Lennox had entered, Gia reluctantly pulled her eyes away to stare where Allegra was looking. The four other princes stood at the base of the mezzanine stairs, their arms folded over their chests as they glared at Lennox.

Gia could not tell which one was Reef, but she was less concerned with identifying which prince was which than trying to understand why they seemed so… angry.

If they weren’t all brothers, Gia thought, I would think they look like they want to murder Lennox.

But that was ridiculous, of course. Siblings were supposed to love one another, even if they were dragons…

Weren’t they?