Page 41 of Magpies & Mayhem
My eyes flashed to him again for the thousandth time tonight. He looked way too uptight and uncomfortable. The dude needed to find a way to take the edge off. Maybe we could figure out a way to make alcoholic blood. Or maybe I could drag him behind some bushes and find a different way to take the edge off. I wouldn’t be opposed to that.
“Shall we?” I almost fell out of my chair again, thinking that Grim was somehow responding to my thoughts this time. His puzzled expression and upturned palm didn’t calm my internal freak out. “I believe it’s our turn to welcome the guests to join the ball.” Oh, right. That. Yes. Dancing!
I set my hand in Grim’s, and we rose as one to make our way to the dance floor.Time to slay.
Chapter 28
Theeldritchhorrorwhirlingme about the floor was an excellent dance partner. I don’t know why I was surprised by this, but every movement was precisely calculated, every spin perfectly led, every dip gracefully balanced. I still felt that creeping sense of foreboding in his presence, but I let myself relax into the joy of the dance and the excitement of the moment. Dancing with Grim was like dancing on air. He waltzed as if it were second nature to him and was clearly talented in his leading as he drew me through the steps of the dance with ease. It didn’t escape my notice, however, that every loop brought us closer and closer to Jordan, who wasn’t looking at me at all. He was looking atGrim, and he wasmad.Was jealousy rearing its ugly head again? I nearly laughed.
I followed Jordan’s gaze to Grim’s face, finding an unmistakable spark of mischief in his eyes as he spun me directly into Jordan’s line of sight. I did laugh then, unable to smother my disbelieving cackle as I realizedGrim was acting as my wingman.Would wonders never cease? Delightful.Don’t worry Jordan, I’m going to drag you out here and subject you to dancing next, I thought,with evil glee clearly written on my face. But the next time Grim whirled me toward the seated crowd, Jordan had disappeared.That scamp!
The song ended, and we faced the crowd, raising our arms in invitation to the floor, and then returned to our table. “That was lovely, Grim. I had no idea you were such a clever dancer.” No response, other than to incline his head.
Elara and Levi were mingling with their guests, and I could tell from here that Elara was already starting to feel overwhelmed. Time for a rescue. I scooped up her glass of water and pressed my way through the crowd, dodging around spark fairies and taking her hand to pull her aside. “Hello, sorry to interrupt! I just need to borrow Elara,” I said with a fake grin pasted on my face as I handed her the glass and dragged her from the fray. Levi was on his own. Everyone around him looked enraptured by his enchanted words.
“What’s wrong?” Elara whispered.
“Nothing. I’m rescuing you. Drink some water.” I scanned the crowd again, looking for Jordan.
Elara huffed a laugh before dutifully sipping her water. “Thanks. What are you looking for?”
“Jordan. I’m going to make him dance with me.”
She broke into a small grin. “He doesn’t seem like the dancing type. You should dance with Rafe.”
I shot a frown at her. “Does he still have those birds in his shoulder?” Rafe was one of the clan of dryads—a race of nomadic tree-people—that Elara had grown up playing with because they sojourned on her family’s property. I liked Rafe well enough, but the cute little adorable male chickadee that lived in his shoulder was a totaldick.
Elara’s mouth dropped open. “You wouldn’t withhold a dance from Rafe just because you’re holding a grudge against Dust!”
“I’m not holding a grudge,” I grumbled. “I just think the guy could stand to be a little more respectful to his wife.”
She chuckled at me. “Puff and Dust have beenmatedfor almost seven years now! You need to let it go, Sidney. They’rebirds.”
I was aware of that. I could choose to dislike a bird simply on principle if I wanted. Scanning the crowd again proved fruitless. Jordan had seriously disappeared; I couldn’t see him anywhere. I would have asked Grim to find him, but he’d conveniently disappeared, too. “Fine.” I’d make my own fun while I looked for that sneak. He had to be hiding around here somewhere.
Rafe’s twelve-foot frame was easy to spot among the crowd of people. I tried to keep an eye on what was happening around me as I pushed my way through—sparks darting to and fro, a jovial ogre gabbing happily with a goblin in high-court garb, Elara’s reserved parents talking to my brash ones, my brothers doing shots in the back with Ahmed, half a dozen attendees mobbing Levi with questions because they were hoping to hear him speak. I rolled my eyes, knowing I’d been just as enamored with his voice the first time I’d heard it and grateful for the ear cuff Elara had provided me to ward against it.
