A Forest of Stars (Court of Starlight and Darkness #1)(2)

Damn it.

Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

I stepped back and looked up at the brick wall. The only windows were located up fairly high. Worse, they were small.

I looked down at my hips. They were easily the widest part of me—and they were pretty damned wide—but I could probably squeeze through.

“Seriously?” I thumped my head back against the wall. Was I really considering sneaking into a biker bar through windows that probably led into dirty bathrooms?

Yes.

Come hell or high water, I was going to get my ass inside that bar. Then I could go home and reward myself with some Chunky Monkey and Meg Ryan. Maybe a marathon. As I stepped forward, my boot landed in something squishy.

Okay, I definitely deserved a marathon.

I sucked in a breath and strode toward the wall. It took a bit of maneuvering with some trashcans, but soon I was climbing inside one of the windows that had been cracked open.

“Please be the ladies' room,” I muttered as I tried to wiggle myself in without tearing up my clothes.

About halfway through, I got stuck.

“Shit.” I wiggled frantically, trying to make some forward progress. “If I make it through here, I will give up my Chunky Monkey for a month.”

With a last grunt and desperate shove, I popped through the window and landed hard on the floor.

“Oof.” The air was forced out of me, and I rolled over onto my back, trying to catch my breath.

I was so not cut out for these shenanigans. If I hadn’t spent my entire life alone in foster care longing to find and know my parents, I’d have given up and gone home.

But nope.

I wasn’t going to give up on this.

The desire to know them ate at me like a shark gnawing on my midsection. It was a fierce, primal thing. Impossible to ignore. I couldn’t really know myself until I knew who they were, and I could no longer live in this half world.

I sighed and stared at the ceiling.

Was I seriously giving myself a pep talk while lying on the bathroom floor of a biker bar?

I needed to get my shit together.

With a grunt, I heaved myself to my feet and looked around.

“Whoa.” The word escaped on a breath.

This was not a biker bar. Whatever the exterior of this joint suggested was a big fat lie, because this bathroom was fancier than the nicest place I’d ever been in. Fair, I didn’t get out much, but still…

The floor where I'd landed was covered in a plush carpet. I’d been so stunned that I hadn’t noticed. A squishy velvet couch with gold legs sat against the wall. In front of it, the carpeted area gave way to a door that led into the bathroom itself. The floor in that room was a gleaming dark wood, the white porcelain fixtures bright and spotless.

I blinked at them, trying to get my bearings.

Maybe bikers were just really into nice bathrooms and the rest of the place would be normal?

There was only one way to find out.

As scared as I’d been to enter this place, I was suddenly desperately curious. My heeled boots sank into the plush carpet as I moved toward the shiny wooden door. It opened smoothly under my hands, revealing a softly lit hallway papered in green silk. Golden sconces flickered at even intervals on the walls, and the scent of green grass and fresh water filled the air. If I’d closed my eyes and sucked in a breath, I’d have thought I was in a meadow.

“What the hell is this place?” I muttered as I made my way down the hall toward soft music.

The closer I got to the end of the hall, the louder the music sounded. What I’d thought was fancy classical music was actually some kind of cool techno with a twist.

As I stepped into the main part of the bar, I gasped.

Yep—definitely not a biker bar.

First of all, it was so nice inside that it made the bathroom look like the slums. Hundreds of tiny golden lights floated near the ceiling, a crazy effect that made it look like stars were hanging overhead. The walls, floor, and bar were all made of a beautiful golden wood that gleamed beneath the lights. Gorgeous plants bordered the dance floor and grew up some of the walls, something that should have been impossible in a place without windows. But hell, anything was possible when you had money. And this place had loads of it.

But the most striking thing was that everyone inside the bar was freaking gorgeous. They were all crazy good-looking, right down to the bartenders and waitstaff. They were also dressed like royalty.

I looked down at my clothes, dread expanding inside of me.

My costume suddenly looked even more ridiculous than it had outside. When I looked up, a man was staring at me with disdain, his eyes traveling up and down my outfit.

Mortification bloomed through me, and I felt my cheeks heat. In that moment, I’d have given just about anything to sink into the floor and disappear.

So much for the confidence.

And yet, disappearing wasn’t even remotely an option. For one, I didn’t have the skills. And for another, this was my only shot. It’d been so difficult to get in here, and my contact said that Frank would be here tonight. Not tomorrow and not next week—tonight.

I wasn’t going to miss this chance.

And what was this guy’s problem, anyway? Just because I was dressed like a weirdo didn’t mean he had the right to look at me like that.

The pep talk bolstered me, and I looked back up at him, ready to give him my best hairy eyeball. My glare faded as I took in his face, however.