by Bella Klaus
The man finally moved his gaze away from mine to a point over my shoulder. My heart sank. I’d just shown him that I was too sheltered and scandalized to appreciate his joke.
“Gentlemen,” he said to the guards. “The Grecian beauty and the cat girl are with me.” Turning back to us, he flicked his head toward the palace’s double doors. “Shall we?”
Dami and I stepped apart to let him through. It was only as he passed us that I got a better impression of his height. He was much taller than Mother, broader, too, and seemed to radiate a thrum of magic that I felt deep within my core.
The mingled scents of mint and pine and musk filled my nostrils. It was wild, reminding me of the mischief in his eyes. He’d even added a touch of brimstone to make his costume authentic.
The guards moved aside and let him through, all of them bowing as the mage passed. Perhaps that’s what they did with people they knew weren’t gatecrashers.
Dami gave me a double thumbs-up and grinned. I smiled back at my best friend, but I couldn’t share her delight.
I’d seen every Cinderella movie available, and the handsome gentleman always offered the young lady his arm. I should have giggled at his joke and not gaped. With that shocked reaction, I’d just shown him that I was as prudish as I was sheltered. A handsome man would probably be looking for someone more appreciative of his bawdy humor.
Dami looped her arm through mine and marched me past the guards, making sure to blow them a raspberry. “So long, dickheads!”
I placed my fingers over my mouth to hide a smile. Mother would literally wash my mouth out with pond water for using a curse word. “You’re so naughty.”
“Some people only live once,” she said with a shrug. “Not me. I have ninety-nine lives.”
The light mage glanced at her over his shoulder and grinned.
My jaw clenched. Now he’d turned his interest to my friend because she’d laughed at his dirty joke. Maybe I didn’t want him if he was that fickle.
We walked behind him through a grand hallway nearly as tall as our entire mansion, with even more guards stationed along its wood-paneled walls. Twelve feet above us, gigantic suits of armor held twenty-foot-long lances ending in sharp points that could skewer a dragon.
After handing her duffle bag to one of the servants, Dami nudged me in the side. “What do you think?” she whispered. “Fancy, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t even muster the awe to appreciate my new surroundings.
Shaking off the sensation, I focused on the orchestra music filling the hallway. Sure, he was attractive, but I was sure there’d be hundreds of even more handsome men in the ball.
One of the dogs that made up his fiery cloak turned around and winked.
I leaned into Dami. “Why’s he walking ahead when he said we were together?”
“Who cares?” she whispered back. “At least we don’t have to get another Überwald to some nightclub where we’d have to pay admission.”
Warmth filled my chest. Dami was the most incredible friend to have used her coffee shop tips to pay for this night out. I squeezed her hand. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
She flashed me a broad grin. “Thanks for being my friend.”
By the time we reached the ballroom, all thoughts of the light mage had drifted into insignificance. Hundreds of people in fancy dress danced to a Viennese waltz, but only a few of them were wearing ballgowns. Comic book heroes mingled with characters out of TV shows and people dressed like my favorite fairy tales. I gasped at a female Mad Hatter, who kissed a man dressed as a white bunny.
After the shock of the people wore off, I took in the ballroom, which was illuminated by eight golden chandeliers, each holding a dozen candles. The dancefloor was larger than our mansion, with circular dining tables and chairs around the edges. From the way the serving staff were clearing away plates, it looked like the guests had finished a meal.
I inhaled a shuddering breath. This was the most magical sight of my entire existence.
The light mage stopped at the doorway, his head turned toward a woman standing atop a high podium. Her vibrant red hair looked like it was made of fire, just like her matching catsuit. She was small and slender, dwarfed by the man standing next to her dressed like Count Dracula.
“Come on.” Dami tugged my arm. “Looks like he’s too busy admiring the Fire Queen to get us a drink.”
I took another glance at the man standing next to her, who had to be the Vampire King, and my brows drew together into a frown. With his strong build and bronze skin, he was way too healthy to be the kind of vampire I’d read about in Matura’s Compendium of Magick.
“Right.” I stepped inside, my legs trembling.
It was really happening. Me, Kora Olympia, spending time at a social event.
“What do you think?” Dami shouted over the strains of the orchestra.
“Incredible.” I shook my head. In the six weeks I’d been looking forward to gatecrashing this ball, I hadn’t imagined that the gathering of so many magical people could generate such sensations. The air was thick with power, pressing down on me harder than Mother’s disapproving glare.
We walked around the dance floor’s perimeter toward a refreshment table, passing servants holding trays filled with champagne flutes. She grabbed two glasses and offered me one.
I took a sniff of the pale liquid, my nostrils twitching at the explosion of bubbles.
“Is that supposed to happen?” I asked with a giggle.
“It’s champagne, silly.” She placed the glass to her lips and downed the drink in one gulp.
I could only manage one sip before wincing as its sharp flavor shriveled my taste buds. “Too astringent.”
“Let’s find you something sweet.” Dami took my glass and downed that, too.
