by Sarina Dorie
Maybe Josie and Pinky were trying to spare me from talking with Thatch all night and that’s why Pinky walked her over to the empty seat. Elric sat me immediately to his right. Pinky looked lost. Elric motioned him to the chair across from me and one down.
Thatch was better at holding in his disgust than Josie. She wouldn’t even look at him. A butler carried a basin of soup over to Josie and ladled some into her bowl and Thatch’s. Thatch whispered something to Josie and performed his spell to detect poison and hexes. I wondered whether he didn’t trust her to be strong enough to do it herself or he was simply being gentlemanly for the theme of the evening.
Seated across from me was a beautiful woman in a gown similar to my own, but the shimmer of fabric glowed red over an underlayer of black. Her midnight hair was piled on top of her head, and curls dangled down her neck. She watched me with heavy-lidded eyes. Her gaze kept flickering from Quenylda at the head of the table to me.
It was only when the woman across from me spoke and I heard her familiar, deep voice that I realized it was Vega.
“Darling.” She leaned closer to Elric. “I do hope you plan on making your absence up to me later.”
Elric took her hand and kissed it. “You know I always do.”
“You’ll dance with me first tonight?” she asked.
He hesitated. I prayed he wasn’t going to tell her he had already asked me. I didn’t want to steal him away from her. Elric was hers. They were engaged.
“You will come first,” he said. “Then you must promise to share me with the other guests. Will you do that?”
She simpered and batted her eyelashes like a completely different woman. Perhaps Vega was in love with Elric. Fae magic and orgasms could work miracles.
After dinner, the women separated from the men and drank coffee and wine in the parlor. It was a large room with ornate furnishings. I walked with Josie, our arms linked. I gazed at the Neoclassical paintings and sculptures along the walls.
A space had been cleared in the center of the room for dancing. A quartet of musicians dressed in modern attire set up their instruments in the corner. I took it they were Morties, entranced by muse magic.
Vega sat with Elric’s wife, sneaking occasional glances at me. I couldn’t tell if Vega was relieved I was there or jealous. It looked like she wanted to say something to me, but I couldn’t tell whether it was, Stay away from my man, witch or Why did you have to ruin my party, fucktard?
Several times I thought she looked concerned, but that must have been a mistake. Vega didn’t care about anyone except herself.
The men entered the room half an hour after we did, a cloud of cigar smoke billowing into the room with them. Thatch headed straight toward me, but a Fae woman intercepted him. He gazed over her shoulder, his expression annoyed.
I laughed in spite of myself. After weeks of avoiding me, he was trying his darnedest to have a word with me.
Josie gazed at Pinky, who remained at Thatch’s side. “Too bad Mr. Eye Candy will only look that way until midnight.”
I shushed her, afraid Pinky would hear. “That’s like saying too bad you only look cute when you wear makeup.”
Josie made a face at me. “It’s not the same.”
I didn’t see the difference. He liked her even with her imperfections.
“How about a lively minuet as our first dance?” Elric said to the musicians.
Josie and I seated ourselves on one of the settees, Pinky coming over to join us. Dancers began to partner and form lines. It wasn’t so different from the tavern, only people were dressed nicer, and the music was stuffier. Josie cleared her throat and nudged Pinky.
“Would you like to dance? Do you know how to do a minuet?” he asked eagerly.
“I can learn.” She accepted his hand and followed him to the floor.
Elric waved Pinky and Josie over to join him and Vega.
I sat alone on the couch, trying to smile and feel happy for Josie and Vega partnered up with men they adored. Maybe adored was an exaggeration. They both found their dance partners hot.
“Would you care to dance?” Thatch asked.
He stood before me, hand extended as though he had no doubt in his mind I would say yes. Considering he hadn’t spoken to me in over a month—and probably wouldn’t have tonight if I hadn’t forced conversation on him, I wasn’t going to reward him for deciding to be nice to me only when it suited him.
“No,” I said. “I don’t want to dance with you.” The words came out with venom.
His serious expression changed to amusement. He sat beside me. “How do you feel? Aside from being your usual contradictory self?”
I didn’t answer. I hated that he had been the one to call Elric and not me. I resented that he was quick and clever. It was logic, he would say. He was simply being practical. It had nothing to do with his feelings for me because he didn’t have feelings.
I crossed my arms.
“Can we talk? Alone?” he asked.
Tears filled my eyes. “Please don’t do this to me here. Just let me get through the night before you drop any bombs on me.”
He nodded. “As you wish.” He turned his attention to the dancers. “That tall man dancing with Josie, is that Mr. Pinky?”
One side of my mouth lifted into a smile. I wondered if Vega had figured it out. She had spoken with him at dinner, but she hadn’t given any indication she knew him. She’d even flirted with him.
Then again, Vega never let anyone know what she knew.
Thatch returned his gaze to me, his eyes intense. “Something isn’t quite right about your nose.”
He didn’t need to know Elric had said the same thing. “Is that why you’ve come over here? To examine my nose? You wouldn’t normally want to be seen in public with me, so it’s got to be to tell me I look horrible.”
