by Heather Karn
"Are you coming to the dance tonight?"
"Dance?" I squeaked, my eyes jumping from Wilson to Raven and back. "What dance?"
"There's always a dance the first night of the festival, kind of like an opening ceremony. Will you be there?"
"Probably," I muttered, not seeing any way out of it.
"Good. Will you be my date?"
"Uh." I stared across the table at Lee and Avery, begging them to help me. It would've been nice if I could've claimed any one of these men as my boyfriend, but Raven had been right. It wouldn't have worked.
Raven chuckled, and I caught Wilson scowl at him. "Boy, if you want to be beaten up by all the males in the room, take her to the dance. If you want to come out alive, just ask her to save you a dance."
Staring around, it became clear Raven was right. More than one male head was turned toward us, and several glared openly. Was it too late to become sick?
"Is this a formal dance?" Shannon asked the young vamlure, and he shrugged.
"Not really, but the girls do tend to get their hair and makeup done up nice."
Shannon's eyes twinkled when she stared at me. "Good. Luella and I are going to have fun."
It didn't take a genius to know she was implying they'd have fun getting me ready.
The crackle of a microphone interrupted whatever Wilson meant to say next as Alexander appeared above the crowd, standing on a platform on the opposite side of the room. He tapped the mic to make sure it was working as silence fell. My gut twisted.
"Welcome everyone to this year's annual Moon's Glow festival. We hope you all had a safe and uneventful trip here. As you're well aware, Second House is hosting the event this year, so if you need anything, please speak with myself or Duchess. We'll be happy to assist you." He paused, his eyes scanning the room until he found me, and the twisting in my gut turned into a painful squeeze that threatened to steal the breath from my lungs. "You may have also heard the rumors spreading, so let me clear any of them up before they escalate into fantastical tales. Yes, Third House is once again counted among us. The rumored descendant of the Takal House has been found and has stepped into the role of the Head of that House. Please be kind to her and do not bombard her with questions and attention. This is new to her, and we want her to like us instead of wanting to run away from here." Others in the room laughed, but I wanted to bury my head in the rock floor when more than half the room turned to stare at me.
Raven set a hand on my knee and gave a light squeeze. The move brought me out of my panic. I wasn't weak. I was strong, and I'd prove to them that I was a worthy leader...even if my House consisted of only me. Staring forward, I held my head high, setting my jaw and holding Alexander's stare. He nodded and moved on with his speech.
"Activities will begin soon. There will be no structure to today's events, and we hope you have fun. Tonight's dance will begin at seven o'clock. If you don't know your rooming assignment, please see the Heads of your House. As always, we do not want problems, so before you create one, walk away. Young males, this is especially true for you, and if a female is not interested, leave her alone. Enjoy the festival."
Scattered applause followed the festival's welcoming speech, and I relaxed on the bench...until Wilson brushed up against my back when others moved past him down the aisle. The male hadn't taken the hint to leave. I'd never had this much male attention, and I wasn't sure I liked it.
"I think I'm going to go find some girls to hang out with. Maybe I can convince them to let Shannon paint our faces for the dance." I winked at the witch, who smirked.
"Nice try. I'll paint your face now, but you'll be washing it off before the dance."
"Why? It's not like I want a man, so why do more to attract them?" I was more than certain Wilson heard me since he was still hovering, and it was because he was hovering in my personal bubble that I allowed myself to be so open and vocal about my feelings.
"Because it's fun to get dressed up, and who knows, maybe you'll change your mind if you meet the right male." Shannon shrugged. "Okay, lady, let's go find some people to start face painting. It's been a while since I've done it, and I'm itching to start."
We stood, and I almost had to push Wilson out of the way, but a severe glare from Shannon made him think better of his intention to follow...for about three seconds anyway. We were a few steps away before he attempted to follow us again. This time, Jacks backed us up, grabbing the man's shirt and hauling him down to the bench beside the wolf shifter. It gave us plenty of time to escape while the wolf wrapped an arm around the vamlure's neck and shoulders like he was about to share with him the world's darkest secrets.
"Remind me to thank him later, even if he was only doing it for your benefit," I mumbled to Shannon, who giggled.
"He did it for both of us. He's never liked it when men push women and don't take no for an answer. He'll straighten him out before he's done with the punk." She eyed a group of women my age and in their teens and nudged me. "This is where you come in. I can't just walk up to them or they'll scatter."
Taking a deep, steadying breath, I strode toward the group of women. It didn't go unnoticed that they had their own gawking males hanging out around them. While the girls sat on the benches between two tables, leaving the aisle between them, the males sat on the benches across the tables, trying to eavesdrop on the conversations and inserting comments where they could. When the group of females caught sight of our approach, the women on the end nearest to us opened their circle to allow Shannon and I to join them. Some smiled wide, while others shot me, but mostly Shannon, wary glances. I didn't blame them one bit, but since I was the only Head of the Third House, I was sure they'd been told to play nice. Hopefully I'd be able to make an actual friend among them and not someone who wanted to suck up to me because of my position.
"Can we join you?" I asked the group, readying to sit on the bench at the end when a female near the center waved us down.
