Winston sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I can’t say it wasn’t my own fault. I could see the way you felt about him, and I ignored it, because you were like me and I felt like I could finally let my guard down. I’m partly to blame too.”
I stuck my hand out to him. “Friends?”
He slid his hand into mine, his lips quirked. “Friends,” he echoed.
A weight lifted off my shoulders. That had been easier than I thought, but Winston was a really good guy so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.
“I better get back,” I told him. “I snuck away from Theo,” I admitted with a shrug.
He chuckled. “Yeah, we don’t want him tearing the place apart.”
I smiled one last time at him and slipped out the door.
“What are you doing sneaking around?”
I jumped at the sound of the voice. Turning around, I placed a shaking hand to my heart.
“Finn,” I breathed.
He slunk away from the wall across from me, his hands shoved into his pockets.
“Where’s your protector?” he slurred the word and a shiver ran up my spine.
“Around,” I answered, my heart racing. I’d never feared this man before, actually liked him and laughed with Adelaide over her crush on him, but something felt off.
“Hmm.” He nodded, lips pursed in thought. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He disappeared down the hall, presumably to his room.
I shook my head and my made my way back to my room.
I was almost there when the door burst open. “Where were you?” Theo glowered, tugging his black t-shirt on.
“I had to talk to Winston,” I explained. “But—”
“Talk to Winston?” he bellowed. “Are you crazy? You can’t just go off willy-nilly without me. I’m supposed to—”
I snorted. I couldn’t believe he used the words willy-nilly in an actual sentence. But I didn’t have time to dwell on that.
“We need to talk about something.” I shut him up and shoved him back into my room.
“Stop man-handling me. I’m mad at you.” He skirted away from me.
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Stop being a drama king. It’s not flattering.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow. “I think I should spank you and put you in timeout.”
“Theo,” I groaned. “I have to tell you something. Be serious for five minutes.”
He sighed and sat on my bed. Nigel climbed into his lap and began to purr. “Proceed then.” He waved his hand dramatically signaling the floor was mine.
“I ran into Finn when I left Winston’s room … I guess I shouldn’t even say ran into. It’s more like he was waiting either for something or me. It was strange. His whole demeanor was.”
Theo’s brows furrowed. “I’ve known Finn a while—he grew up here like me, and I’ve never gotten any funny vibes off him.”
I shrugged. “I’m probably being paranoid.”
He shook his head. “Better to be paranoid than unprepared. I’ll pay more attention to him tonight.”
I hoped I was wrong about the feeling I got from Finn, but I couldn’t shake it no matter what I did.
I adjusted the telescope and squinted through the lens.
Each of us had been assigned a different constellation to find and draw on paper. Mine was Pegasus.
“Having any trouble?” Finn asked Adelaide. I glanced over and saw him put his hand on her waist giving her a flirtatious smile.
Gag.
“Watch your hand,” Theo growled. “I wouldn’t want someone to chop it off accidentally.”
Finn let his hand drop and turned to Theo who hovered behind me. “Accidentally?” He fought a smile.
“Of course,” Theo replied with a less-than-friendly smile.
“Mhmm,” he hummed, and grasped his hands behind his back before moving on.
When he was gone Adelaide whipped around and glared at her brother. “Can you be nice? It wasn’t like he was feeling up my boob.”
Theo narrowed his eyes on his sister. “He’s too old for you.”
Her jaw dropped. “Too old for me? You’re his age and you can’t help but make googly-eyes at Mara all day long.”
Theo clenched his teeth and pointed a menacing finger at her. “Watch it.”
“You’re not my dad,” she seethed.
He winced. “Ade—”
“Just stop,” she warned him, her eyes deadly. “I’m not a kid anymore, Theodore. I don’t need you looking out for me all the time. Give me some space.”
With that, she turned promptly on her heel and went to another telescope far away from us.
Theo sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. His eyes met mine and he frowned.
“It’s hard, you know.”
“What is?”
“Letting go.” He glanced sadly at his sister. “We were so young when our parents were killed. I grew up fast so she didn’t have to and I’ve always taken care of her. It’s hard realizing she’s her own person now.”
“She loves you, though.”
“I know,” he breathed, shaking his head. “And I love her. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost her too.”
I glanced over at Adelaide. Imagining a world without her in it was impossible.
“You didn’t, though,” I reminded him
His eyes met mine, the gray color swirling with an infinite sadness I was only beginning to understand myself. When life deals you bad card after bad card it lingers in the eyes. You can always tell when someone’s tortured by dark memories.
“Yet,” he added ominously.
Chapter 26
HOLD STILL AND LET ME finish,” Adelaide griped, wrapping my hair around a curling wand.
“You’re pulling my hair,” I whined.
“Stop complaining,” she hushed.
I frowned at my reflection. I’d been sitting here for two hours while she did my makeup and now my hair.
“I’m almost done,” she said a minute later.
Thank God.
