by Lucia Ashta
“This is incredible,” I whispered as Leander leaned in to catch my soft words.
He grinned and took my arm. “It’s going to be an incredible night since I get to share it with you,” he said against my ear, and I didn’t manage to conceal the shivers that ran through me.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
“No. Happy.”
He nodded as if he understood and led me farther into the hall. Soft Classical music wafted toward us from the far left corner of the ballroom. I gasped again. “Are the … trolls playing?”
“Pygmy trolls are superb musicians, when they put their minds to it, that is.”
“Wow.” I couldn’t help my awe. The music from their odd instruments was as fine as that of a modern symphony. “What are they even playing? Those aren’t regular instruments, are they?”
“They definitely aren’t. The trolls do everything their own way.”
“I can’t believe they can sound that amazing with homemade instruments.”
“Remember that trolls have magic. The pygmy trolls that work at the school have more than most. Their instruments might remind you of your average violin or cello, but they’re bound to hide as many secrets as the trolls.”
“Can we get closer? I want to see.”
He chuckled. “I didn’t imagine you’d be asking to get closer to the trolls. You always seem a bit afraid of them.”
“That’s because they’re terrifying. At least they’re wearing cute little suits now.” Wait. “You watch me?” I directed my gaze from the orchestra to him.
“Of course I do. I’m interested in you, Rina. Or can’t you tell? You fascinate me.”
Despite the fact that our friends stood only a few feet away from us, the music cocooned us in a semblance of privacy. We were surrounded by people, and yet I felt as if it were just Leander and me.
I leaned into his arm. “After this summer, I wasn’t sure how you felt about me.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but someone bumped into me from behind. I lost my balance, but Leander’s strong arms shot out to wrap around me, pulling me close.
I spun on whoever had pushed me. “What the hell?” But whatever else I’d been about to say froze on my lips as I stared into unblinking, predatory eyes.
The vampire’s face crept upward slowly until his mouth revealed pointy fangs. “Hi, princess. Long time no see.”
It was the same guy who’d pushed me in the auditorium on the first day of classes as a oner, before the vampires were fully initiated and could no longer tolerate direct sunlight—at least not for another century or two. His three buddies stood at his back, just as they had the last time I’d seen the unpleasant bunch.
But last time Leander hadn’t been witness to their bullying—nor had my brother.
Apparently Ky was watching us despite the foggy haze and the drifting musical cocooning. A few long, hard strides placed him between me and Vamp Bully. Leander drew next to my brother, keeping me in sight, but just behind them.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Ky said in that tone of voice that made lesser creatures cower.
“Oh, nothing. Just saying hi to the princess.”
“Well, you shove my sister again, Anton, you and I are going to have big problems, you get me?”
Anton didn’t seem as intimidated as I would’ve expected him to be when facing two large, fearsome men, and Boone was already moving in the direction of his friends while Damon and Sadie glared at the vamps from nearby.
“You and your sister are the problem,” Anton said. “You’re the reason we have all this ridiculous security and can’t come and go as we please. Rage and Fury just want you, no one else.”
Boone arrived and growled right away. Leander leaned forward, getting right in Anton’s space. The vamp’s buddies didn’t intervene, though they didn’t back up either.
I wasn’t usually one for letting the boys handle my problems, but they were so outraged on my behalf, it was kind of sweet.
“Ky and Rina aren’t going anywhere,” Boone said, his voice low and gravelly. “They belong here as much as you do. More so even.”
“Why’s that, wolfy?”
“Because they don’t go out of their way to be pricks.”
Anton put his hands up. “Hey, I call it like I see it. If they’d go, all our problems would just … disappear.”
“Is that a threat?” Ky said.
“Not at all. When I threaten you, you’ll know it, trust me.” Fully extended, Anton’s fangs protruded over his bottom lip. With his dark brown hair, pale skin, and eyes a degree too large for his face, there was no disguising what he was.
