by AJ Merlin
I was alone in a sea of very finely dressed, and very dangerous strangers.
“Seems I was wrong to judge,” a cool voice remarked, prompting me to look over my shoulder.
The young man from the landing stood behind me, a glass of champagne in hand as his eyes raked my new appearance. “Georgette, was it? I’ll certainly remember.” Before I could reply, he rejoined his female companion and didn’t look back.
“Too bad you didn’t tell me what to do next,” I muttered, as if the Loa could hear me. I walked aimlessly, taking in the luxurious ballroom of the estate. Where had Merric gone, I wondered. I’d been sure I’d seen him here.
The floor, like the stairs, was polished white marble with silver swirls in its depths. The railings around the balcony were gold, and matched the golden accents throughout the room, lending to the sheer opulence of the location.
Resting a hand on the cool banister, I stared at it and considered what to do. If the others had responsibilities here, I couldn’t simply stick to them like glue, now could I?
“George!” A warm hand caught my waist, spinning me until I could see Indra’s bright orange eyes and wide grin. “I didn’t think you were invited.” He pressed his forehead sweetly to mine for a moment.
“Me neither,” I admitted. “Guess I’m just full of surprises today.”
Indra’s eyes trailed over my gown. “And I guess it’s a good thing that I am not so easily burned.” He traced the flicker of a flame along the bodice of my dress, then up over my shoulder, tickling my skin where he touched. While the flames had, for the most part, gone out, it seemed that Marinette’s spell had residual, flashy effects.
I shivered slightly, and had the distinct pleasure of watching his eyes darken at the sight.
“You cannot do this to me tonight,” Indra laughed, leaning forward until our lips brushed together. “Cian will give me the mother of all lectures if I don’t keep my hands off you. In his opinion, an event like this deserves at least a moderate amount of respect from all of us.”
“Mother of all lectures, you say?” I batted my eyes at him. “So I should go brush up on Akiva and provoke him into touching me too? So he gets lectured?” I ran my hands over the front of his clothing, noticing for the first time what he wore.
If I was like cold fire, he was the volcanic opposite. A soft fabric jacket lay open on his shoulders, almost draped off of them with sleeves that stopped just past his elbows. Under that were black sleeves that looped over his thumbs, and he wore golden bracelets on each wrist.
My hands went up of their own accord to run over the wide velvet neckpiece he wore that looked suspiciously like a collar.
“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” I teased, smoothing my fingers down the dark red coat that was belted at his waist. It ended above his knees, and revealed pants just as snug as the sleeves on his arms tucked into black boots.
“Not really,” he laughed, gripping my hand and tugging me forward. “Come on.” He pulled me past the crowd, though I refused to be led along like a child. I walked at his side, my hand clasping his.
When he glanced at me, I couldn’t quite decipher the look on his face. Was it surprise? Approval? Both?
We cleared the crowd and approached a small group in a corner, my eyes landing squarely on Akiva. The lich looked like he was trying very hard to become one with the wall, and was failing miserably.
If I’d thought the three of them would be matching, I was sorely mistaken. Cian seemed completely immersed in whatever conversation he was having, so I found myself with my attention fully on Akiva. The lich wore a long black coat, belted at the waist like Indra’s with a large hood pooled at his shoulders. Metal pieces that looked like ribs wrapped around his chest, stopping near the middle of his jacket.
The rest of his ensemble was black as well, and when I got closer, I saw that his eyes were lined in black.
He was gorgeous. All of them were gorgeous in their own ways tonight. Radiant, even, compared to the plainness of the people I did not know.
“I never knew you were so talented with the eyeliner,” I complimented, impressed with Akiva’s look.
He turned to look at me with a frown forming at his lips. “Should I ask you for tips now? Yours is much better than mine.” He flicked a gaze over me, eyes on my shoes as they kicked up embers with every step. “If you walk on the carpet, will you set it aflame?”
