“I know,” he answered, staring out. “It almost feels as if there’s nothing separating you from the world out there. As if you could step forward and just fall into the night.”
Just let go and fall into it. Grandpa’s words whispered at the edge of Ridley’s mind. She shivered at the idea. No way in hell would she be falling from this kind of height while letting go of all control. Maybe her magic would automatically take over, but what if it didn’t? “Well, anyway,” she said, turning away from the window. “I wish we could watch the city all night, but we need to watch Callie instead.” She scanned the ballroom, her eyes meeting those of a young blond man nearby. She gave him a polite nod, her gaze moving on until she picked out the green dress. “Looks like Callie’s talking to someone else now. We should get closer.”
They wandered casually between the tables, Ridley asking random questions about random people to make it appear as though they were in conversation rather than following someone around. “Is that the girl who got caught skinny-dipping in the school pool during an awards ceremony one year?” she asked, catching sight of a familiar face framed by vibrant red hair.
“Yes, that’s the one,” Archer replied. “The skinny-dipping may or may not have been related to an ongoing string of dares that I … well, may or may not have been part of.”
Ridley laughed. “I think I’m relieved we were never friends at school.” Her eyes moved on from the redhead and landed on the same blond man from a few minutes before. He still appeared to be watching her. “That guy behind the skinny-dipper keeps looking at me,” she told Archer. “It’s weird.”
“Well, as previously noted,” Archer said as he followed her gaze to the young man, “you do look lovely, so there’s nothing weird about him checking you out. Perhaps he’s working up the courage to ask you to dance.”
“I don’t know. He doesn’t look happy.”
“Probably because you’re with me.” Archer swung an arm around Ridley’s shoulders. She swatted his hand away as she smothered another laugh.
“Why don’t you go find us something to drink?”
Archer smirked. “So your admirer can talk to you without feeling intimidated by me?”
“No, so I can speak to Callie. It looks like she’s just finished talking to that old lady. So you go do something else—” she turned him in the direction of the nearest waiter “—and I’ll make up an excuse to talk to her.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gave her a lazy salute, then walked away before Ridley could tell him exactly how she felt about being called ‘ma’am.’ She sighed and stepped around two men in the midst of a heated debate about commscreen brands—only to see that Callie was now chatting with someone else. Apparently, when you spent most of your time being a recluse, lots of people wanted to catch up with you when you finally did venture into the real world.
“Crap,” Ridley muttered beneath her breath. She turned away, and almost smacked into Archer’s mother. “Hi, um, Mrs. Davenport.” Ridley took a step backward, putting a respectable amount of space between her and the party’s host, and noticed then that Lilah was standing there too.
“Ridley?” Mrs. Davenport asked with a frown. “Ridley Kayne?” Her eyes darted around as if she might find an explanation for why a girl from a family she no longer associated with was standing in the middle of one of her glitzy events. “Are you … in the right place?” she asked.
Lilah’s piercing gaze swept the full length of Ridley’s body. “I don’t think she is,” she told her mother before Ridley could reply.
“She’s with me,” Archer said, returning to Ridley’s side at that moment. He had a champagne glass in each hand, both of which he placed on the table beside them before facing his mother.
“Archer, darling.” A strained smile appeared on Mrs. Davenport’s lips. “What do you mean?”
“I mean she’s here as my date.” He slipped one arm around Ridley’s back and pressed a quick kiss to her temple as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “We’ve reconnected since I returned to Lumina City.”
“I—that’s—lovely,” Mrs. Davenport said, and Ridley thought it was probably the only time she’d ever heard the woman stammer over anything. It was entirely worth the strange sensation of Archer’s lips on her skin just to see the horror in Mrs. Davenport’s eyes and written all over Lilah’s face.
“Oh, I need to greet Madeline,” Mrs. Davenport said hastily, her eyes landing on someone behind Ridley. “Lilah, you must thank her for putting you in touch with that professor.”
“Actually, I’d like to speak to—”
“Don’t be rude,” Mrs. Davenport hissed, gripping Lilah’s arm and pulling her away.
Ridley faced Archer and raised one hand delicately to her forehead as she fanned herself with the other. Archer frowned. “You okay?”
“Just a little dizzy,” Ridley said. “I mean, a week ago I hated you, and now we’re dating? Can you blame me if my head’s still spinning?”
Archer’s concern vanished as he realized she was joking. “I have that effect on women.”
A most unladylike snort escaped Ridley’s lips, and she clapped one hand over her mouth as a man standing nearby shot a frown in her direction. “I’m not sure it’s a good thing that you make people dizzy,” she said once the man looked away. “But the kiss on the temple was a nice touch. Good job with that.”
“Smooth, right?” Archer nodded agreement. “My improv skills are stellar.”
“Next level indeed.”
“What the hell is going on?” a voice demanded, and Ridley turned to find Lilah right in front of her, glaring at both of them. Whatever she’d needed to say to Mrs. Davenport’s friend, it clearly hadn’t taken long. She took a step back as Lilah looked at her brother and added, “You’ve been acting weird ever since you got back. I know the two of you aren’t here on a date. No way would either of you put up with each other’s company if it weren’t for some mutually beneficial reason.”