"Come sit here in the middle. I'm sure I'm not the only one with a million questions and it'll be harder to hear you down there." Her long hair was pulled back into a thick braid, and it was becoming a given that every eye in this place was almost solid black. It made my stomach tighten to think about being that depleted, and I wished again I could do something to help them.
The female gave a couple younger girls a stiff glare, and they retreated to the seats we were going to take, leaving Shannon and I room to sit in the middle of the group. More males congregated on the benches, and I had to bite back a groan. Even some of the girls noticed and giggled.
"You attract the males, so you might as well bring them with you," the girl across from me snickered in a soft voice that barely reached me. "I'm Kindee, and that's my sister, Rashel." Kindee pointed to the girl who'd beckoned us over.
"I'm Koda, but you probably already know that, and this is Shannon. We're friends and on the same Elite team."
Other names floated around the group as the females introduced themselves. Most also included their Houses, and it surprised me that most in this group were from Fifth House, House Metrak. They were close friends, and they'd met the other girls at other festivals and events. Three were mated, but still hung out with other females their age.
"So, how can a male tell if a woman is mated or not?" Shannon asked, curiosity flowing from her with the same energetic waves she exuded during shoe shopping.
Some of the girls stared at one another like they weren't sure they should answer the question, but Rashel shrugged, not intimidated in the least by my Magic User friend. "We don't wear rings like humans, or any defining jewelry, so it's a valid question. From a distance, it's more difficult, but they can tell when they are close enough to smell us. Apparently a female's scent changes when she's mated and married."
"And she isn't as attractive to a male," the man sitting behind Rashel announced, and I relaxed when he didn't attempt to give me a pleading stare. In fact, he appeared like he didn't even care that I existed, his attention always fixed
on Rashel. "I'm Legion, by the way."
"He's with me," Rashel gushed, giving Legion a wink and a sensual smile before nibbling her lower lip. "We recently decided to be mates, though we've known one another for forever."
Friends to lovers. That was cute. And the way they were both giving the other puppy dog glances, it worked for them.
"Gosh, you two are sickening," Kindee gagged. "And I thought you two were impossible before you made it official. You're even worse now."
"I can't help it that we love one another," Rashel giggled, turning back to us. "Anyway, Koda, tell us about the surface."
"Uh..." I turned to Shannon. "That's a loaded question. Do you have any suggestions on where to start?"
"Nope. What do you ladies want to know?"
First, they asked about the weather. Both Shannon and I's jaws dropped when most of the girls confirmed they'd never seen the sun before, only through movies. They'd never felt the rain, or a blade of grass. In fact, they'd never been above ground at all. Never again would I take any of that for granted.
We answered what we could before they moved onto the next topic, which was about races of different categories, and about humans. When they asked Shannon to show them some magic, she and I shared a look. This was her moment.
"Okay, so I have this hobby that I love," she stated, leaning forward, and some of the girls mimicked her, their eyes aglow with anticipation. "At festivals on the surface, there's often an activity known as face painting. Do you all do that here?"
"Face painting? Like paint someone's face?" one of the younger girls asked, scrunching her nose up in disgust. "Why would you want to have someone paint your face?"
"It's not a complete paint job," Shannon chuckled. "Someone paints designs on your face, like animals, flowers, or odd shapes. Here, let me do Koda first, and the rest of you can decide if it's something you want. Also, if you're comfortable with it, I can add some magic to make the paint glow."
"Yeah, show us on Koda." Kindee almost bounced in her seat with excitement as I turned to face Shannon, who was pulling a paintbrush out of the clutch she'd been carrying with her. Until this point, I hadn't bothered to notice she had it. What all did she have in that thing?
"Don't you need paint?" I asked her, and she gawked at me like I was some form of idiot.
"Koda, I'm a witch. I don't need paint. I've magicked the brush to supply all the paint I want."
"You can really do that?" another one of the younger girls asked, and I caught a male behind her almost as excited as the females. Maybe this would be a hit.
Shannon shrugged. "Of course. Not all magic is deadly and used to harm. So much of it is fun and exciting, and completely non-malicious. Since I work for the Elite, most of the magic I use can be dangerous, so I like to do as much fun magic as I can when I get the chance. Now, Koda, hold still."
"You aren't going to ask me what I want?" I pouted, but that only made Shannon grin wider.
"Nope. I've got this." She bit her lip, studying me. "Do you know what color shirt you're wearing tonight?"
"I thought I wasn't allowed to wear face paint to the dance."
She shrugged. "I've got something pretty planned that could totally work. What color?"
It was my turn to shrug. "Not sure. I can't remember what my best outfit is that I packed. I think I just threw whatever I could grab into my bag. We did leave in a hurry, and packing clothes for a dance wasn’t a priority at the time."
She chewed her lip again. "Hmm, well, I have something you can wear if nothing you have works, so let's go with purple to match your eyes."
"I'm so jealous about those eyes, by the way," Rashel grumbled, watching Shannon as she spun her paint brush between her fingers. "Are there really people on the surface willing to give us blood?"