In unison, Ky, Leander, and Boone advanced on him, and Anton’s cronies stepped forward, joining him on either side. The shifters growled, the vampires hissed, and I spotted Damon and Sadie walking toward the scuffle. Jas, Adalia, Wren, and Dave moved next to me, anticipating a fight.
But then Fianna and Nessa dive-bombed the vamps and my brother and his friends with the zooming sound of mosquitoes. Fianna landed on Anton’s face while Nessa zipped around the two bands of men in a non-stop buzzing circle.
“You’d better back off, buddy boy,” Fianna said, staring into one of Anton’s eyeballs. “This here is a party. You’re not supposed to fight at parties. If you do fight, Nessa and I’ll be forced to deal with you as we see fit, and trust me, you don’t want that. Nessa and I’ve been forced to behave more than we’d like lately, and there’s nothing I’d like more than to beat your mean, scrawny butt into submission.”
“Fianna,” Nessa hissed, shifting to hover behind her cousin. “Remember that you’re not supposed to talk to the students like that. You’re supposed to be nice. No beating anyone.”
Fianna scowled. “You’re lucky Nessa’s coming to your defense, or you’d have some real problems on your hands. Vamp or not, I’d take you down.”
Anton didn’t seem to know what to say when the person threatening him was a few inches tall. Hell, he probably couldn’t even focus on her as she was right next to his eye.
His crew held their positions but didn’t advance. Neither did my brother and his friends.
Fianna looked between all involved parties, scowling. “I don’t want to see any more fighting, got it?”
Anton nodded, but Boone said, “Then this jerk had better keep his pointy mouth shut.”
“Granted,” Fianna said, and I had to swallow a laugh.
The crimson fairy flew from the vamp’s face to float in the middle of everyone. She looked back and forth between them all once more, then pointed a diminutive finger at them in turn. “I’ll have my eye on you.” Her eye was probably the size of a grape seed. “Don’t you forget it.”
The men didn’t say a word.
“Well? What are you doing standing around?” She shooed them with her hands. “Disperse. Cavort. Socialize in a friendly and appropriate manner.” When no one moved, she roared, “Now!”
Anton and friends turned and merged with the crowd, and Fianna and Nessa turned to face the rest of us. “Nessa and I’ll keep an eye on them. I don’t trust them,” Fianna said, though I was pretty sure she shouldn’t have. Though tiny, she was still a member of the staff. I couldn’t imagine Sir Lancelot speaking like that, and they were his messenger assistants.
“I don’t trust them either,” Boone said, and though the big shifter didn’t seem like the type to hold a grudge, I had the feeling he was about to make an exception. He crossed his arms across his wide, muscular chest, which strained the seams of his fine suit, and scowled in the direction the vamps had disappeared.
“Hey!” Fianna yelled. She’d spotted some other commotion across the hall, and she and Nessa zoomed out of sight.
The band struck up a particularly jovial tune—an odd jaunt that mixed elements of bluegrass and alternative rock and did so with surprising success—and Leander reached for me again. He leaned toward my ear. “Now, where were we?”
I barely remembered, and I ha
d no idea how he could behave so casually after that, but I let him lead me onto the dance floor. At least there no one would threaten me—I hoped—and I’d escape my brother’s scrutiny.
Leander brought a hand to my waist, pinned me in his rolling silver gaze, and the rest of the world faded away. The hazy fog enveloped us as I gave myself over to the moment beneath a pristine starlit sky. I didn’t give a damn that it wasn’t real. I’d take it.
Anton and the other vamps had served to remind me that, if certain sectors of the supernatural community had their way, I wouldn’t be at the academy. Hell, I wouldn’t be alive.
I stepped closer to Leander despite the upbeat tempo of the music.
Carpe diem—seize the day. I willed the rest of the world beyond the two of us away.
11
I lost track of where the others were as Leander whisked me across the dance floor with practiced ease. After the summer I’d spent in the fae’s Golden Forest, I understood that a royal like him was expected to possess every social grace. Besides, the fae in general were festive, embracing any excuse they could as a reason to celebrate. Surely Leander had had plenty of occasions to dance in his life, whereas I’d had close to none. Dances at Berry Bramble High didn’t count, trust me on that one, where twerking and grinding were real travesties.
