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Shannon hesitated briefly, then nodded. “Yes. I suppose I was.”
“Well I ain’t quite done listing my terms, Miss Duffy. There’s still one more thing.” The edge of his mouth lifted in a smirk that made Shannon’s blood pump a little faster.
“Let’s hear it,” she said.
“In a minute. I want to see what the next part of the show is about…”
The cabaret girls had bounced their way off stage to thunderous applause, and the portly man with the mustache and top hat had returned. He waited for the raucous crowd to get quiet before speaking.
“The Full Moon Dancing Girls! Weren’t they lovely? But that was only a small taste to whet your appetite. Ladies and gentlemen, let us move on now to the main course for the evening… the Fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf!”
“What the hell?” someone in the crowd shouted. “I ain’t paying to hear no kids’ fairytales!”
A few other audience members shouted in agreement, and the man on stage held up his gloved hands in a placating gesture.
“Patience, my good sirs,patience!Our version of this age old tale is a little different from the one your mothers told you. I guarantee you shall find it most entertaining…” He arched his eyebrow again. “And most instructive!”
The man scurried off the stage, and a painted backdrop slid into place, a stylized depiction of a dark forest. The organ music became low and ominous.
Then Red Riding Hood stepped onto the stage.
The woman was buxom and curvaceous in her scarlet corset and matching stockings. A red hood was draped over her dark hair, and a wicker basket hung from the crook of her arm. She strutted across the stage, and the crowd broke into whoops and whistles.
Not Tanner McBain, though. He remained silent.
Suddenly, a dark figure leaped out from the other side of the stage, and the not-so-little Red Riding Hood gasped. It was a tall and heavily muscled man dressed in a primitive fur loincloth and a wolf’s skin draped over his head and shoulders.
Shannon noticed a flicker of gold on the man’s chest, and she felt a tingle at the nape of her neck.
The man was an alpha.
The gold was his sign.
“Well, well, well,” the alpha in wolfskins growled. He circled Red Riding Hood, making a big show of running his eyes up and down her body. “Now what is a sweet little thing like you doing in these woods all by yourself?”
“I’m going to Granny’s house,” Red Riding Hood answered in a flirtatious voice, lifting the basket. “I’m taking her peach cobbler and milk.”
The alpha in wolfskins ran his eyes down the woman’s body, pausing dramatically at her breasts, and again between her legs. He grinned wickedly.
“Well I do declare, little lady, I’d surely like to have a taste of your peaches and cream!”
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
“I’m sorry,” Red Riding Hood answered coyly, “but I only brought enough for Granny.”
“Alright then. Just be careful, little lady. There are many dangerous beasts in these woods…”
Red Riding Hood sashayed off the stage, and the curtain closed on the wolfman, who was still grinning as he watched her go.
“This is ridiculous,” Shannon whispered. “Mr. McBain, please tell me what your third—”
McBain cut her off with a low, threatening growl. “Hush woman. I have a feeling this story’s just getting interesting.”
Shannon’s face flushed with anger. She had half a mind to bid the man good night and look for help somewhere else. But where would she go? Practically everyone at Rosie’s was in the theater now, and if she went looking for help at one of the other saloons in Lamentation, there’d be no way for her to know who she could trust.
She sighed and turned her attention back to the stage.
The curtain pulled back to reveal a new scene. The backdrop was painted like the interior of a country cottage, and the stage was furnished with a rustic wooden table and a huge brass bed. The figure hiding under the covers looked way too big to be Granny.
