Then I heard the sound at the door. A low keening that set my hairs on end. It was the same sound I’d heard in the forest, watching the lamiae mourn their dead. I walked to the door, stepping over the body of the man at its base. When I reached for the knob, my fingers passed right through, and I stepped into the hall to see two girls—two lamiae—one crouched outside the door, the other standing with her hands against it, leaning forward, her cheek on the wood.

“We could not find you, sisters,” she whispered, first in Greek, the words translating in my mind. “We searched and we searched, and you were lost, and now you are lost forever, and we cannot even get inside to put your bodies at rest.”

She scratched her hand down the wood, splinters digging in, trails of blood left behind. Then a distant board creaked. A thump followed and a man called, “Hello?” The girls went still, one choking back a hiss, and when they turned, the grief drained from their eyes, leaving those blank expressions I’d seen on the others.

A man appeared, carrying an old-fashioned flashlight. He saw the girls and stopped.

“Oh,” he said. “You’re out.”

Even seeing the two sets of lamiae for only a few moments, I could tell these weren’t the same girls. Considering that he seemed to be one of the johns, I’d sure as hell hope he’d have taken a closer look at the bound and captive girls he was screwing, but I guess that’s naive of me.

“Yes.” The girl on the floor rose, pulling the word into a sibilant hiss. “He lets us out now. We have learned to appreciate what we have. We were just coming back for the night.”

“Oh, well, that’s good. So the trouble’s over, then.” His head bobbed as he put on a false-hearty smile and strode toward them. “Good to hear, good to hear. Even better to hear that you’re back for the night.” He winked.

The girl smiled. “We are glad to be back. Now that the trouble is over. You heard it, did you not?”

“I … came a couple of weeks ago and there was something going on down here.”

“Crying. You heard us crying for help.”

The man shifted, glancing over his shoulder. “I … I don’t know what I heard. It’s none of my business. You’re out now. He’s letting you walk around, so whatever it is, it was settled. No harm done.”

“No harm done,” the girl repeated, slowly, as if tasting the words, and if I’d been the guy, as soon as I heard that tone, I’d have run.

But he only forced an awkward chuckle and said, “Right. Now, is your, uh, boss here?”

“No, he is not.” The girl walked over. “He will be, soon. You can wait if you like. But if you do not wish to wait …” She laid her hand on his hip. “We will take your money. What you pay him for one, you can pay us for two.”

The other girl sidled over, struggling a little more to smile. She walked up on his other side and buried her face—and her expression—against him as both their hands slid to his crotch.

“Both?” he said, breathing hard already.

“Is that a problem?” the girl said.

“N-no, of course not.”

“You do not have to do it two times. We will both please you.” She unbuttoned his trousers and the other girl reached inside. Then she did the same. “We will both enjoy you. Then you can enjoy both of us. First one and then the other, for as long as you can hold out …” She lifted on tiptoes to whisper. “We know ways to help you hold out.”

“H-how long will he be gone?”

“About an hour. Is that enough?”

“Y-yes. Please. Yes.”

“The room is locked, though. We need to wait for him to open it. If you want to wait for a bed.”

“N-no. No. This—this is fine.”

“Right here?”

“Anywhere,” he moaned. “Anywhere.”

She slid her hand from his trousers and pulled them open, then lowered herself to her knees. He tried to look down, but the other girl reached up to kiss him and put his hand under her blouse. Her companion worked on him for a few moments. Then she pulled back, and when she did, I saw her teeth. Sharp white teeth. The other girl stopped kissing his lips and moved down to his neck. Her companion lowered her head to his crotch again, hesitating one split second and then diving in, fangs out.

The man let out a terrible scream, and tried to fling the other girl back, but she dug her own fangs into his neck, ripping out chunks of flesh, tossing them aside, blood spurting and gushing, the man screaming.

“You scream,” the one girl said, lifting her bloodied mouth. “Just like they did. You heard them, and you did nothing. Now I hope they hear you. I hope they hear you and they smile.”

The scene faded and the young man turned to me. “The sidhe are not always kind or good. That is not their way. No more than it is ours sometimes. Hurt them and they hurt you. Help them and they help you back.”

“And these ones?” I nodded at the skeletons. “Is there any way to help them now?”

“Put them at rest. In the forest. Their kin will appreciate it.”

“And you?”

A wry smile. “I would rather be buried in consecrated ground, but it does not seem to have done me any harm. Look to the little sidhe. They did not deserve this.”

“Neither did you,” I said, but he’d already disappeared.

I staggered back and fell right through the door, into the next room. The girls in the beds were skeletons again, like the two men on the floor.