Archer’s arm was suddenly around Ridley again. “You mean like our mutual affection for one another?”
Lilah narrowed her eyes. “Don’t make me sick. I’m calling security. I know you’re both up to something. I have no idea what it is, but I won’t have you ruining this event.” She spun around and marched toward the entrance.
“Wonderful,” Archer said. “My lovely sister really is going to get us thrown out of here.”
“Crap,” Ridley muttered, her eyes following Lilah as the dark-haired beauty walked up to one of the security guards at the base of the stairs. She exchanged a few words with him before throwing a triumphant smile over her shoulder at Ridley.
“Please don’t slap me,” Archer said. “That would really ruin the act.”
“What?” Ridley’s eyes snapped back to him just as his hand rose to her chin. Without a word, he tipped her face up toward his. Then, before she could find the breath to protest, he kissed her.
11
The kiss was of the innocent close-mouthed variety, but slow and lingering in a way that made heat sizzle across Ridley’s skin and a shiver race up her spine and into her hair. Her eyes drifted closed of their own accord, then flickered open again as the warmth of Archer’s lips vanished from hers. She took in a shallow breath as her eyes found his. Then he pressed a second soft kiss to her lips. Quicker than the first. Easy, natural, as if they shared brief kisses all the time. He paused then, his face mere inches away from hers. Close enough that she was still breathing in his cologne or aftershave or whatever that intoxicating scent was. “You’re good,” he whispered.
Ridley sensed heat rising up her neck, but she refused to let him know he’d affected her. As smoothly as she could, she said, “Thanks, I know. I’ve been told before.”
One side of his mouth pulled up. “I meant your acting skills.”
She gave him what she hoped was a knowing smile. “Sure you did.”
He laughed, his eyes zeroing in on her lips, and she was certain he was about t
o kiss her again.
“Hey!” a loud voice interrupted, ruining the moment. “Seriously?” Lilah asked as Ridley and Archer broke apart. “You’re really here together?”
Ridley let out a breathy laugh. “We are.”
Lilah’s fiery gaze burned into her. Then her hand flashed forward—but she was aiming for her brother, not her former best friend. She grabbed a fistful of Archer’s shirt and tie and tugged him closer. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?” she hissed into his face. “After everything you said about her after the Cataclysm, now you bring her to one of our events on your arm? You’re such a hypocrite. And you?” She shoved Archer away and sneered at Ridley. “I thought you had at least some dignity left, but now you’re just like every other girl who’s ever thrown herself at my brother’s feet.” And with that, she pushed her shoulders back and sauntered away.
“Well,” Ridley said quietly. “That was pleasant.”
Archer was quiet for several moments before saying, “She doesn’t know that I’ve—”
“Changed?” Ridley said, her tone light.
“Yes.” He sighed. “I know it sounds stupid—”
“It’s fine.” She patted his arm and gave him a reassuring smile. “Really, it is. This isn’t a real date, remember? You don’t have to explain anything.”
“I know, but—”
“Anyway, maybe you should talk to Lilah while I’m talking to Callie. You can tell her … I don’t know. That things probably won’t work out with me. Tell her whatever she wants to hear. Because if you’re leaving soon, then you don’t want the last few days or weeks of your time at home to be filled with fighting.”
“True,” Archer said quietly as his eyes followed Lilah. Ridley watched her sashay back toward the stairs. Not to speak to the security guards this time; she was all smiles and charm as she greeted another couple that had just arrived. The Davenports were nothing if not exceptional in the acting department.
“Do you ever wonder if the two of you would still be friends if the Cataclysm had never happened?” Archer asked, drawing Ridley’s attention back to him. “If it hadn’t ruined your dad’s business, and you were still living here in Aura Tower?”
“And if you’d never told Lilah to ignore me?”
“Well—”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. You apologized, I’m over it, it’s in the past.” Ridley took a deep breath, her gaze wandering across the ballroom and its occupants. “I do wonder sometimes how different life would be. Not just because magic would never have been outlawed, but my mom would still be alive too. But if everything had remained the same, then … I don’t know, maybe I wouldn’t be a nice person. Maybe I’d be just as much—” She silenced herself before finishing that sentence. It probably wasn’t helpful to say things like ‘Maybe I’d be just as much of a bitch as Lilah if we were still friends.’
“Just as much what?” Archer asked.
“Nothing.” Ridley mentally shook off her negativity and tried to picture the imaginary situation the other way around. Maybe if things hadn’t changed, Lilah would still be the fun, friendly girl Ridley had loved being around when they were little. “Yes,” she said, pulling a smile into place. “Perhaps Lilah and I would still be friends if the Cataclysm had never happened. I would have spent almost every afternoon for the past decade hanging out at your place, and your parents would probably be sick of me.”
Archer laughed. “Or they’d love you. If they were around enough to get to know you, that is.”
“You’d be sick of me.”
“Or maybe we would have been friends too.”
“True.” She tilted her head and gave him a thoughtful look. “That’s a possibility.”
“In fact,” Archer continued, “that would have been the best part for you. You would totally have loved spending all that time around me.”
