Hunts’ hounds, she just doesn’t get it, does she?
Syl steps in. “Look, she doesn’t want to, okay?”
“No.” Fiann says. “It’s not okay.” She grabs Danette’s Diet Coke and throws it in Syl’s face.
Everything stops.
The music is still bass booming, but there’s a tension in the air as the amber liquid drips down Syl’s cheeks, her chin, her neck. It’s all over her costume, “staining” the Glamoury. Her makeup’s running. She looks mortified. Tears well up in her eyes. I want to grab her and hold her, protect her, and guilt swells up in me.
You were standing right there, Roue.
I didn’t think Fiann would—
That’s the problem. You underestimated the Homecoming queen.
Syl takes off, running upstairs. I follow her, but at the top, she ducks into the bathroom, slamming the door.
I give Fiann a murderous look and then go after Syl.
I knock softly on the door. “Syl…? Can I come in?”
“Go away!” Her voice is muffled, but I still hear the tears.
Damn it. Damn Fiann. Damn me. “Please. I have something to show you.”
I wait for what feels like an hour out there. I’m tempted to just use my dark Fae strength to kick the door in, but again, announcing who we really are is a Very Bad Idea.
Finally, I hear her get up and walk to the door. The door opens a crack and her tear-stained face appears. “I’ve ruined everything.”
My heart aches for her, and in that moment, I don’t care about Fiann or Agravaine or finding out their stupid plan. I just care about Syl. “Please let me in.”
She opens the door wider, and I step in.
In a flash, she’s in my arms. I close the door behind us and lean on it, holding her. “I’m sorry,” I whisper into her hair. “I should have stopped her.”
“You didn’t know.” She snuffles. I know she hates crying. Her complexion makes her wear it all day.
“Let me have a look.” I try to push her gently away, but she resists.
“I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“Like what?” I push a little more firmly so I can see her. Even with the makeup and mascara running, she’s beautiful. “It’s not so bad.” I brush her sweaty hair from her face and turn her toward the mirror.
She’s a bit of a wreck, and her face crumples when she finally looks. “I’m a total mess. Look at me. Coke all over my dress, my face, my makeup.”
She was so proud of the Deadutantes, and now it’s ruined. But there’s something she doesn’t know. I take a washcloth from the rung. I run it under warm water and slowly wipe the makeup and Coke from her face.
“Our costumes are ruined,” she says.
“No.” It’s time for another learning moment. She normally hates when I do this, but maybe she won’t mind this time. “Remember earlier when you put the Glamoury on to make us look scarier?”
It was just little things—to make the blood look more real, to make our eyes wider, deader looking, to make our flesh look like it was really peeling instead of crappy latex makeup.
“It only stains the Glamoury because you think it should. Because you let it.” I lean in. “Don’t let it.”
She looks up at me hopefully.
“Close your eyes.”
“Roue—”
“Do it, princess.”
“Fine. You’re impossible.”
“But still amazing. Now do it. Trust me.”
I see her take a deep breath and gather herself. Her chest hitches a few times as she calms her crying, and when she breathes out, her Glamoury shimmers over her. Her gown looks freshly torn and bloody and her makeup is even scarier. Picture perfect.
“Open your eyes.”
She does, and her expression transforms. “Rouen,” she breathes. “It’s perfect. Thank you!”
She throws her arms around me for the second time tonight, and I don’t care that she actually does have Diet Coke all over her dress. I hug her back, and again we’re close, so close that her breath is warm on my face. I can smell her feminine vanilla scent, and my head starts to swim a little.
This time, there’s no iron to blame for my softer side, but I don’t care. I’m really starting to like new Rouen.
A knock on the door brings us out of our embrace. “Syl?” Lennon’s voice. “Are you okay?”
I turn to Syl and hold my hand out. “Are you ready?”
