by Emma Savant
The lighting crew were the last to leave. I let them out of the building and locked the door behind them before I went back in. It was almost one in the morning by the time Acacia and I got all the clothes put away, and she seemed exhausted.
“You can head out,” I said. “I want to go tidy up backstage a little bit so we’re ready to go tomorrow.”
She knit her eyebrows together. “I can stay and help.”
“You’re ready to drop,” I said. “Go home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She gave me a quick hug and left. I went back to the showroom. After I’d straightened up the loose makeup and hairspray and bathrobes cluttering the backstage area, I stopped in the showroom doorway to get a glimpse of what our guests would see tomorrow.
A network of dark branches threaded with silver and gold hung from the ceiling, creating the illusion of a forest canopy. Above the branches, tiny twinkling lights simulated stars, and the trees dropped a light mist of enchanted glitter that dissolved long before it ever reached the ground. The chairs to either side of the catwalk were silver, sculpted to look like they were formed of tangling vines, and the catwalk itself was a dazzling white.
Glimmering fashion shows were known for their sets, and this one held its own. It was just as good as the spiraling staircase I’d seen last year at Moon, and better than the flower garden from Anatole.
Most importantly, it felt well-suited to both Carnelian’s dark glamour and the Faerie Queen’s connection with the natural world. I took a deep breath and watched the glitter fall, then turned off the lights.
Carnelian’s lobby was eerie at night. The soft lights that were part of our security system illuminated the lobby, but shadows still clustered in corners, and my footsteps echoed against the marble floors. I passed through the space as quickly as I could, then stood outside to lock the doors and set the security charm.
“I thought you’d be here,” a voice said behind me.
I jumped and spun around, ready to knock whoever it was out cold before he could say another word.
Alec stepped back quickly.
“It’s just me,” he said. “Sorry, I thought you saw me.”
I lowered my hands as my heartbeat struggled to resume its normal pace. “No,” I said. “It’s the middle of the night. What are you doing here?”
He held up a small box.
“Is that—?” I said.
He nodded and handed it to me. I lifted the lid and had to catch my breath. He had woven the tiny sphinx whiskers into two crescent moons and linked them together with delicate silver chains strung between each of the moons’ four tips. It was impossibly delicate and seemed to shimmer with its own ethereal light.
“This,” I said. “This is the winner.”
I didn’t dare lift it out of its box, so Alec picked it up for me.
“It’s stronger than it looks.” His voice was warm with well-deserved pride. “It’ll stand up to years of use.”
I ran my fingertip along one of the woven moons. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Not many people are willing to work with the material,” he said. “I hope your grandma will be happy with it.”
“She’s liked all the rest,” I said. “You outdid yourself.”
Alec put the clasp gently back in its box and handed it to me. I turned back to the door to unlock it again.
“I’m going to go put this in her office,” I said. “She’ll be here first thing in the morning.”
He glanced behind me. “You alone here?”
“I was about to leave.”
“I’ll keep you company.” He quickly looked away from me and shrugged. “If you want.”
I hesitated, but his attempt at casualness was endearing. Anyway, any building this size was creepy at night.
“Come on in, and I’ll show you the catwalk,” I said. “You can get a glimpse at what you’ve been working on these past months.”
His face, when I flicked on the lights and he saw the glittering forest we’d created, made me glad I’d invited him in. He stared upward, then his eyes narrowed as he squinted at the canopy of branches overhead, trying to figure out what we’d used and how we’d made it all stay.
“What’s the glitter made of?” he said, gesturing up.
“It’s glitter.” I shrugged. “Just has a charm on it.”
“Must be nice to have witchcraft at your fingertips.”
I laughed. “That’s not witchcraft,” I said. “Grandma hired a faerie to come put the glamour on it. That sort of flashy stuff isn’t really our strength.”
He nodded and watched the sparkles fall and dissolve. Finally, I touched his arm.
“I need to get home,” I said. “You’re welcome to come to the show tomorrow. All the seats are taken, obviously, but there are some spots backstage if you promise to stay out of the way.”
He seemed surprised at the offer. I was, too. It wasn’t like we were friends, not really. But he seemed to appreciate the design of all of this more than anyone I’d worked with today, except for maybe Acacia. It felt right that he should see the end result of all his work. Maybe it would give him a better sense of what Carnelian was all about, and he’d be able to work with us on projects for the next show.
“This is the atelier,” I said, once we were upstairs near Grandma’s office. I nodded toward one of the doors. “We do most of the actual sewing in there. We’ve got other offices for the designers, where we have scanners and computers and stuff.”
“Sounds intense.”
“You have no idea.”
I unlocked the door to Grandma’s office and tucked the box inside one of her desk drawers while Alec hovered in the doorway with his hands in his pockets.
“You can come in,” I said.
He shook his head, smiling awkwardly. “Naw, I’m kind of intimidated by your grandma. Don’t want to get in trouble.”
I laughed. “You and everyone else in the city.”
Back in the dim hallway, he cleared his throat. “I was thinking about what you said about Cate,” he said. It was an abrupt change of subject, but the moment he spoke, I realized this was the real reason he’d offered to stay with me. “I probably jumped to conclusions back then. We were pretty young, and I wasn’t at an age that’s known for really thinking things through.”