“I don’t know.” I glanced downward at my black heels. “We could find out. You look like you could use a distraction.”
Before he could respond, Cian broke off his conversation with the man he was speaking to and wrapped an arm around Akiva’s waist with a long glance in my direction.
“Don’t encourage him, George,” the vampire drawled. “It’s hard enough keeping him from leaping out a window.”
I couldn’t answer. I was busy trying to pick my jaw up off the floor at the sight of his clothes.
“What is this?” I asked, reaching out and running my fingers over scarlet fur that rippled with magic.
“Fake,” Cian chuckled. “But it’s magicked. Of course, you know that by now. You had me worried, you know, when you showed up looking so human.”
“It wasn’t my idea,” I admitted, my fingers brushing the velvety fur that hugged his arm to his elbow, where the jacket became an honest to Goddess gauntlet. His boots were black metal to match, his black pants tucked into them.
It was terrible of him to wear nothing under the open jacket. What else was I supposed to look at, if not him?
Silver chains kept the jacket from falling completely to the sides, and they hunt from one side of the coat to the other on his chest.
“Wow,” I said again.
“Have you forgotten me already, George?” A vaguely familiar voice chuckled.
I finally looked away from Cian, straight to the man from the landing who wore the coat of dragon scale. He was smiling easily, his hands shoved into his pockets.
Cian looked between him and me. “You know each other?” He asked, surprised.
Akiva made a noise to my right that made me glance in his direction, but he turned away before I could see his face.
“We met earlier,” I explained. “Outside the doors.”
“I would’ve tried to make more of an impression if I knew that you were acquainted with Cian.” He nudged my vampire, who smiled.
“You’re friends?” I asked, surprised.
“We’ve known each other for an unfortunate long time,” the man–Niall, I remembered–agreed. “I knew him long before those two did.” He nodded at Indra and Akiva.
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say. “I guess–“
Indra gasped, his arm pressing to mine without warning. I turned as he straightened, schooling his features back into something less surprised.
“Do you have to do that?” He asked gently, speaking to the woman who had made him stumble.
Had she pushed him on purpose?
The white-haired girl grinned unapologetically. “You should’ve seen me coming, Indra,” she replied, her eyes coming to rest on mine.
They were the color of fresh embers, much like Indra’s were.
Was she a hellhound as well?
“That was certainly an entrance you made,” she stated, sliding an arm over Indra’s as if she might tow him off. “How do you know our Indra?”
Our Indra?
I fought not to look at him.
“We’re friends,” I shrugged. “I met him when I moved here.”
“When did you move here?” Another voice caused me to look over my shoulder.
A girl who looked just like the first stood at Niall’s side.
And a third on his other side, hanging onto his arm. If I had to guess their mortal age, I’d put them in their early twenties, but something about the feel of them made me sure they were much, much older.
“A couple months ago,” I said slowly, noting their long dresses that hugged their bodies were made of the
same white dragon scale as Niall’s coat.
He had said someone else had picked out his outfit. Was it one of these three? Dark red makeup gave them a dramatic, intimidating appearance.
I wondered if it was intentional.
“Come on, Indra,” the girl on his arm tugged against him. “I want to go talk to someone, and you make a very nice accessory.”
He mumbled something under his breath, but went with her.
I was confused in more ways than one, but kept my mouth shut.
“He’ll be fine,” Cian said, as if reading my thoughts. “They’re just really fond of him.” He traded grins with Niall.
“Mostly Alecto,” the girl hanging on his arm commented. “Tisiphone and I can take him or leave him.”
“She’s Megaera,” Tisiphone introduced.
“Like the Furies, right?” I asked, bemused.
They glanced at me with the same look of surprise in their matching eyes.
“Yes,” Tisiphone agreed. “Very good. Not many people know who we’re named for. You’re a summoner, you said?” Her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.
Akiva came to stand at my side, like I was facing down a real fury and not just a woman in a very impressive dress.
