Carson, on the other hand, was born to be a teacher, and I’m still struggling to understand why she didn’t apply to student teach when I did. Whenever I’ve asked, she just shrugs and says something about her “working better one-on-one.” She’s a great tutor and everything, so it’s not like she’s wrong. I’ve just learned not to broach the subject with her anymore.

“So, where are we going, anyway?” I ask, trying to sound a little less pissy. These are my best friends, and I know I wouldn’t be able to deal with half the shit life has thrown at me—my dad’s poor health, my stress-filled studies, and my completely out-of-left-field breakup—had they not been by my side.

“To a new club,” Carson says offhandedly. She glances up into the rearview mirror before flicking on her blinker. “I think it’s called Cave.”

“Cave?” I frown. “I’ve never heard of it. Is it on the waterfront?”

Rainey giggles. I narrow my eyes at her.

“What?” She shakes her head. “Nothing—I’m sorry. I love you to pieces, Cyn, but sometimes you are just too clueless. It’s kind of adorable.”

“Wow. What an incredibly backhanded compliment. Thanks a lot.”

She frowns. “I didn’t mean for it to—”

“What Rainey is trying to say,” Carson interrupts, “is that Cave is not on the waterfront. It’s downtown. Way downtown. And it’s sort of a secret.”

I lift a brow at her.

“We’re going to a secret club?”

“Yep.”

“And it’s downtown? Oh, excuse me, I mean way downtown? As in no harbor, no well-lit areas, no perfectly safe bars and clubs that all the tourists hit?”

“Yep.”

“So, basically, the kind of place people ordinarily avoid going?”

“Yep.”

“Fantastic.” I start digging through my purse for my pepper spray, which, of course, is conveniently at home in my nightstand. “I wish you’d tell me shit like this before we actually do it.”

“Please,” Carson scoffs, “if I’d told you where we were going tonight, you would have Googled it. Then you would have freaked out and bailed. I know you.”

“Maybe that’s true,” I admit. “But I always Google the places we go—like that café in Little Italy. Had I not searched it first, you know we never would have heard about the health code violations.”

“And we probably would have eaten there anyway and been absolutely fine.”

I shrug. “Whatever. Wait—why would I have Googled it and bailed?”

Rainey leans forward again and pats my arm.

“We’re just thinking a little outside of the box tonight. This place we’re going is, like, ultra-exclusive. Only certain people get to go in, and we scored the invite.”

Carson winks at me. “It’s a little different than our usual Power Plant Live! experience. No ‘I-just-turned-twenty-one’ twits trying to mount the security guys, no tiki-bar bullshit. This place is a little . . . darker.”

I chew my lip. “Darker how?”

Carson turns the car onto Lombard Street. She doesn’t look at me this time when she speaks.

“Darker in the sense that there will be a different clientele than you’re used to.”

I throw up my hands.

“The two of you are the furthest thing from vague on a normal day, so what’s up with the wordplay? Just spit it out. Are we going to some illegal poker ring or something? Oh—wait, God, are you taking me to a strip club again?”

They both have a good laugh at that one.

“Just trust us, okay?” Rainey says. “I know it’s hard but, believe me, you’re going to have an amazing night tonight. Just try to loosen up and relax, for once.”

“Right.”

I can’t relax on my best day, so I highly doubt I’ll manage to do it now. What with my dissertation due date looming and my job at the Franklin School, my plate is beyond full. Last night at dinner, Dad asked me if I was the one who needed assisted living instead of him.

“I hear Rocky’s roommate just busted outta here, princess. I’ll bet I can get you in for cheap!”

I know he was kidding, especially considering the fact that I didn’t want him stuck in assisted living in the first place.

Carson swings the car into a parking space at the end of a dark alley and, peering out the side window, I swallow hard. I’m used to well-lit garages at the harbor or taking taxis to Federal Hill. My comfort zone is screaming for me to stay in the car, buckle up, and hold tightly to the “oh shit” handle on the ceiling above the passenger door.

“We’re here,” she says brightly, as though we’ve just arrived at the park for a picnic. “Everyone got their phones?”

“Yup.” Rainey sounds equally as happy and starts bouncing a little bit in her seat.

“Okay—if we get separated or we need to bail, we have to text and respond. Got it?”

I stare at Carson. “Why would we get separated?”

She shrugs.

“It’s a big place. You never know.”

I glance doubtfully out the window at the backs of the row houses that line the street. I don’t know how in the world a club large enough to lose yourself in could be hiding in one of these narrow buildings.

“Alright, let’s go already!” Rainey says, tumbling from the backseat and out into the night. I take one last deep breath of safe, Jeep-bound, not-inside-a-strange-club-yet air, then open my door and climb out.

“You know,” Carson says to me, clicking the lock button on her key fob, then checking the door handle for good measure, “I’m really glad you decided to rock the boots tonight. You look killer.”

I glance down past my deep green V-neck sweater and skinny jeans to the almost-knee-high boots Rainey had lent me. I agreed to wear them only after she convinced me that I didn’t look like a prostitute because “prostitutes don’t wear sweaters from Ann Taylor.”

“Yeah, you look great. People won’t even recognize you,” Rainey says, nodding enthusiastically.

I run a hand over my hair, which is now beginning to recurl due to my shoddy flat ironing, and glare at them both. With a grumble, I start stomping toward the sidewalk.

“Uh, you’re going the wrong way.” I turn to see Carson’s arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her face. Rainey’s already skipping along the brick pathway between two buildings, dodging trash bags and recycle bins. Sighing, I pivot on one heel and walk back. When I reach her side, Carson pats my back.

“We’re just trying to build you up, you know? You should feel good about yourself. You just don’t seem to do all that great a job of making yourself feel that way on your own.”

I bite my lip, then lean my shoulder against hers.

“I know. Thank you. I really will try to just let go and have a good time tonight.”

“That’s my girl!” She grabs my hand and squeezes it hard before half dragging me after Rainey. This time, I’m smiling in anticipation. I may not know what I’m in for, but, for once, I’m actually excited about the unknown.

Chapter Two

Great Expectations

That feeling lasts for all of three minutes.

“Are you serious?” I hiss in Carson’s ear.

We’re standing in line in a dark corridor, which had originated at the entrance of a fairly innocuous-looking row house. As we descended, though, this tunnel-like hallway has become about as terrifying as anywhere I’ve ever been. The walls around us don’t even look like walls—they’re rocky and almost shiny in their dampness. The floor is dirt and there are lamps hanging from above us that are made of animal skulls. At least, I’m assuming they’re animal skulls because they don’t look human, which is about the only consolation I can find as I glance around. The air is thick and humid, but chilly, like we’re stuck in a cave. Because we are, I suppose.