She laughed at him and his ever-present cockiness. “Right, and maybe we would have found ourselves exactly where we are tonight, except it would be genuine instead of fake.” At that, Archer raised an eyebrow. “That was a joke,” she added hastily. “If all those things were true, then you’d probably see me as an annoying younger sister just like Lilah, so you and I definitely wouldn’t be here together.”
Archer smiled at her in a way that did strange things to her insides. “Highly unlikely. The sister part, I mean. Not the together part.”
Ridley opened her mouth, planning to respond with a clever comeback, but not a single one came to mind. She cleared her throat. “Um, anyway. None of that happened, so here we are. In our crappy post-Cataclysm world.” As she looked around the room, wondering where Callie had got to, she sensed Archer’s eyes still on her. “Oh, look, Callie’s heading out,” she said, grateful for an excuse to divert Archer’s attention elsewhere. She nodded toward Callie, who was moving toward one of the doorways leading off the far side of the ballroom. “Are the bathrooms that way?” Ridley asked.
“Yes, I think so.”
“Great, okay, I’ll catch her there. Then hopefully I can convince her to speak to me somewhere a little more private.” She walked forward, and Archer fell into step beside her. “Um, what are you doing?” she asked.
“Going with you. Not all the way to the ladies, of course. I’ll hang out somewhere nearby. I think they have a few of those platforms with the glass floors along this side of Aura Tower. I’ll pretend to stare down at the city far below and watch out for you in case something goes wrong.”
“What, like she attacks me in the bathroom for asking to have a private conversation with her?”
“You never know.”
They reached the doorway at the edge of the ballroom and continued into a wide passageway. To their right was a plain wall, while on their left were numerous enclosed platforms jutting out over the ground a hundred and forty floors below, like glass cubes stuck to the side of Aura Tower. Ridley could still see Callie up ahead, walking with a causal stride, her arms swaying at her sides and a purse clutched in one hand.
“Won’t you miss this when we’re done?” Archer asked.
“What, stalking people?”
“Actually, I meant more … you and me hanging out together.”
“Oh.” For a moment, Ridley imagined she could feel his lips on hers again. And then the memory of that stupid dream from a few nights before resurfaced. The one where she was sitting on the desk, and he was standing too close, and her hand had grasped his T-shirt to tug him closer. “Like as friends, right?” she asked as a flush crawled up her neck and into her cheeks. What the hell was wrong with her? She refused to prove Lilah right: she would not be joining the long line of girls who’d pined after Archer Davenport.
“Yes, as friends,” he said, just as Ridley saw Callie walk through a door on the right. “Unless you’ve decided you still hate me. But I was kind of hoping we’d moved past that.”
“We have. So, uh, yes. We could hang out. But you’re leaving.”
“I am.”
They reached the door Callie had gone through—a door with a simple gold symbol of a stick figure in a dress stuck to it—and Ridley paused to ask, “So how are we going to hang out then?”
“Weeeeell …” Archer drew the word out and gave her a knowing look.
Ridley shook her head. “You heard my dad. We’re not leaving.” She raised her hand to the door and pushed it open. “See you a bit later.”
The bathroom was preposterously large, with glossy floors, soft lighting, and enormous mirrors, some of which had cushioned stools in front of them. Three of the stalls appeared to be closed, but Ridley couldn’t be certain they were all occupied. She washed her hands and took a rolled-up white towel from the pyramid of towels sitting on a silver platter. After drying her hands, she pretended to adjust her hair.
Behind her, a toilet flushed, and a stall door opened. A glance in the mirror told her it was Callie. As the woman moved to one of the basins on Ridley’s left, Ridley opened her purse and fished inside for he
r lipstick. She was about to remove the cap when the lipstick slipped—intentionally, of course—from her fingers. “Oh!” she exclaimed as it hit the floor and rolled toward Callie.
“Oh dear, let me—”
“No, it’s fine, don’t worry,” Ridley said as she moved closer. The lipstick came to a halt beneath the basins, and she crouched as low as she could in her form-fitting dress. “Okay, this dress was definitely not made for this kind of activity,” she said with a laugh as she wobbled while trying to reach for the lipstick.
“Oh, sorry, here—” Callie grasped Ridley’s arm to keep her from toppling over.
“Thank you!” Ridley’s fingers finally reached the lipstick. “Thank you so much,” she said as Callie helped her to stand. “I’m sorry, that was so silly.”
“No, I’m sorry, my hands are still wet.” Callie grabbed one of the rolled-up towels from the platter and handed it to Ridley before reaching for a second one to dry her hands.
“It’s totally fine,” Ridley said with another easy laugh, just as a second toilet flushed. “I really don’t mind.” After drying her upper arm, she quickly dabbed some lipstick on. In the mirror’s reflection, she watched a woman walk out of another stall. Callie headed for the door, and Ridley quickly returned the lipstick to her purse and followed her. “Oh, thanks,” she said as Callie realized someone was behind her and held the door open. “So how do you know Jurenza?” she asked.
“Oh, we had the same singing coach, back in the day,” Callie said. “We performed together a number of times when we were both getting started.” She walked beside Ridley as they headed for the ballroom. “What about you?”
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