I thought back to the past few weeks and couldn’t stop myself from making a face.
“We all jump to conclusions sometimes,” I said. “Some of us more than others.”
“I just wanted to say thanks,” he said. “For letting me know. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I’d have wanted to know if it were me,” I said.
He smiled at me, and it was a real smile—the first one I’d ever seen on him. It softened his face and made his too-large eyes crinkle a little bit, and I felt myself soften, too. I nudged him with my shoulder while we walked, and he nudged me back.
“Do you want a ride?” he said, once we were back in the lobby.
“I’m okay,” I said. “I’m parked just outside.”
I nodded through the glass windows to my bike, which couldn’t really be seen past the dim reflections on the glass.
“You sure it’s all right if I come by tomorrow?” he said. “I don’t want to be in the way.”
“We’re juggling twenty-five models backstage, plus stylists and assistants,” I said. “One more body won’t make a differe—”
Alec started, and I fell silent. Hair prickled on the back of my neck, and I snapped my head around to look at where his wide eyes were focused.
Just outside the glass doors, a tall, broad-shouldered man stood and stared at us. I didn’t recognize him, but I recognized the absolute stillness of his body and the yellow glint in his eye.
“Werewolf,” Alec said under his breath. He put a hand out, as if that could protect me. “Run.”
39
The man raised a fist and pounded on the door. The glass trembled in its frame.
&
nbsp; “I see you, Dagger,” the man shouted. His voice was muffled, but the words came through as clearly as the rage on his face. “Come out here.”
Alec’s hand pressed me backwards, and I pushed him aside.
“I’m not going to run,” I said. “If he’s got a problem with me, we’ll deal with it.”
I took a step toward the door, but Alec grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Don’t,” he cautioned.
“Brendan and I came to an agreement,” I said. “I’m going to go talk to him.”
“Brendan sent him,” Alec said.
I looked at him, and his face was tight and pale.
“It’s one of his guards,” Alec said. “I know this guy.”
The man pounded on the door again.
“Open this door, or I’ll come get you myself,” the man shouted.
He was huge and burly, and I was already scanning him for weaknesses and how I might take him down.
I shoved Alec’s hand away and strode toward the man, whose heavy frame was made bulkier by a rigid leather jacket. I stood on the other side of the glass, close enough to see his cropped hair and scruffy face in startling detail.
“What do you want with me?” I said, loudly enough to be heard through the door.
“Little Red Riding Hood came to the forest for the last time,” the man growled. “I’m to take you back to the den so the alpha can deal with you.”
“Is this about the banana bread?” I said.
His face darkened. “My people are dead, and you’ll stand for your crimes.”
A shiver passed through me, and I took a step back and looked at him more carefully. His face was twisted with hatred, all directed at me. I shifted my foot slightly, feeling for the reassuring weight of my dagger in my boot.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said.
His face contorted further, and I put one hand on the door, as if that could somehow soothe the beast in front of me.
“What happened?” I said. “What are you talking about?”
“Scarlett.” Alec was just behind me now, his voice low with caution.
I waved him off. “What happened to your pack?” I said.
“Scarlett,” Alec repeated, more urgently.
I saw the man move just in time. The metal rod he’d been hiding behind his back crashed through the glass door and sent shards shimmering through the air toward me. I ducked and covered my head as I darted away.
The man ran toward me, arms outstretched, and I dropped to an abrupt crouch. He tripped over me and fell to the floor.
Alec grabbed my jacket and pulled me away, and I pounded toward the shattered door.
But someone else was already there, her eyes glinting in Carnelian’s security lights and her mouth twisted in a snarl.
“Cheyanne?” I said. I held up both hands. “Cheyanne, it’s me. We met, remember?”
She leapt toward me and hit me square across the face, sending pain shooting up my jaw.
“Don’t you dare touch my family,” she screamed, raising her fist again.
I blocked her next punch and held her wrist away from both our bodies. Anger built like steam inside me.
She kneed me in the gut and tried to grapple me, but she was smaller than me and not nearly as trained. I yanked myself away from her, then glanced behind me to be sure Alec was in one piece. He was, but the hulking man behind him was, too.
“Move!” I shouted, and Alec evaded the man just in time.
This was stupid. I didn’t have time for this. I had a show in the morning, and they’d just destroyed the doors, and how was that going to look to our clients?
And what had the man meant, his people were dead?
I grabbed Cheyanne when she came in for another attack, then twisted her into a hold with her arm pinned behind her back.
“What is going on?” I demanded.
A few feet away, Alec ducked as the man swung a giant fist toward him. Alec wasn’t going to dodge the next blow, I could tell. He was an artist up against a trained fighter, and the smart money said he’d be unconscious in about thirty seconds.
I let Cheyanne go, jumped in front of Alec, and jabbed up at the man’s throat. In an instant, his focus was on me. My body dropped into a familiar, adrenaline-fueled rhythm as I ducked and jabbed, trying to find an in. I managed to duck down and pull my dagger from my boot, but he quickly sent it skittering away across the floor with a well-timed hit.