He sighed and crossed his arms. I tried to rise, but I realized he was sitting on the skirt of my dress. Ugh. He’d probably done that on purpose.
“I don’t think you look horrible. You look pretty. I should think you wouldn’t need me to tell you that.”
“Yep. I don’t need you to tell me that. I just need you to occasionally be nice to me if you want me to talk to you at all.”
“I apologize,” he said despondently. “But I’m not very good at that.”
The first song ended. Elric deposited Vega at the side of his Fae wife and whispered something to the musicians, a twinkle in his eye. He made his way over to me as the next song started up. He bowed, ignoring Thatch. “May I have this dance?”
“Yes,” I said, relieved I didn’t have to keep sitting there beside Thatch in silence. I tried to rise, but I forgot about Thatch being on my dress and couldn’t.
Elric chuckled, seeing my predicament.
“Excuse me,” I said, tugging on my dress.
Thatch turned away and pretended he didn’t hear.
Elric grimaced and waved a hand at the skirt. It melted away under Thatch’s leg and reknitted itself.
I took Elric’s hand.
I didn’t look at Thatch to see how he responded. I told myself I didn’t care.
Elric escorted me to the floor and positioned my hand in his. He swept me up in the dance with large graceful steps I somehow managed to keep up with. Other dancers shifted out of the way as he swept through. I caught sight of Thatch dancing with Vega on the other side of the room. Neither of them looked all that happy. He watched me.
I was surprised to see Vega not glaring at me. She stared at the cluster of Fae women.
Elric smiled gaily. “Did you know waltzing was quite scandalous when it was first introduced? It was more intimate than other dances. Think of how thrilling it was, to have a man’s hand on a gentlelady’s waist at a time when such a gesture would be considered improper. I do miss those days of sexual repression. It was so much easier to break free of boundaries. Fornicating meant so much more in the Regency era.”
I
shook my head and laughed. I couldn’t tell whether he was serious or not.
Elric danced as though he were part of the music. His feet glided precisely and perfectly as though he had done this a thousand times. He didn’t hold my hand too high. There was a reassuring comfort in the way his eyes shifted from green to violet. He was very pretty to look at. This could have been my life instead of Vega’s. I could have been happy with him if I hadn’t known it was only a façade of love. His face was probably a glamour, and the feeling fluttering through me was my affinity stirring.
It was a long song, longer than I knew any waltz could be. I wouldn’t put it past him to bribe the musicians. I hoped this wasn’t going to make Vega or Quenylda jealous.
Elric was right about the intimacy of the dance. With his hand resting on the small of my back, I felt like he would draw me into his embrace at any moment. We cut circles into the parlor floor. Thatch and Vega watched us from the other side of the room.
Elric nodded to them. “He’s more taciturn than usual, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yes.”
“What’s wrong?” Elric said. “Was he rude to you tonight?”
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
My nose itched, and I released Elric’s hand long enough to rub at it.
He gave me a disapproving look. “I don’t have to be Fae to know when you’re lying. He’s said something to upset you, hasn’t he?”
I groaned, giving in to his questioning. “Something like that.”
“I saw him talking to you while I was dancing with Vega. You looked like you were going to cry.”
“No, I wasn’t,” I lied. A flare of pain sparked behind my eyes. My nose ached. I wondered if I was allergic to something in the room.
“Is it because you called me for assistance instead of letting him heal you? His pride is wounded or some other such thing?”
“No, it isn’t that.” He had been the one to call Elric.
Elric hugged me closer, his voice low in my ear. “Or did he chastise you because he’s vexed you owe me a boon? Have a care not to let Quenylda find out, or she’ll insist you give me your firstborn child or some such thing.”
“I thought I was safe from owing you any favors until I used up all three of the wishes in the amulet,” I said.
“Not precisely. Remember before when you owed me for healing you?”
I drew back, not wanting to be drunk on his touch. “No, I owed you for healing my students. You said I didn’t owe you anything for calling me and healing me because that was part of the gift of the necklace.”
He chuckled. “Yes, well, I may have downplayed that matter.”
I glanced at his Fae wife across the room, drinking wine with a guest. Her piercing gaze followed me across the floor, sending a shiver down my spine.
This explained why he didn’t want any of us to tell the other Fae why we’d crashed his party. He’d only made me pay him with a favor the first time I’d called him with the amulet to heal my students because his father had found out and insisted. There was no way I was telling Elric that Thatch had called him if that was the case. Who knew what kind of morbid prank Elric would play on Thatch?
As it was, I didn’t believe Elric would neglect his obligation to collect something from me. I hoped it didn’t mean he would start fractioning off my soul.
I squirmed farther away from him, suspicious of how friendly and close he held me. I worded what I said carefully, needing to express gratitude without saying it, while simultaneously trying to understand what he wanted.
“You have always been generous with me, more than I deserve,” I said. “It was fortunate I wore the amulet you gave me.”
He beamed. “Happy to be of service.”
“And now that I’m safe and in your manor—” I started.
Elric clucked his tongue. “This is a castle, not a manor.”
I leaned closer so the other dancers wouldn’t hear. “What kind of payment are you going to ask of me?”
