“You want me to lather up with cooking oil? Won’t the hair band slide around? I don’t want to be that woman pulling at her undergarments all night.”

“The Crisco sinks into your skin after a bit. Makes it really smooth, so added bonus in case things progress beyond your claim that you’re doing this to find the ring and Luke’s claim that he’s doing it to make the LeDoux mad.”

“Things will not progress. I’m not in a place to progress. This is a non-progressing sort of deal.”

Halcyon shrugged. “Suit yourself, but you realize that if you don’t find the ring, you’ve only got so many days left to get in some really awesome sex. And I’d really like for you to have some before you die.”

“How do you know…you know what, never mind.”

“How do I know when it’s really awesome? Or how do I know you haven’t had any? I think the second question is self-explanatory given that I know Harold is your one and only and, well, Harold. As to the first, when your entire body tingles, then catches fire—but in a good way, not a hot flash way—then it explodes in wave after wave of ecstasy that feels so incredible that you don’t even care if it was your last moment on earth. Your mind is empty of everything but pleasure. You’re too weak to move. All you can do is breathe and with every breath, your body tingles all over again.”

Marina sighed. She’d definitely never had an experience like Halcyon described. With some coaching, she’d taught Harold how to get her to the finish line, so to speak. But she’d never flamed from pleasure and her mind had never gone blank. It had usually made a mental note to change the bedsheets.

Had her entire life been about settling?

Halcyon squeezed her arm. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad.”

“You didn’t do anything. It’s just that lately I view my life different from how I did before. And I don’t like a lot of what I see.”

“You still have time to change all that.”

“Do I?”

“Absolutely. You’re going to find that ring and save the world and collect all that money. Then you and I are going to spend at least a year traveling to exotic places with even more exotic men.”

Marina nodded, but she knew that what Halcyon wanted was a dream. A great big glorious dream, but such a long shot. And even if she found the ring, there were so many other things going on in Alexios’s world that she worried it might be too late. But she couldn’t think about any of that now. With so many things overwhelming her mind, it was better if she just concentrated on one at a time. She needed to attend the party and figure out a way to wander around and see if she could sense the ring. Assuming wandering was possible wearing a hair band around her waist.