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I looked at the clock Six eleven am Definitely too early to call Apollo I debated it anyway and decided that I’d have a better chance of catching hiave him a few more hours of sleep I could use more myself

But those hours of sleep turned out to be more elusive than an invitation to The Parlor’s inner sanctuave it up and rose My oversized Arctic Monkeys T-shirt was crinkled beyond belief, but there was no one to see or care, since Nick’s andup at the moment, so I just pulled my wild mane of hair back into a scrunchie and booted up ood, but there was so to be said for public records searches The owner of the club would be a matter of public record, and if the place had ever been featured in any kind of press piece, any partners or major players would likely be mentioned, maybe even pictured A few keystrokes and all would be revealed

And sure enough, there she was, in an old issue of LA Days, a free daily that was more advertisement than actual news THE PARLOR IS A GAMBLE, the headline read It went on to talk about how the club had been investigated as the common denominator in the disappearance of a couple of out-of-state businessmen ere seen to enter but never to leave

"Which is just defamatory," says club owner Ariana Weaver "Of course they left The police have been through The Parlor from top to bottom If the men had stayed behind, sooes when it’s picked up, but I trust that it’s not still hiding out in my mailbox"

My heart started to beat faster, as if h to figure out for itself--that this was ilass-block bar, just as I’d seen her today, in the wraparound aviator shades, but this time in a black satin jacket with a hood lined in red pulled up around her face,to hide Probably that was the iiven the headline and the direction of the story But the really telling thing was that she didn’t look a day older last night than she’d looked in the picture, and the article was dated fifteen years ago I wondered what she was hiding behind those aviator shades besides maybe crow’s-feet

I looked around for other news of the case and found a reference here and there to thebusinessmen, but as far as I could tell they’d never been found For anything h oldto be necessary My Spidey senses toldbusinessmen Just like Gareth? I wouldn’t think that way He would be found I was on it

I made a decision and picked up the phone to call Apollo It rang four tined rumbled into the phone, "No Whatever it is, no Unless you want et over here and tell ood at taking "no" for an answer Well, he’d issued the invitation I did want his body, just not quite in the way nature--or Apollo--intended

--

I’d been to Apollo’s horave and I’d woken fro, buff, nearly naked sun god sharing his body heat and quite willing to share a whole lot more In his defense, I had been one step away from hypothermia and he had stopped when I’dreluctantlycalled a halt to things I didn’t really want to te in unannounced, but he’d left s from Duffy’s--pastries, croissants, chocolate croissants, those little bite-sized cherry and apple pies, and both coffee and espresso, since I wasn’t sure which he preferred I’d loadeddoith every kind of creamer and sweetener known to man and hoped for the best

The doorman, it turned out, not only remembered me, but succumbed to a bribe of coffee and crea hih he did consult a list first, probably of crazy stalker chicks to keep out and crazy hot stalker chicks ere allowed to disturb Apollo’s rest I was glad I fell into the latter category, even if I didn’t agree with the final analysis

I shut the door to the penthouse apartment behind me with a bump of the hip, since my hands were full, and heard Apollo cry out, but I couldn’t tell if it was at the intrusion or soh I followed the sound and h seled in his sheets, his bedcoverings spilling all over the floor, as if he’d had a rough night His deeply tanned chest rose and fell more rapidly than nor whatever battle his bed linens had lost I setand coffee tray down on his entertainment center across from the bed and approached cautiously, well aware froood thrash could ht

I called to hi to wake hiht I h, but then he followed it up with "Don’t!"

As I reached the bed, he lashed out suddenly, grabbing blindly aton top of me to pin me beneath him I looked up, half afraid, into his blind eyes and called, "Apollo, it’s rabbed for one of the hands that held me pinned and pinched him hard to snap him out of it

It took another pinch before the veil of sleep cleared his eyes and he looked down into ht he was actually seeing me

"Tori?" he asked "Whatwhat are youTori, you’re in danger"

"So I gathered, but that was only in your drearip just tightened as he tried to make me understand

"Lucid drea intensely into mine "God of prophecy, remember? Diddid you call earlier?"

"I did"