In the far corner of the dance floor was a table made of ice, manned by a quartet of servants in white. Hundreds of upside-down bottles floated over their heads. When someone asked for a drink, they would summon it with a flick of their wrist.
I ordered a glass of sparkling grape juice that tasted more like how I had always imagined champagne in the movies: fruity and sweet. Dami and I moved to the pillars surrounding the dancefloor, where we watched the dancers.
By now, some of the jitters I’d felt while walking in had calmed as I took long sips of my drink. I leaned into her and asked, “What happens next?”
“When the music stops, someone will ask us for a dance,” she said.
“Can you waltz?”
She shook her head. “I usually just stand on their feet and let them do all the work.”
A laugh bubbled up in my chest. “What?”
“It’s part of my feline charm,” she said with a broad grin. “Can you dance?”
I raised a shoulder. “My mother taught me the basics.”
As the music slowed, the light mage walked around the edge of the dance floor, his gaze tracking the Fire Queen and her husband. It looked like he was stalking them. From the way the guards hadn’t asked to see his invitation, I got the impression he was a regular in the palace.
“What do you know about the king and queen?” I asked.
“She’s a shifter, and is best friends with my mate.” Dami pointed at them with her half-full glass. “A war hero, too, because she defeated the Greek god who wanted to destroy the Supernatural World and rule Great Britain.”
“Really?” My brows rose. She wasn’t as tiny as Dami, but close enough. “What animal does she shift into?”
“A phoenix,” Dami replied. “There’s only one of her in existence.”
“At least that explains why he’s so keen to dance with her,” I muttered under my breath.
The music stopped, and everyone burst into a round of enthusiastic applause. It was stupid of me to be fixated on a man because I’d felt something weeks ago when our eyes had met, but each time I turned my gaze toward the other people in the ballroom, it kept drifting back to him.
Clenching my
teeth, I squeezed my eyes shut, but even that didn’t stop me from tracking his movement across the dance floor. Something was decidedly wrong with me.
“Let’s get some champagne,” I said.
“But I thought you didn’t like it,” Dami said.
“Maybe it’s time I gave it another try.” I grabbed two flutes from a passing waiter and downed the first, letting the cool liquid fizz down my throat. It wasn’t so bad the second time.
The orchestra played another tune—Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty—and a pair of identical men appeared in front of us, clad in white jackets and tight breeches. They lowered themselves into synchronized bows.
I bit down on my bottom lip. The navy blue collars with silver embroidery at the front made them look just like Prince Kit from my favorite Cinderella movie.
“My lady,” the one on the left said as he rose. “May I have the honor of this dance?”
Dami placed her hands on her hips. “Which is the evil one?”
“That would be me,” the one on the right replied with a deep growl.
“Only if you let me stand on your feet.” She took his hand and let him sweep her onto the dance floor.
I gazed into the crystal-blue eyes of the remaining twin, whose thick brows drew together with uncertainty. The corners of his full lips pulled up into a tiny smile. By default, he had to be the good twin.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” he said with a slight tremble. “My name is Lyca. My brother, who is dancing with your friend, is Parri.”
“Nice costume,” I murmured.
He rocked forward on his heels. “I wanted to wear the green jacket with the gold filigree from my favorite scene of the movie, but my brother said we’d look more striking in white.”
Warmth filled my chest. Anyone who watched Cinderella couldn’t be all that bad. I took his hand, and we walked onto the dance floor.
Waltzing with him was a hundred times better than dance lessons with Mother. For instance, he smiled each time I misstepped, and didn’t scold me.
Lyca leaned forward, his nostrils flaring. “What are you, a witch or a mage?”
“What’s the difference?” I already knew the answer but wanted to check his knowledge against what I’d learned in the Compendium of Magick.
“Mages control only one or two elements, but witches can draw upon any magic as long as they have enough power and their foci.” His eyes narrowed in a delayed reaction to my stupid question. “Don’t tell me you didn’t go to the academy?”
“My mother took care of my education at home.”
His smile broadened. “She certainly taught you to dance like an angel.”
I gave his poor attempt at flattery an absent nod. It wasn’t like I was clumsy, but I couldn’t match Mother’s standards of beauty and grace. It was one of the reasons why she never took me out to any of her functions. That, and the sickness that hung over me like a cloud of death.
Lyca made an attempt at small talk, but I couldn’t concentrate when my light mage danced nearby with the Fire Queen. I spied them out of the corner of my eye, their heads close in conversation. Whatever he said to her made her roll her eyes good-naturedly as though they’d been friends for years.
“Hey,” Lyca snapped.
“Pardon?” My gaze drifted to his darkening eyes.
His lips twisted with annoyance. “That’s three times I’ve told you to keep your eyes front, but you’re looking everywhere but me. I don’t appreciate not being the center of my lady’s attention.”
My nostrils flared. “I’m not your anything.”
“When you agreed to dance with me, you became mine for the night,” he snarled.
“What are you talking about?” I pulled out of his grip, but he held on to me with both hands.
His eyes glowed red. “Don’t you think of leaving me in the middle of a dance.”