She nods firmly. I see the resolve in her eyes. “I’m ready. Let’s go show Fiann how a sleeper-princess deals with bullying.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Syl
With the Fae
There is always more
Than meets the eye
- Glamma’s Grimm
I’m fuming and fired up by the time we open that bathroom door. My Glamoury is perfect, not a hair out of place. My zombie makeup’s twice as terrifying, and Euphoria’s right next to me. At first I was disappointed that no one knew it was her on my arm, but now, you know what?
I know. And that’s all that matters.
This is part of me becoming my new self. The new Syl. Taking no crap—only names.
Okay, Fiann. Time to pay the piper.
I strut my stuff back down into the basement, my hand lightly holding Euphoria’s. I glance back at her, and her face—creepy with the zombie Glamoury on—softens with a smile.
Go on, that smile says. You got this.
I do. I’ve so got this.
Fiann’s jaw drops when she sees me fresh as a daisy and looking more boss than ever. I smile sweetly at her and walk over to her iPhone. I know what she listens to. She was my best friend since kindergarten—before me and Mom moved out of the Fan.
I pull up one of Euphoria’s songs, “Heartbroken,” and the synthy-rich violin and bass throbs through Fiann’s million-dollar bluetooth speakers into the basement. While Fiann’s catching flies with her mouth open, I take Euphoria’s hand and pull her into the center of the room.
There’s no dance floor in Fiann’s basement, but you know what? I don’t care. We make our own dance floor.
The song is half-slow, half-fast, because at the last second I might chicken out a bit, at least as far as Euphoria goes.
But as always, she seems to know exactly what I want, what I need. She steps in. “May I have this dance?”
I nod, my mouth suddenly dry.
Euphoria takes me in her arms, and I relax for the first time tonight. This, this is where I belong. It’s a crazy thought, but it’s been a crazy night. I go with it. We sway and dance while Fiann looks on, Grinch-green with envy.
Maybe a part of her can actually see—or maybe feel—through the Glamoury.
I almost wish she could.
And then the music winds up faster, and Euphoria spins me around. We break apart, still dancing. I’m laughing and she’s smiling, that giddy heat between us building, and the whole world seems to just go away, seared in the flames.
There’s nothing but me and Euphoria.
My heart swells, the feeling within me both strange and sweet.
Euphoria is lovely, and I’m glad I can see beneath the makeup to see the real her.
But is it the real her, Syl? She’s a dark Fae, the enemy.
My stomach clenches with a fear that’s rooted down deep into my soul. I push it away. No. I won’t be afraid of her. I won’t buy into whatever war and bad blood that’s caused fair Fae to hate dark Fae and dark Fae to hate fair Fae.
Looking up into Euphoria’s eyes, I vow. We will find another way.
A different way. A way that is ours.
New Syl and new Rouen. Together.
Drawn to her, I place a hand on her heart. My own heart is pounding so hard I feel like I’ll pass out. Yeah, that’d be rad, Syl. She touches my hand with her left; her skin is soft and warm.
A spark jumps between us, like her heart shooting a bolt of energy into mine. It’s too much. My heart swells and stretches, my head
spinning, giddy. It’s too big for me not to share, not to breathe it out in the world, as Glamma used to say. I breathe out, letting my feelings of bliss expand and fill the air around me.
In a burst of movement, Lennon joins us, dragging Maggie, and then Danette and Jazz are dancing with us, jumping up and down in excitement as the music cranks up to a fevered pitch of violins and dark synthwave.
I breathe out again, and the other cheerleaders jump in, and we’re surrounded by girls singing and laughing and pogoing like crazy.
The energy in the room is intense, alive and positive.
I’m glad the night’s turned around.
The only one that stands apart is Fiann. She glares at me, and then her face glazes over and she steps into the dance with us.
Wait, what…?
I give Euphoria a questioning glance.
She bends, her soft dark hair brushing my cheek, and whispers in my ear, “Look.” And I see.
My Fae-sight picks up all the warm, bright pinks and purples of everyone dancing, enjoying themselves, their faces stamped with a blissful expression. No, not blissful.