A cool dampness followed Shannon's brush along the skin above the bridge of my nose. "Raven's lived on the surface for ten years with little access to any other vamlure, and I can count on one hand how many times his eyes have been dimmed near to yours in the time I've known him," Shannon murmured as she concentrated on her painting. "Once was after a difficult vampire attack. They thought a senior citizen center was a nice place to stop for a meal. We showed them otherwise, but Raven used himself as bate, and he lost a lot of blood that day. It took quite a bit to get him back on his feet, but we killed all the vamps."
"He's never mentioned that," I told her, fighting instinct to search for Raven in the room since Shannon was still painting and I didn't want to ruin her work.
"It was just another mission to him. He did what he had to do."
The females continued to pepper us with questions, and when Shannon was finished with me, she dug a mirror from her clutch and let me see her handiwork. She'd painted three large purple and pink flowers at the center of my face, right above my eyebrows, and used white paint to make jewel-like dots so the formation appeared like jewelry. Then she'd painted several smaller flowers across my cheekbones in place of blush. The artistry she demonstrated was astounding for face painting, and I couldn't help but feel beautiful.
"Who's next?" Shannon asked, and several hands shot up, making her laugh. "All right. Let's do this. You can pick an idea, or I can choose. Let's get started, ladies."
Chapter 14
We spent the rest of the morning chatting and watching Shannon face paint. Several of the females chose flowers, with and without glowing paint, and some let Shannon pick. She used an array of animals, including butterflies. Rashel had volunteered Legion to have his face painted as well, and they both ended up with tiger face paint.
After a lunch of pre-made sandwiches, we met back up with the others for a brief team meeting in private where we explained everything that Gerald had told us. Both Shannon and Luella were clueless about who the man behind my father’s death could be. Afterward, I'd sought out Alex to see if I could meet with the old vamlure again, but apparently Gerald was even more under the weather. The Head of Second House appeared grim, speculating that now that Gerald had given me the information he'd fought so hard to live to tell, he was fading fast. He'd slept most of the day already.
The rest of the afternoon was spent watching a knife throwing competition. Most competitors were male, and most of those were single as they were trying to attract female attention. Even though I wasn't even a bit interested in them, the thrill of watching as the competition became fierce had me cheering for my favorites along with the rest. Luella had a seat beside me, and every time it was Tanner's turn, she screamed the loudest. If I didn't know any better, I'd say my naiad friend had a crush, but if Raven was right, nothing would ever come of it.
In the end, Tanner took second place, and an older vamlure male took first. A young female was third, earning her shouts and whistles among the women in the crowd when they gave her that prize. It wasn't a medal, so I made a mental note to ask Raven what the prizes were for winning.
Too soon it was time to prepare for the dance, and I found myself being dragged behind Shannon to the unit our team had been given to share, much like the first we'd almost slept in. Luella promised she'd join us soon, but she had to congratulate Tanner first. The witch and I shared a look and she finished pulling me away. Even a pleading look to Raven to save me didn't help. He chuckled and actually turned his back on me. He was going to pay for that.
Once in the unit, Shannon went a step further and locked us in the large bedroom we'd be sharing again. She dug through her clothes and pulled out a white top with lace running down the outside of the sleeve. On Shannon, it would be long, but on me, it was barely going to reach the top of my jeans.
"White?" I squeaked, cringing at the color. I'd likely spill on it.
She cocked her head at me with a less than amused expression. "What's wrong with white? Are you wearing a black bra?"
"No!" I shrieked, stripping out of my shirt to take the one she handed me, revealing the fact that I most certainly wasn't wearing a black bra.
"Well, suck it up. It'll go we
ll with your make-up, and you need to look hot tonight."
I groaned, fighting the urge to flop back on the bed in rebellion. "Why? Why must I look hot tonight?"
She glared at me. "Because there's a stubborn vamlure male out there who we need to make jealous enough to admit he cares for you a bit more than he's trying to convince himself he does."
"And who's going to do damage control when the entire single male populous decides they're the perfect mate for me? Jackson?"
Scoffing, Shannon dug in her bag for a new shirt for herself while I dug out a pair of better fitting jeans. "Not on your life. He's my date."
I paused pulling up the new jeans and stared at her with narrowed eyes. "Exactly how close are you and Jacks?"
Shannon paused and looked up at me, a vulnerability in her gaze. We stared at one another for several seconds before she sighed and sat on the end of the bed. I hadn't expected her to open up to me. She usually shut that topic down, and Jacks didn't entertain it either.
"We're close, Koda. Like, very close." Rubbing her forehead, her shoulders slumped. "I don't even know why I'm sharing this, and it's not to leave this room. The only other person on the team who knows this is Raven because he has access to our files and he's our team lead. Not even Avery or Luella know it. Got it?"
"Then why are you telling me?" I squeaked, the full understanding of the weight of her words settling heavy on my chest.
"Because," she heaved another sigh. "I need someone I can talk to about it. Well, not it, but I want a girl friend who knows, who I can trust."
"Not Luella?" I laughed, taking a seat beside Shannon, who groaned and shook her head.
"She's sweet and saucy, but way too spacy for this. She'd never understand."
"Well, I promise I won't say anything to anyone, and you can come to me anytime if you want to talk."