Chapter 4Everyone at the jadehouse—with the single exception of Bian, who was too specialized to be spared—served two nights a week on call, as opposed to their nights available by appointment. Sometimes the jades on call lingered in the lobby, doing their best to look alluring and flirting with whoever came in until they were claimed; other nights, when they were particularly busy, Tomas sent them upstairs and filtered their assignations through himself, based on what the walk-in wanted and how much they were willing to pay.
Friedrich was fifteen minutes into his first on-call night since the town dance when he was claimed by a sturdy, rugged out-of-towner in his mid-forties, with tight orange curls and piercing blue eyes. Friedrich had warned Tomas that that might be the case; he’d run