Euphoric.
I’m… I start in Euphoria’s arms. “How? Did you…?”
“No,” she whispers simply. “You did.”
Me, but how? That power is Euphoria’s. How did I just use it?
The spark, Syl. When you touched her…
Realization hits me like a ton of bricks. “Will they remember?” All bright and pink, purple and euphoric, caught up in my personal magic.
My gramarye. Mine and Euphoria’s.
“They’ll remember we danced and they felt at peace, euphoric.” Euphoria’s studying me like she’s seeing me for the first time. “It’ll seem like a dream to them.”
Am I weirding her out? Holy cats, I hope not.
I mean…I didn’t melt anyone’s brain, and after what Fiann did, I consider us even. “Will it stop?”
“It fades,” she says. “Naturally.”
“Good.” I nudge her. “Let’s get while the getting’s good.”
She takes my hand, and we slip from the party. As we leave the basement, Fiann gives me an evil glare. She’s locked in the gramarye, but unlike the others, she knows she is.
Crap. Fiann was the only other person to resist Euphoria’s gramarye on Homecoming night…the night everything changed. Was she faking it? Could she have seen us? Through the Glamoury and Grimmacle?
And then Euphoria’s pulling me back onto the street among the thinning crowds—it’s late now—and exhaustion hits me. It’s like a tidal wave of tired slams into me.
I slump to the sidewalk, Euphoria at my side. “Whoa, I feel a little…”
“Just sit.” She’s so nice it kind of kills me. “Relax and take some deep breaths.” She straightens, looking back at the house. “I’ll be right back.”
“Wait, where are you going?”
Determination sets her jaw. “To scope out the house like we planned.”
“But…”
“I’ll just knock on the door and tell Fee I forgot my jacket.”
With everyone spelled, Euphoria should be able to case the place pretty fast, but… “You shouldn’t go alone.”
Euphoria smiles gently, touches my cheek, and then she puts her mentor face on. “Training starts now, and I say you need to take a breather. I’ll be right back.”
I’m about to argue with her, but bam! She’s gone in a flash.
Ughhhh… I hate it when she does that. With no other choice, I chill on the sidewalk for what feels like an eternity, catching my breath and wondering what the heck happened back there.
A gust of wind announces Euphoria’s return. I can tell by the look on her face. “Didn’t find anything?”
“Well, she has a giant collection of Urban Decay, and under her bed could use a good vacuuming, but otherwise, nope. Nada.” She sighs heavily and sits next to me. “You okay?”
“Yeah. What happened back there?” I search her face. “I mean, I took…” One minute I was touching her, feeling her heart pound beneath my fingers. The next, that odd pulse of energy, and then…
Then I was using her power!
Euphoria’s blue eyes are all serious. “You tapped into my power, Syl. You tapped in and used it.”
“But how…?” I can’t even fathom that.
She shakes her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never known a sleeper-princess who fully Awakened.”
“Because…” I swallow hard. “Because they were all killed by Agravaine?”
“By Agravaine.” She winces a bit. I see the pain in her blue eyes. “I helped him, Syl. I…” She tugs at her hem, her gown pooling around her, hiding her giant boots. “I’m not proud of that.”
“Agravaine made you do those things. I know. I understand. It’s not your fault. But you’re not helping him anymore.” I lean in to study her face. “Are you?”
“No, of course not. I’m with you.”
With me. Her answer gives me a sudden giddy burst. I feel like I can do anything, as long as she’s with me. I take a deep breath and stand. “Well, there’s only one way to find out how I did that.”
“How’s that?”
“I’ve gotta do it again.” I hold out my hand. “Come on, training’s begun for the night, and this is a learning moment.”
She doesn’t miss a beat. “You’re impossible.”
“But still amazing,” I return, the both of us chuckling.
“Okay,” she says, standing up. “But first we need to get out of these ball gowns.”
I cock an eyebrow at her. “If you think that’ll help your cause.”