I barely registered the music beyond noting that it changed constantly between genres. The trolls were as fickle with their music as they were with their moods. Regardless, Leander knew exactly how to move to each song, even the ones I was certain the trolls must have invented.
He wore a charcoal suit, a light cobalt blue shirt, which happened to match the tones of my dress, with the top two buttons undone. He’d pulled his wavy silver hair back into a ponytail at the base of his neck and tucked his wings away—however it was that he managed that. And though he looked a bit like a god the way he filled out his suit, I struggled to focus beyond his eyes. The silver orbs were like twin full moons, beckoning me further into their depths.
“You look beautiful tonight,” he said, pulling me against him to be heard over the music.
“So do you.” I briefly wondered if I shouldn’t have spoken so bluntly, but then dismissed my concern. I was too happy to worry about sharing my heart.
He smiled. “When Ky mentioned he had a sister, I never imagined you’d be how you are. He made you sound so … plain and uninteresting.”
I laughed despite myself. “I’ll bet he did.” I hesitated, but only for a moment. “Has he talked to you about staying away from me?”
Leander paused to twirl me to the rhythm of the current ballad before continuing. “He has.”
“But you’re ignoring him?”
“It would appear so.” He looked away, in the direction of Ky, I presumed, and when he looked back at me his eyes were extra intense. “I’m drawn to you, Rina. You feel different from everyone else. I see you watching the world around you, and it’s like you view things in a new way. Your magic is magnetic. All of you is. I tried to stay away last term, but I finally gave up.”
“Are you saying I’m irresistible?” I joked.
“Yes.”
My heart jumped in my chest. I stared into his eyes and wondered if I’d ever be able to stop. This wasn’t normal, was it? I’d never dated in any real sense before, but this seemed like too much, too fast. How could he feel this while barely knowing me?
As if he’d read my mind, he said, “I know this might surprise you, but I’ve always been sure of myself … and what I want.”
I gulped. “And you want me?” My pulse thumped in my head loudly, overcoming the tempo of the music.
Leander grinned like the Cheshire Cat and gave a single nod that set my heart to racing anew.
Holy shmoly, this man was amazing. And though I tried my best to remind myself that he was extremely off limits, my heart didn’t give a damn about rules and shoulds and shouldn’ts.
I lost track of time as the space grew more idyllic. The perfume of fresh flowers overpowered the scent of so many creatures gathered in the large hall, and the fog that enveloped the room caressed my skin, leaving it tingling, blotting out those I didn’t want to think about. Or maybe that was Leander, it was hard to tell with the way I was consumed by him.
Eventually, he led me to a slender row of tables pushed to the side of the room, covered in all sorts of delicacies. There were cakes, chocolates, bonbons, and mini sandwiches with unrecognizable ingredients minced into tiny pieces. There was punch and flavored sparkling waters. The glasses and small plates appeared to be real, etched crystal.
“Wow, Sir Lancelot really went all out with this,” I said.
“It’s been my experience that the owl doesn’t do things halfway. He’s probably been looking forward to having an elegant event for ages. He loves that stuff.”
As if we’d called him with our attention, Sir Lancelot swooped past us, alighting on the branch of a miniature tree that moved in rhythm with the music, its delicate silver leaves shaking and ringing like a whispering maraca. “Good evening, Lady Rina and Prince Leander Verion. I do hope you’re enjoying yourselves.”
I blinked at the owl, taking in his black smoking jacket, with the sleeves omitted to allow room for his wings, and the black bowtie wrapped beneath his feathered head.
“We’re having a fine time, thank you very much, Sir Lancelot,” Leander said.
“You look quite dashing, Sir Lancelot,” I added, and got to enjoy the way the bird flustered under my praise.