“By Fae rules, that would be the expectation. But I don’t like the rules of my people. I don’t have to collect. We can say being a guest at dinner was reward enough for me.” He smiled down at me with such affection in his eyes I felt guilty I couldn’t return that love.
And sadder still he wasn’t dancing with Vega and gazing at her that way.
“Okay, I’m here as your guest as a favor,” I said, not certain I believed him.
Elric’s gaze flickered to the other side of the dance floor. “Will he stop being cruel to you if we tell him this?”
Unlikely. Still, that wasn’t what Elric wanted to hear. “Maybe.”
My nose itched and burned. I felt like I would sneeze.
His brow furrowed. He released my hand and poked my nose. It didn’t feel right. I touched my nose. It was about a centimeter longer than it should have been.
Elric glanced around, his smile fading. “Don’t panic. Act as if nothing is amiss.” He plastered a smile on his face and removed my hand from my face.
I tried to smile. “That’s right. Nothing is wrong.”
A sharp pain stabbed my nose. It grew an inch, long enough that I could see it when I looked down.
Craparoni! I hated it when people hexed me!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lies, Lies, Tell Me Sweet Little Lies
Elric increased his stride as he headed toward a set of French doors. As we approached, they opened to the night air. The moment we drew close to the exit, he twirled me out onto a balcony.
It was too dark to see the view below, but fireflies zipped in the air above, illuminating white gardenias cascading from the boughs next to the balcony. One side led down into a shadowy flight of stairs. It wasn’t that different from the architecture of his father’s castle, though not quite as grandiose.
“That son of a succubus! He’s hexed you, hasn’t he?” he asked.
“Thatch? Why would he do that?”
“Perhaps because he enjoys inflicting pain on others.”
“He’s not like that!” At least not to me. He only liked to inflict pain on his enemies—or himself. My nose stung and stretched. I pinched it and gauged how long it was. It had grown another inch. This was just like Pinocchio.
“You do realize what’s happening, don’t you?” Elric asked.
“Yes. Every time I lie, my nose grows.”
“Oh. Is that it?” His eyes went wide. “I thought it was every time you defended him, but this makes more sense. Let’s test it. What color is your natural hair color?”
“Red.” My nose grew again. “That isn’t a lie. My hair is red!” It hurt worse the second time I said it. Panic swelled up inside me. This felt like a bad dream.
He stroked his chin. “You’re right. This isn’t about you defending him, it’s about lies versus truth.”
It was the way he worded it that sparked my horror. Lies and truth. A game initiated by the Princess of Lies and Truth?
Elric pinched my nose. “Calling your hair ‘red’ wasn’t a lie exactly. It’s a misrepresentation of the truth. Your hair is auburn, which is more of an orange hue than red. Interesting.”
“It’s not interesting. It’s horrible!” My nose didn’t grow that time at least.
He tugged me over to a bench near the balcony railing and sat me down. “Let’s see what I can do for you.”
He sat close to me, hands cupping my face as he stared at me. Tingles swept over my skin. I couldn’t tell if that was his magic or the chill of the night air.
“It isn’t a hex,” he said. “It’s a curse. That’s harder to break.” He removed his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. “Do you think it was Thatch who did this?”
“No. He wouldn’t do this.” This was a fairy-tale curse, something a Fae would do. I tried to say who I thought it was, but instead my words came out as, “It was the rabbits eating sticks.” I tried to say the Princess of Lies and Truth’s title again. “It was
the carrots on the roof.”
It made sense she would cast a tongue-twister jinx on me. She hadn’t wanted Elric to know about her when I’d tried to tell him previously while I’d been lucid dreaming.
“Ah. I see. He doesn’t want you to comment on it,” Elric said.
“No! It wasn’t Felix.” I didn’t want him to blame Thatch and do anything rash.
“Has he been . . . unkind to you? Has he hurt you?”
I was careful in how I worded my answer. “He wasn’t the one who punched me in the face, if that’s why you’re asking. Someone else is behind all this.”
“That isn’t what I was asking. I already know he didn’t do that. The creature was a Fae-constructed golem similar to the one that attacked you before. Probably it had been created by someone in the Raven Court, perhaps the Raven Queen herself. I need you to tell me precisely what Thatch has done this evening. I need to know if any of it is related to or causing this curse.” He took my hands in his.
“If I tell you, will you promise not to do anything to him?” I could imagine Elric misinterpreting something Thatch had done and attacking him for it.
He hesitated. “I promise not to do anything to him tonight. I won’t do anything in anger.”
That meant he would plan and plot Thatch’s destruction.
“Elric?” a woman’s deep voice called from the open doorway. Vega snuck past the curtains, silhouetted against the light from inside. I couldn’t tell whether it was the cut of her empire-waist gown or there was a slight bulge to her belly and she was starting to show.
Elric rose, blocking me from view. “I’m out here with Clarissa, dear.”
She whipped out her wand, and a light illuminated the tip. I turned my face away so she wouldn’t see. Something rustled as I moved. I patted the long shaft of my nose, feeling the leaves that had sprouted there during one of my growth spurts.
Panic lanced through me. What if this wasn’t curable?