“Oh really?” She straightens to her full five-foot-eight.
I step in so as not to be intimidated and look up into those blue eyes. Energy crackles all around us as we warm to the challenge, and to each other.
“Yeah, really. Tonight I’m going to catch you, Rouen Rivoche.”
Two hours later I’m a sweaty mess, and she’s kicking my sorry butt around the rooftops of Richmond. I’m so regretting my bold words.
I still can’t come close to her, never mind actually catch her.
I take a break on top of Richmond City Hall, leaning over to catch my breath. She alights next to me, all power and grace. If I wasn’t super into her, I’d kind of hate her guts.
“Tired already, princess?” she teases.
Okay, I’d hate her a lot.
“I’m not tired. You’re tired.” I grab for her, but she dances quickly out of my reach.
That smirk on her face is infuriating and intoxicating. As always when we play this game, I want to kill her and I want to kiss her.
I see it in her eyes. She wants the same.
We lock gazes, and the tension between us ramps up so high my body practically ignites. There’s fire in her eyes, and in the next second both of us are stepping in, silently daring each other to make the first move.
She touches my cheek, leans down so her dark hair brushes my cheek. My heart stops. And then a smirk curves those perfect lips of hers.
“Catch me if you can, sleeper-princess.”
And she races to the edge of the building and jumps off.
Gah! How many times am I going to fall for that?
Probably as many times as she pulls it.
I chase after her, and we race across the rooftops, jumping HVACs and dodging flocks of startled pigeons. One gap between buildings is too far, but I jump anyway, trusting to my Awakening body.
My breath goes out, and for a few gut-wrenching seconds, it’s just me and the wind and gravity, and then bam! I slam into the fire escape on the other side and catch hold. My hands sting from grabbing the rusty metal railing, and if I were still one hundred-percent normal, I’d have probably knocked myself cold. Ugh, I’m so glad this sleeper-princess gig comes with super-toughness.
I pull myself up in time to see Euphoria.
Without stopping, she races to the edge and swan-dives off the building. She al
ways makes it look so easy.
But tonight I’m going to catch her.
I push my Awakening body, and it responds, giving me the speed and dexterity I need to make up some of the distance. Even when I miss a landing, my body recovers. I stumble only to roll up into a stand and keep running.
Soon, I won’t be a sleeper-princess anymore. Soon, I’ll be…
What will I be?
Euphoria leaps from the next building, and I lose sight of her. I lengthen my stride as I reach the edge, and push off.
For a second I’m soaring above the entire city, the buildings below me carving up the night with their lights. Then I plummet, letting my body relax.
I land hard, my Docs pounding down on the rooftop the way I’ve seen her do a million times now. I stick the landing.
I want Euphoria to see, but she doesn’t stop. She pelts to the edge of the building and is off like a shot. I follow, pushing myself to keep up, to catch up.
The chase continues until the buildings get shorter and shorter, and soon, we’re racing across Shockoe Bottom, the old section of town by the flood wall. I can smell thick fishiness of the canal and the savory greasiness of Bottoms Up Pizza.
Maybe I can talk her into stopping for a slice. Where is she going anyway?
We’re almost to Rockett’s Landing before she stops on a condo building, crouching low, as though she doesn’t want to be seen.
I make the final leap to join her, crouching beside her.
Below us, the silhouettes of cranes and other construction vehicles rear their ugly heads against the night sky. A huge section of the street is torn up, asphalt and old cobblestones strewn into a pile next to rows upon rows of shiny new tracks waiting to be laid and glinting in the streetlights.
A trolley construction site.
I know why we’re here. Agravaine’s plan involves the trolley reconstruction, the winter solstice, and draining the entire student body of Richmond E dry. Though…I still don’t know how all those things connect or what he hopes to accomplish.
“Euphoria?”
But she lays a finger to her lips, and I hush.
Minutes tick by, the two of us hunched there like gargoyles looking over the city. And then I hear it…the blat and whine of motorcycles.
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