My stomach dropped, and a palpitation of fear squeezed my chest. “How did you do that with your eyes? Are you a mage?”
“What makes you think I’m one of those weaklings?” He bared his teeth, which lengthened into sharp points.
All the moisture in my throat evaporated, and my legs stopped moving. Lyca dragged me across the dance floor in time to the music. He wasn’t a vampire. According to the Compendium, vampires had regular teeth, except for their incisors, which descended when they were ready to feed.
The creature holding me in his grip had an entire mouthful of fangs.
I flicked through the pages of the Compendium, dismissing all the other magical creatures in existence. Lyca hadn’t whispered an incantation, so he couldn’t be a wizard. He’d just told me he wasn’t a mage. Shifters could transform parts of their bodies, but what kind of animal had teeth like that apart from a crocodile?
My heart threw itself against my ribcage at a rate twice as fast as the orchestra’s tempo. Nothing about him was angelic, and I doubted he was a faerie. Which left only one other option…
“What are you?” I asked.
“A Captain-level demon of His Majesty’s Enforcers.”
Cold claws of terror raked down my spine. “From Hell?”
“How astute of you to guess,” he snarled. “Did your mother also teach you the fine art of deduction?”
My lips tightened. How dare this demon chastise me like he was my parent? “There’s no need to be sarcastic. You’re supposed to be the good twin.”
“Technically, I am.” He snapped his sharp teeth. “What my brother can do to an innocent young girl isn’t mentionable in polite society, but let’s just say it involves a lot of gore.”
Cold panic exploded in my chest, and I yanked my arm out of his grip. He grabbed it back, but I delivered a swift kick to his codpiece.
Lyca doubled over with a pained roar, and a pair of people dressed as mummies waltzed past, knocking him onto his knees.
It was too soon to feel triumph. Not when my best friend could be lying somewhere being eviscerated by that brute’s brother.
Demons had infiltrated the ball. Demons with sharp tempers and even sharper teeth. I dashed through the crowd of dancers, passing my light mage and the Fire Queen, and tried to find Dami, but she was gone.
Despair held my heart in its punishing grip. I glanced from side to side across the dance floor, my chest heaving with the beginnings of an attack of anxiety. We’d been apart for less than five minutes, and I had no idea where the evil twin had taken her.
Mother had been right about the outside world. It was full of wicked people and supernatural perils that could bring a woman to death or ruin. My pulse pounded between my ears loud enough to muffle the music.
I sprinted through the crowd of dancers toward the exit. Maybe one of the servants had seen where they went.
A large hand landed on my shoulder, and all the self-defense training Mother had forced me to take when I was little reared to the surface. I spun, lashing out with a balled fist, but the owner of the hand caught me around the wrist.
“Having problems?” asked the light mage.
“My friend,” I said between panting breaths. “She’s been taken by a demon.”
His brows drew together. “The little cat girl?”
I nodded.
“Ah,” he said. “She left with someone.”
“Where?”
“Upstairs, most likely.” He held out a hand. “Shall I escort you to her?”
I stepped back, my gaze darting toward the dance floor. Lyca stood at its edge, his cheeks livid with red blotches. He looked like he was about to explode out of his jacket and descend on me like the Incredible Hulk.
My throat spasmed. All thoughts of romance vanished. This ballroom could be full of demons and rogues, but I wouldn’t know which was which underneath all those disguises. What were my options? Stay here and incur the wrath of a demon or follow a man Mother had threatened with a knife?
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Just a man who can’t stand to leave a damsel in distress.”
The light mage placed a hand on his chest. “I swear to you on my magic that I will unite you with your friend.”
“Alright.” I reached for his hand.
Sparks flew as our fingers touched, and magic traveled up my fingers and struck my heart with a jolt.
The light mage snatched his hand away, stared at his palm, and then turned to me with his mouth agape.
My breaths turned shallow. Had that been an electric shock? I gave my head a mental shake. That had been the same sensation I’d felt six weeks ago when our eyes had met, only a hundred times more intense. There had to be a reason why I always knew where this man was, even when I wasn’t looking in his direction.
But nothing mattered when Dami was in the clutches of a murdering demon. I had to find my best friend before he tore her apart.
Chapter Four
The music stopped, and applause rang out across the dance floor. The light mage stepped closer and stared at me with an intensity that made my insides quiver.
“What did you just do to me?” he asked, sounding eerily calm.
I raised both hands and shook my head from side to side. “That wasn’t me. I don’t have any magic—”
“Have we met before?” he asked.
“No,” I blurted. It wasn’t exactly a lie when I had been hiding around the corner, catching glimpses of him being threatened by Mother and her sword. Our gazes had met. Had he forgotten about me, or was this a test?
His eyes narrowed. “Why do I suspect you’re not telling me the truth?”
“Help me.” I clutched at his bicep. “My friend’s being savaged by a demon with a mouthful of fangs.”
The man stared down at me for several moments, his gaze boring through mine like he was looking into my soul. I held my breath, wondering if I’d said something to offend him, and went back over my last few words. Time was running out.