When he touched my arm, flames rippled from my dress to his fingers.
Tisiphone looked at him, then back to me. A very small smile played at her lips, and I fought to not mention it or look to Akiva for answers.
I shifted, the act sending up embers. “I am,” I told her.
“But–correct me if I’m wrong–you can’t be a summoner without any cards…right?” She went on delicately, a look of careful confusion on her heart-shaped face.
“Cards don’t dictate your magic. Only what parts of it you can use,” I replied, leaning into Akiva slightly.
It was a mistake. She looked between us again, and I could see her trying not to smile.
When I happened to glance at Megaera, I saw that she looked away, but the same smile played on her lips.
I hated it.
“What parts of your magic can you use, George?” She leapt on the question like it was her endgame.
“I think we’re all rather interested in that,” Niall agreed, breaking off his conversation about weather patterns in Europe with Cian.
I wouldn’t look at Akiva for direction.
It didn’t matter that these three made me unsure. I had to stand straight on my own, without leaning on either of them to tell me what to say.
In this particular case, it seemed that Akiva was much more my ally than Cian, who only looked at me indulgently to await my answer.
But without him saying something or looking at him for some visual cue, I didn’t know what Akiva’s hand on my arm meant.
My stomach clenched lightly, but I answered anyway. “I can use all parts of my magic. I’m not a careless summoner.” Surely since they were friends with the troublesome trio, it was safe to admit to them what my powers were.
“You’ll have to forgive her,” Megaera remarked slyly. “We haven’t met a real summoner in a long, long time. Right, Uriel?” Her gaze slid to look over my shoulder.
An unexpected chill traveled up my spine, and I had to lock my knees to not jump. Still, I felt myself stiffen, and I looked to my left as the stranger strode past me to stand with Megaera.
“Apart from our dearest council leader…” the ebony-skinned man lifted his champagne glass in a sardonic toast. “It’s been years since I’ve seen a summoner that held any of the Arcana.” His green eyes came to rest on mine, and I noted that he was dressed similarly to Akiva.
Was he a lich as well?
Hold on…
I glanced at Akiva, then to Uriel and the three girls who had the eyes of hellhounds.
Then to Niall.
Was it just me, or were their companions eerily similar? Hellhounds, men with magic that felt similar, and vampires themselves?
When I looked up at Akiva, I saw that his narrowed eyes were fixed on mine. He shook his head very slightly, as if warning me off of something.
“I’m at a disadvantage then,” I said, adopting a more hapless, friendly attitude. “You all know what I am, but I don’t know what you are.” Would they respond to my obvious hint?
“You don’t?” Tisiphone traded a look with Uriel. “Well, him I understand. You wouldn’t have much reason to be around Bokor, would you?”
A Bokor?
I was confused. According to Nathaniel’s mother, that was the term for a darkly inclined voodoo practitioner. She’d said it like an insult, but Tisiphone didn’t treat it as such.
“I know some people in that community,” I disagreed with a shrug, not mentioning specifics. My eyes left hers to trail over the golden statues against one wall. “But not well enough to know your magic just by the feel of it.”
“Perhaps we know the same people,” Uriel murmured in a soft tenor voice that was made for whispering naughty things in my opinion. He reached out a hand that I took, surprised at the firmness of his grip. “We’ll have to talk some time. Not many witches treat my kind as friends.”
I bit my lip to stop myself from replying that not many voodoo practitioners seemed to, either.
Marinette had been just as disdainful of the term when it applied to those that caused harm.
Which confused me all the more as to why he wore it so proudly.
“You didn’t tell me you’d collected a summoner for your little group, Cian,” Niall chuckled, nudging the blonde’s shoulder.
Collected? I stiffened, aware of Akiva’s tightening grip on my arm.
“He didn’t ‘collect’ me,” I couldn’t stop myself from saying. “And I’m not part of his group.” Maybe sometimes, on weekends and any night I could bust down their door, but nowhere near like the way Akiva and Indra were.
