The heat was the first thing.

Chapter Seven: Kitsura-kai

The attention kept growing. I started to notice it not just at work, but everywhere I went.

As I pulled the convertible into a parking space near Doctor Hartwell’s clinic, I began to wonder if I should have asked Lauren along after all. Somehow the overpass seemed taller, the shadows longer, and the alleyways between the buildings darker.

Gary had never been hotter in his life.
Hey, that’s Africa for you, he thought to himself. It’s not like anyone ever said it wouldn’t be anything other than sweat-your-fucking-balls-off hot. And boy is it! If anything, they might have been underselling it!

Chapter Six: Signal

Morning in Hinokuni didn't rush—it unfolded.

Chapter Eight — What They Choose

Outside, the night had gone clear and cold and enormous.

They came down the hall's wide steps into it together, and the dinner closed behind them like a door underwater, all that candlelight and scrutiny and held breath suddenly muffled and far away, and Gwen stood on the bottom step in the freezing air and let herself, for one unguarded second, simply breathe.

"The car's down past the trees," she said, automatically, reaching for her keys.

“Okay, Mountain pose,” Lauren said, taking a long, slow breath. “Stand tall, feet shoulder-width apart.”

MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada:
Daisy and Jessie look at the two teenage transgender girls they rescued from a human trafficker. When the band noticed the girls, they saw that they had been doped up and dressed inappropriately for their age. Daisy got pissed and got right into the trafficker's face and pulled the switchblade she always carries for personal protection.

Chapter Six — Together

The room was exactly as they'd left it, and entirely different.

Saturday arrived.

Samuel went to Natalie's house early in the afternoon, long before the St. Catherine's Graduation Gala would begin. He expected a few hours of preparation. He did not expect what he found.

Natalie led him to the terrace.

It looked as if an entire salon had been transported into her home.

Chapter Four — Consequences

"What are you hiding, Gwendolyn?"

For one suspended second Gwen reached for the reflex she'd spent her whole life perfecting — the bright, smooth, nothing-to-see deflection, the Aldous voice that turned questions away at the door. "Hiding? Grandmother, I don't know what you—"

Her grandmother lifted one finger, barely, and the lie died in Gwen's throat.

“… and that’s why I believe my proposal, which reframes your customer base as a community environment, will deliver on your objectives, and help engender trust and retention. My intention is not just to work for you, but to be your trusted and valued partner.” Lauren stepped back, taking a breath.

Chapter One — The Suitable Date

From behind the wheel of the idling car, Gwen Aldous watched Sam come down the dormitory steps in the rented tuxedo and felt something in her chest pull tight that she couldn't quite name.