I don’t know how I ended up being everyone’s plaything when it came to hair and makeup. She let a curl drop and then drowned me in hairspray, moving around my head making sure everything was curled.
With a smile and her hands on her hips, she declared, “Done.”
I had to admit, she’d done a pretty amazing job.
“Thanks.” I smiled up at her.
“Now it’s dress time,” she sing-songed and danced from my room.
Sometimes I wished I could be half as happy as she was. I used to be, but since Theo showed up and I was thrust face first into the dangers of this world I didn’t find I had much to be happy or excited about.
Even tonight with the dance; I should be excited and letting my guard down but instead, I was a nervous wreck and on alert.
I kept thinking about the poor innocent enchanters who’d been slaughtered in the New York safe house. We’d never gotten more information than that. I’m sure it was bad—what was done to them—and Victor was trying to protect us by not telling the details, but I would’ve rather known what I was up against.
Adelaide grabbed our dresses out of my closet and got each of them out of their garment bags. She handed mine to me and I fingered the detailing on the top. It was beautiful. Adelaide couldn’t have picked a better dress for me.
There was a knock on the door. “Are you two done yet? You’ve been in there for like five hours,” Theo griped through the door.
Considering Adelaide had done her hair and makeup before mine his prediction of five hours probably wasn’t too far off.
“Almost,” Adelaide called. “You did get ready, right?”
“Yes, I’m ready,” he growled.
“Like you’re wearing a tux and mask and everything?” she pestered, and we could hear him sigh loudly.
“Yes.”
“Good. I didn’t want to have to dress you. That would’ve bee
n seriously awkward.”
I laughed and shook my head at her.
I took off my robe, only in my panties and a strapless bra, and began the job of putting my dress on. It wasn’t too difficult, but I did have Adelaide zip me up in the back.
Once I was dressed she started to put hers on. It slid onto her body like a silky second skin. It clung to her curves and with her fair skin and jet-black hair she was a knockout. Her hair was curled, but while mine was more like beachy waves, hers was straight out of old Hollywood. Her eyes were done in a smoky gray color and her lips were a bold red.
“All the guys are going to drop at your feet,” I told her.
She snickered. “That’s the plan.”
She appraised her reflection in the floor-length mirror on the back of the closet door. She smoothed her hands down the front of her dress and winked at her reflection.
“You’re right. I’m hot,” she cackled.
I picked up my silver strappy heels from the floor and sat down on my bed to put them on. I wasn’t the best at walking in heels so this would be super interesting. Once the heels were on I stood and made sure my dress was in place.
Adelaide finished putting on her shoes—a pair of black stilettos I would’ve most certainly died in—and looked in the mirror again.
“These shoes make my butt look amazing. Are you leaving that on?” She turned to me and pointed at the necklace I wore. It was the one Theo had given me for my birthday. The little jar with moss and the lone firefly.
“I never take it off,” I whispered, clutching it like I was afraid she might rip it off.
She shrugged. “Okay, but it doesn’t really go.”
I picked up our masks and handed her the peacock one. She fixed it on, adjusting it so it was right. “We’re going to slay the day.”
“Whatever you say.” I slipped on mine. It was far simpler than hers, almost dainty, and outlined my eyes and the top half of my face in intricate swirls.
My nerves skyrocketed tenfold once the mask was on. I’d gone to prom, sure, but this was a whole different ball game—no pun intended. I still didn’t feel as if I belonged in this world. I felt like an outsider looking in.
“What’s wrong?” Adelaide probed, noticing my sudden melancholy.
“Just nervous, I guess.” I turned to her and she fixed my hair where the tie of my mask had messed it up.
“You look beautiful.” She grabbed my shoulders and looked into my eyes like a mother scolding a small child. “You are amazing. And you have nothing to be nervous about. Besides, if anybody looks at you funny you know my brother’s going to take care of it.” She cracked a smile. “Seriously, you have nothing to worry about.”
I nodded and hugged her.
“What was that for?” she asked when I let her go.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I needed a hug. You feel more like a sister to me than a friend.”
“Oh, man.” Her eyes shimmered and she wrapped me in a hug this time, squeezing me to death. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to us,” she whispered in my ear. “Never doubt that. More importantly, you’re the best thing that happened to him.”
She let me go and before I could ask her what she meant she swung the door open.
“Theodore, we’re ready for our escort.”
“Actually, love, I thought I could escort you.”
I peered around Adelaide to see Winston offering her his elbow.
Adelaide’s cheeks turned a light pink. “Oh … um … okay.” She looped her arm through his and they headed for the stairs.
I raised a brow at Theo and closed the door behind me. “How’d that happen?”
“Churchill asked me if he could take her to the ball as friends. I made him swear that was all and, since I figured he might manage to babysit her so she doesn’t jump Finn in the middle of the dance floor, I said it was okay.”
I snorted at the image my mind conjured of Adelaide jumping on Finn like a lion on a gazelle. The guy wouldn’t stand a chance.