“Alec!” I shouted, but now he was too busy fending off Cheyanne to notice anything happening with me.
She was about to lay him out, too.
I should have sent him home when I had the chance.
It took a few moments, but I managed to duck away from my opponent and grab my dagger before he caught up with me. I spun around and held it out, glistening silver tip pointed toward him.
“You don’t want to get cut by this,” I said. “It’s made of silver, forged in fire, and I coated the blade in wolfsbane not too long after you people kidnapped my grandmother. Back off, or no Glimmering hospital in the world will be able to help you.”
The man hulked just out of reach, breathing hard and glaring at me as though he wished he could destroy me with the power of his gaze. Behind him, the dagger caught Cheyanne’s attention and she stopped fighting. Alec held up his hands and backed away, maybe thinking she’d decided to call a truce.
Slowly, she spun to face me. The blood rushed to her face, and her shoulders jerked roughly as she dropped to a crouch. Before I could tell what was happening, she had shifted.
Her wolf form was enormous, all compact muscle and dagger-sharp teeth. I remembered what she had told me, that she was one of the few who’d been born into the pack, and fear shot like ice down my spine.
“Alec,” I said slowly, not taking my eyes off her. “Alec, you need to get out of here now.”
A chilling smile spread across the face of the man in front of me, and his body started melting and reshaping itself, too. His wolf form took a step toward me, his massive shoulder blades shifting as his clawed front leg crept toward me.
“Alec,” I shouted. I could see him in the corner of my eye. He was motionless.
Why did I have to do everything myself?
I eyed my targets. The wolf in front of me was closest, but Cheyanne was bigger. I’d save the dagger for her.
My feet were firmly planted on the floor. I felt down through them, connecting myself with the earth beneath the building and bringing its energy up through my body. I held out a hand and focused warmth there. Fire sprang to my palm. I held the flame up as a warning.
“You can back off, and we can talk,” I said. Fear pounded in my chest, and I did my best to shove it down and transform it to anger—the kind that fueled the flames in my hand and made it easier to face the snarling wolf in front of me. “If you push me, you’re not going to walk away from this.”
The wolf growled. Behind him, Cheyanne took a step toward me.
They weren’t going anywhere, and I was probably going to die.
At least I might be able to keep them in the lobby and away from the showroom. Getting murdered by a bunch of oversized dogs would be bad, but it didn’t have to ruin the show.
The flames in my hand grew. I shot them toward the wolf in front of me. He flinched as the fireball flew through the air and tried to dodge it, but he was too large and too close to dodge anything moving that quickly. It hit his side, and the acrid smell of burning fur rose off him.
He dropped to the floor, smothering the flames.
The fire hadn’t hurt him. His fur was too thick. But it had distracted him, and the next fireball was already burning hot in my hand. I directed this one toward Cheyanne, but she was faster and dove out of the way quickly enough that only her tail got singed. She turned on me, and her muscles tensed an instant before she jumped.
I dropped to a crouch with my dagger pointed straight at her. It would connect with her body first, and the silver and wolfsbane would poison her bloo
d and drop her—or at least weaken her enough that I could subdue her with more spells.
She leapt, but her snarling jaws didn’t reach me. Instead, her body slammed against the dark, heavy shape of another wolf. It bared its teeth and snapped at her, then turned its head to look at me. Its wide yellow eyes held a ring of hazel coloring, and the expression in them was one of concern rather than attack.
I jumped to my feet.
Alec was gone. And now there were three wolves.
40
My blood ran cold, but I didn’t have time to think now.
I brought another round of fire to my hands and threw the flames at Cheyanne, who seemed like the biggest threat. This time, the blaze connected with her nose. She yelped and shoved her face to the floor, trying to dampen the flames.
The other werewolf paced back and forth in front of us, his eyes sharp and a snarl fixed on his giant face. The creature protecting me—the one that had to be Alec, because no one else had been here, because no other wolf would be throwing himself in front of me like this—chased the first wolf down the length of the lobby, snapping at his legs.
Alec cornered the wolf and stepped toward him, growling, and then they were a blur of fur and teeth in the corner of my eye.
I spun and stabbed as Cheyanne’s monstrous form jumped toward me. My dagger sank deeply into her shoulder. She yelped—a high, sickening sound—and tried to bite me, but I had already dodged away, leaving the small weapon buried in her massive shoulder, so deeply I could barely see the hilt through the fur.
She yelped in pain, then tried to step on the leg. She whimpered and recoiled, then skittered backwards. I pushed the guilt of hurting her away and darted close to pull the weapon out. I held it out and stepped slowly away.
“There’s more where that came from,” I said, staring at one of her enormous yellow eyes.
She tensed, and her gaze flicked to the weapon in my hand, then back to me. She took one tiny step backwards with her tail between her legs. “Go home,” I said. “Get out of here.” I shook the dagger, pointing it toward the door. “Go on. Go tell your alpha to come talk to me personally if he’s got a problem with me. I suspect he knows where the mansion is. I’ll be there, and my sisters will be, too, if he thinks he’s going to do anything more to me than talk.”