“You’re too kind, Lady Rina, too kind indeed.” He puffed his chest out more than before. “Well, may your night continue to be most pleasurable. I must continue my rounds, you do understand. In a party of this sort, one can never remain in the company of one guest for too long.”
“Of course.” Leander tilted his head graciously while I thought the owl crazy for wanting to leave the prince’s side.
“Hey,” Jas said, poking my bare shoulder to get my attention. I turned to find her, Wren, and Adalia standing in a huddle.
“We’re going to the ladies’ room,” Wren said. “Want to come?”
“Uh, thanks, but not really. I’m—”
“Coming with us.” Jas swooped in, took my arm, and called to Leander over her shoulder. “We’ll bring her back soon. A girl needs to refresh, ya know?”
“Jas,” I hissed. “What are you doing? I don’t need to pee.”
“I know, I know. All you need is your smoking hot prince. But you can’t leave us hanging like this. You two have been mooning over each other for ages, and here we are just waiting to find out how it’s going.”
“You could’ve waited until the party was over...”
“No, we most definitely could not have. Friends don’t make friends wait that long.”
“Since when?”
“Since she hasn’t been able to get Ky alone,” Wren interjected.
“Though she’s been trying,” Adalia said loud enough to be heard over the music, an odd blend of soul and Elvis-style early rock and roll.
“Hey,” Jas said, “it’s not my fault Boone won’t leave his side.”
I smiled to myself. Ky had probably asked Boone to be his wingman—in the reverse. I didn’t want Jas to be bummed, but I didn’t want her to get it on with my brother more. She’d get over her disappointment, and I wouldn’t have to be forever scarred with images of the two of them together. There were plenty of other handsome shifters she could crush on.
When we reached the door to the restroom, I had to stop to admire it. The paneling was adorned with multi-colored flowers that swayed in tempo with the trolls’ music, and they appeared to be growing out of the wood of the door itself. Twinkling, magical lights floated like stars among the blossoms, peeking in and out of view as the flowers danced. Reaching for the stars, I pulled my hand back before tracing them, not sure the magical illusion would hold up to my touch.
Jas drew next to me and huffed. “Come on. What’s the hold up?”
&nbs
p; Then Sadie caught up to us, Wendi a few paces behind her. Jas spun on Sadie, the short skirt of her black dress flaring as she turned. “She doesn’t need you to follow her into the bathroom. No one can kidnap her from a stall.”
Sadie frowned. “It’s my job to shadow her.”
“We’ll watch her back.” And before Sadie could complain, Jas reached through the sparkling stars, dispersing them as if they were tiny puffs of clouds, while the flowers dove out of the way of her hand, and pushed the door open. Once Wren, Adalia, and I were through it, Jas pushed it closed and leaned against it. “So? Spill the beans.”
“What beans?” I said. “There are no beans to spill. We’re in the middle of the entire school.”
“Whatever. You guys are acting like the rest of us don’t exist.”
“It’s so romantic,” Wren sighed. “Ouch!”
Someone was pushing the door inward, shoving us out of the way.
“Wow, Sadie doesn’t give it a rest,” Jas growled and whipped around to glare at the Enforcer.
Only it wasn’t the Enforcer. Four vampires slunk into the room, pointing cold, feral grins at us.
“What are you doing here?” Jas crossed her arms over her chest and straightened to her full five-foot-two height.
“This is a public restroom, isn’t it?” said the girl with hair the color of blood in perfect ringlets down the middle of her back. Her dress was the same color, making the pallor of her face more noticeable under the room’s incandescent lighting.
“Well, it’s taken right now. You’ll have to come back later.” Jas tilted her head up, and Wren and Adalia moved behind her.
“Why? Because the princess is in here? And she’s so special that we can’t risk any of us bothering her?”
“Hey,” I snapped. I hadn’t intended on saying a word; I’d had enough of this stupid conflict before it even started. But I’d be damned if I’d let vamps call me “princess” and get away with it. “Knock it off. I’m not a princess, and I’m sure as hell not your princess. So leave me the hell alone.”