It was then I noticed Theo. My heart stopped for a solid five seconds before it started beating again with a vengeance.
He was dressed in a tux like promised, with a black bow tie. A solid black mask covered his eyes and his hair flopped over his forehead like usual. He hadn’t bothered to shave but the stubble added to his mystique. Everything about him oozed sex appeal and I knew he wasn’t even trying.
“Staring isn’t nice, doll face.” He smirked at me, pleased to have caught me.
I didn’t even have a retort for him. I was too enamored.
He offered me his elbow like Winston had with Adelaide.
I placed my shaking hand through the opening. He looked down at me and I up at him.
I believed there were some moments in our life that, in actuality, were merely a second, a blip, but somehow time slowed down and sharpened. It focused and you saw things more clearly than ever before. The moment stretched out and in some alternate universe maybe it even lasted forever.
This was one of those moments.
When he stared at me and I stared at him, I saw all our feelings, all the stuff we both buried and pretended didn’t exist. I saw all we were, all we wanted to be, and all we never could be.
And it hurt.
I wanted to believe we could be more, somehow we could be together, but it couldn’t happen.
No. Not couldn’t.
It shouldn’t happen.
But I still wanted it to, and he did too, I could see it clearly.
And the thing about desire? Eventually, you have to give in, and we were both clearly at our breaking point.
I broke eye contact first and he shook his head in response, not like he was frustrated but as if he needed to clear his head.
We both took a breath before starting down the stairs.
Enchanters strolled through the foyer decked out in their finery. Their chatter was loud but cheerful sounding. I’d never seen this many enchanters in one area. It was a bit shocking to see them even though I knew they’d be there.
I held my skirt up so I didn’t trip over it and we moved slowly so I didn’t fall over in my heels. The ceiling above the foyer shimmered with a spell that showed the night sky. Chandeliers floated amidst it at different levels, suspended by nothing.
Trays of food shuffled through the crowd as if carried by a person, but no one and nothing held them.
We reached the bottom of the stairs and let go of Theo’s arm. He was quick to grab my hand, though, and when I looked at him in question, he explained, “I feel better with you close.”
Those words shouldn’t have pleased me as much as they did.
We walked around the foyer and he swiped something off one of the trays and handed it to me before grabbing another for himself.
I popped it into my mouth. “Mmm, that’s delicious.” It tasted like peach and the flavor exploded in my mouth. It made me realize how hungry I was. Adelaide and I had been in my room so long we hadn’t gotten lunch.
I grabbed another sample of food off another passing tray. This one was a mini cheeseburger with unique toppings I didn’t want to think about or I might not eat it. I finished it in two quick bites and dabbed at my mouth with the napkin it had been on.
“The ballroom is this way.” Theo led me down the hall and instead of going into one of the usual rooms we came to first, he kept walking.
We turned left when we reached what I’d always believed to be the end—I’d never come down this far since I never needed to—and gasped. Double doors were open at the end of the hall and I could see people dancing, the sound of music trickling out to us. It was some piano melody that was soft and beautiful with a slight melancholy tone.
When we stepped into the room I was even more blown away. The marble floors shimmered from all the chandeliers and the ceiling was done with gold detailing and a painted mural of angels. Round tables were scattered about and some people used them but for the most part, everyone was dancing.
I was taken too by the beauty of so many people dressed up in their elegant finery and the intricate masks. These were far more beautiful and mysterious than most of the silly ones I’d seen at Halloween.
“Can I—” Theo started to say but then Naomi sidled up to us.
She’d left us alone the last couple of months, but I should’ve realized that would change tonight.
She was dressed in a slinky pale pink dress. If I didn’t hate her so much I might admit how good she looked in it. Her blond hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, hanging straight halfway down her back. Her mask was a similar shade of pink as her dress and shimmered in the light.
“Theodore, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.” She placed her hand on his arm and batted her eyes at him. “I was hoping you’d like to dance with me?”
His lip curled in disgust. “Actually, I was about to ask Mara if she wanted to dance.” Ignoring Naomi outright, he turned his back on her and faced me. “Mara?”
I was stunned silent for a second. Two. Three.
“Yes,” I stuttered. “I’d love to dance.”
I might spontaneously combust on the dance floor but at least I’d die happy.
Naomi huffed and stomped her foot before flouncing away.
Good riddance.
Girls like her made me sick. They were so desperate to be queen bee they didn’t care who they hurt in the process—even themselves.
Theo grinned at me, his gray eyes twinkling through the mask. He guided me onto the dance floor and let go of my hand, placing one hand on my waist before taking my other hand in his.
“I don’t know how to dance like this,” I hissed, glancing around and noting the elegant waltz the other dancing guests were performing.
“Lucky for you, I’m an expert.”
“Sometimes your self-confidence makes me want to punch you.”
Enchant (The Enchanted Book 1) Page 23