Niall’s dark red eyes flashed in amusement.
I wasn’t a fan of being the source of someone’s amusement when I was defending myself.
Before he could reply, however, arms wrapped around my waist, drawing me back in an iron grip and causing a shower of sparks to erupt from my gown.
I inhaled, and immediately the hairs standing at the back of my neck went down.
Yuna stared at Niall over my shoulder, her fingers linked at my waist. “I don’t think anyone can collect people,” the cecaelia said offhandedly. “Well, I don’t, at least. I don’t know about them, but George came to me more than willingly.” She flashed a very bright smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Was she jealous?
“I’ve been waiting for you to let her go for the past five minutes,” Yuna went on. “Time’s up, so she and I are going to go walking, instead of huddling in this corner like…” she looked at Akiva, who had been strangely silent.
The strangeness of that hadn’t hit me until now. I’d been too wrapped up in dealing with Niall’s comrades.
And where the hell had Indra gone?
Whatever Yuna finished with, I didn’t catch it. I blinked when she tugged lightly on my hip, and looked at her with a grin before letting my gaze find Akiva’s.
Goddess, he looked miserable.
“Do you want to come walk with us?” I offered.
His lips parted as his eyes went to Cian. “No,” he said at last. “But I will go find Indra to make sure Alecto has not carried him off.” He threw the last part at Cian like a threat, then stalked off into the crowd.
“See you later, George.” Cian smiled at me with eyes that glittered scarlet. “Stay safe for me, won’t you?”
“I will try my very best,” I told him, fighting the urge to sweep him a low, dramatic bow in this gorgeous dress.
Yuna towed me away as well, saving me from making any stupid remarks or staring awkwardly at the others.
“I don’t like them,” I told her as we walked around a throng of people that had wings attached to their costumes. The music had picked up now that everyone was here, and I could hear the sounds of the string quart
et picking up from across the ballroom. “Those friends of Cian’s? I just…” I shook my head, confused. “Maybe it’s just still runoff from the full moon, but I got really ruffled at him talking about Cian ‘collecting’ me.”
Catching sight of her intent gaze, I bit my lip. “I’m sorry, Yuna. I know you don’t want to talk about men, and them least of all.”
The corner of her lips curled into a smile. “We can talk about whatever you want. If you need to get something off your chest, I don’t mind listening.”
I shook my head. It wasn’t fair, and I wouldn’t put it on her.
Especially not with the way her eyes raked me, like she could see right through my dress and liked what she saw.
Chapter 16
“It does terribly inappropriate things to my body when you look at me like that,” I whispered, sure that my face was reddening with my words.
Her eyes flicked back to mine, aqua against sky blue, and her smile was a sinful promise.
“It’s a terrible tease that I cannot do more than look,” the cecaelia murmured in response, her fingers tracing the lace brocade at my chest.
“Sure we can’t find a deserted corner behind a curtain? A hat closet?” I all but whined, batting my eyes at her.
She sighed, but seemed to consider it. “No,” she said at last. “It would be extremely inappropriate and disrespecting the rules of the gala.”
“How terribly upstanding of you,” I said, drawing away from her to look over the balcony. “Could we go-uh oh.”
I didn’t know what had happened, but people were backing away from the floor below us. Two people stood in the newly emptied area, one of them sipping from a champagne glass and looking almost bored.
It was Merric.
The other was a woman with long dark hair that fell in a curtain that contrasted with her very pale skin. She wore a traditional kimono of pale pink, and nine white tails writhed at her back in irritation.
She was a kitsune, then. Like Merric. Another nine tailed kitsune.
And one who looked to be pissed off.
My friend, on the other hand, looked anything but. Opposite to her in every way, his own hair was its usual tousled bedhead, and his nine tails fell behind him to the floor like a gloriously soft bustle.