All Chapters of Clubs of Lust: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I waited until the house had been quiet for nearly an hour before I moved. Not just silent. Silent could be deceptive in the Barlow house. Silence might mean Martha was praying in the pantry, Caleb was sneaking water from the kitchen, or Father was sitting in the dark because he claimed a man heard truth better when the world stopped distracting him. I needed everyone asleep. The old clock downstairs chimed one, its muffled notes crawling through the walls. Beside me, Lydia breathed evenly beneath the quilt we shared, one hand curled against her cheek. I watched her for several seconds, afraid she’d open her eyes and ask where I was going. I didn’t have an answer that wouldn’t make her cry. Carefully, I slipped from the mattress and eased my bare feet onto the cold floor. My dress hung from the bedpost, but I left it there. Either Father or one of the wives might notice if it vanis

Las Vegas didn’t look real. It rose out of the desert in glass, light, and noise, too bright even under the afternoon sun. Billboards towered over the highway, promising money, women, music, magic, and things I couldn’t fully understand from the pictures alone. By the time the bus pulled into the terminal, my back ached, my mouth was dry, and my stomach had been empty for hours. I waited until most of the other passengers stood before I reached for my bag. My legs trembled when I stepped into the aisle, stiff from sitting and weak from hunger. The station was louder than the one I’d left behind. People talked over each other, phones rang, machines beeped, and a baby cried somewhere near the ticket counters. Outside, car horns and engines blended into a constant roar. No one noticed me. That should’ve been comforting. Instead, it made me feel

I woke before the alarm. For several seconds, I didn’t know where I was. The mattress beneath me was too soft. The room was too quiet. No one moved in the hallway outside, no child cried from another bedroom, and no footsteps crossed the floorboards above me. Then I remembered. Obsidian House. Staff housing. Las Vegas. I sat up slowly and looked around the small room I’d been given. It wasn’t luxurious, but to me, it felt impossible. A bed of my own. A dresser. A desk. A bathroom with a lock on the door. A lock I controlled. That mattered more than anything else. Folded clothes waited on the chair beside the bed. Two black skirts. Three white blouses. A pair of trousers. Shoes that fit better than the ones I’d arrived in. In the bathroom, someone had left soap, shampoo, a too

I left Mr. Valerian’s office with the transfer papers clutched so tightly the edges bent beneath my fingers. Some human. And some who weren’t. The words followed me into the corridor. They stayed with me as the office doors closed behind my back, sealing him inside with the dark furniture, the impossible view, and the calm certainty in his voice. Not human. I stopped beside the wall. For one stupid second, I expected everything around me to change. The carpet should’ve split open. Fire should’ve poured through the ceiling. Something with claws and burning eyes should’ve stepped from the shadows to prove I’d been a fool for ever believing this place was safe. Nothing happened. An employee pushed a cart past me. Two women in evening dresses laughed near the elevator. A man wearing a black jacket che

Ms. Voss handed me the assignment folder without warning. “Suite twenty-seven,” she said. “Arrival at nine. Departure tomorrow afternoon. You’ll coordinate the stay.” I stared at her. “By myself?” “Under supervision.” That wasn’t the same thing. Until now, I had observed, corrected schedules, and delivered documents prepared by others. This folder had my name listed beside PRIMARY COORDINATOR. A small thrill moved through me. Someone trusted me. Not because I belonged to the right family or obeyed without question. Because I had earned it. I carried the folder to my desk and opened it. The client was a demon named Cassian Merrow. His profile included transportation from a private airfield, restricted elevator access, additional security near the eastern suites, and a dietar