“So you’re telling me the best way, the only way, to get into this party is for me to pretend to be a hooker, catch Tobias Dawson’s eye, get him alone, and do him before he does me. So to speak.”

Finn winced. “More or less. Sorry, Gin. I know it’s not ideal, gambling on whether or not you can attract Dawson. But I think this is our best shot at him.”

I helped myself to some more blackberry cobbler and thought about things. As an assassin, as the Spider, I’d played a variety of roles over the years. Waitresses, hotel maids, musicians, even a cop a time or two. Dressed up in wigs, makeup, skimpy clothes, and more, all in the name of doing the job. So I wasn’t worried whether or not I could pull off being a hooker. What concerned me was the fact I was supposed to do that, lullaby Tobias Dawson, and get away afterward—all on Mab Monroe’s home court. Still, Finn was right. This was probably my best, quickest shot at Dawson, and the dwarf needed to die—right now.

“All right,” I said. “So I’ll go in as a hooker.”

Finn nodded. “That’s actually where it gets a little easier.”

“Why?”

He grinned. “Because I happen to be very good friends with the person supplying the evening’s entertainment—Roslyn Phillips.”

First, Donovan had mentioned her name last night, and now Finn this morning. I hadn’t thought about the vampire in weeks, but here she was, popping up all over the place, even if she didn’t realize it. Even if I didn’t like the fact of how closely we were tied together.

Not only did Roslyn Phillips run Northern Aggression, the most decadent nightclub in Ashland, the vampire used to be a hooker herself. She had worked the Southtown streets for years before she’d saved enough money to move up into management and open her own gin joint. All vampires needed blood to survive, of course, but lots of them also powered up through sex, which is why so many of them worked as prostitutes. Plus, vamps could live a very long time, and hooking, well, it was a skill that would never go out of style or demand. Vamps needed cash just like the rest of us.

Roslyn Phillips was the best of the best. She could do things to men and women I’d never even dreamed of—and she’d taught her staff most of her tricks. But more important than that, the vampire owed me for killing her abusive brother-in-law and for not telling Finn how her loose lips had inadvertently led to Fletcher’s death. So Roslyn was going to have to deal with me again, whether she liked it or not.