“Rafe!” I called over the din of conversation and music as I approached. He turned gingerly, slowly raising his arms above the height of the crowd as he pivoted, as if he were afraid of injuring someone if he moved too quickly. It was hard to describe a dryad’s body language. They didn’t really use facial expressions in the way that most people did, but his movements still had an air of expectation to them as he turned to greet me. There were various sized dryads among his clan, and Rafe wasn’t the tallest, but he was enormous. Built like a kickboxer, he had a heavy frame that looked like an impressionistic statue made of driftwood and vines welded together by moss and fungus.
“Oh! Sidney! You look splendid,” he greeted as his vibrant eyes settled on me. Their eyes glowed faintly green in the dark with foxfire.
I grinned at him, taking in the extra swathes of moss covering his huge form and the tiny white flowers dripping from the small, gnarled looking antlers that sprouted from the back of his head. “You look rather fetching yourself, all done up for the ceremony. Come dance with me!”
“I’m not sure I know much of this dancing, but I would be honored to try. I’ll need to be careful not to jostle the little ones out of their slumber.” I spotted Dust nestled into a crag in Rafe’s bark with his head tucked behind a wing. Puff, his mate, must have been squirreled away in the cavity he’d allowed them to hollow out in his shoulder. If they could handle him running through the forest and training for battles in the mountains, they could sleep through a dance or two. The crowd quickly parted for Rafe, staring up at him in awe as we entered. Even the flowers turned their pretty faces toward him as we passed them by. He paused at the edge of the crowd to watch a few loops of the dance, and then declared, “This dancing is much like a gentle martial art,” in his deep, rustling voice. He took my hand, and we were off, whirling our way into the ordered chaos that was a formal dance. His movements were the graceful bow of a tree in the wind and the power of an avalanche rolled into one. He was all confidence and good cheer, and I burst with joy as we spun about the floor.Why couldn’t Jordan do this with me?I caught a glimpse of him slipping behind a column to chat with Grim and stared him down until the crowd moved between us and he was gone again. Probably sulking in the shadows somewhere.
I spent hours taking turns with Rafe and my friends Solandis and Alistair. Solandis and I turned out to both be terrible dance leads, so we stepped on each other’s feet and spun each other about wildly until we collapsed in a fit of giggles. Alistair had left me covered in his iridescent wing scales, and I probably looked like a glittery disco ball, but it had been worth it to smoosh my face into the mothman’s soft fur when he hugged me. I couldn’t corner Jordan, but I did meet Sadira, the elvish girl from the receiving line. She and her pretty husband seemed incredibly shy, so I brought them shots from the bar and then foisted them upon Solandis. She could show anyone how to have a good time, and they clearly needed it—shell shocked as they appeared.
I also managed to snag Ahmed—my brother’s date—and convince him to dance with me, but before I could pepper him with questions, Josh interrupted us. “May I cut in?” he asked, and I beamed at him.Aww,my little brother wanted to dance with me!I could have squealed with excitement, except that he wheeled away dancing with Ahmed instead of me. He cast me a mischievous grin over his shoulder as I cackled at his audacity.
But then…then, as I danced with Rafe again, I foundhim. Jordan was seated up on the dais with Levi, Elara, and Grim…in my seat. I paused in my steps as Jordan stood and buttoned his jacket, narrowing my eyes at him. He spotted me immediately and said something to Levi before stepping off the dais and into the shadows.Oh, no, he doesn’t.
“Excuse me, Rafe,” I growled. “I’ve got a vampire to catch.”
Chapter 29
Iwaswaitingforhim in the moonlit courtyard to the south of the party when he tried to slip through, quiet as a church mouse. My voice was more irritable sounding than I meant for it to be when I said, “I’ve never known someone so big and scary to be afraid of something so trite asdancing.” Frustration at him and the pervasive itch beneath my skin at being away from Huck for so long had made me agitated.
Jordan froze in his tracks, nearly hiking his shoulders up to his ears as if I had startled him, but I couldn’t imagine why. The man could hear and smell things from blocks away. He cast his gaze around the walled garden as if searching for onlookers before turning to face me where I leaned against the stone wall in the corner of the courtyard. His question came without inflection. “You still think I’m scary?”
