Page 12 of A Spot of Tea and Sorcery: Vol. 6

“Don’t leave me!” Luna hissed desperately.

His brow crinkled.

“Please!” she added.

He stared at her for a breath. Then he nodded. Once.

The next moment, Ward was at the counter, leaning on his elbows. “Morning, Luna. Grimm,” he said. His voice seemed to fill the shop.

Luna painted a huge smile on her face and whirled to greet him. “Ward! What a, um, lovely surprise!” Mr. Grimm’s arm tensed under her grasp. Realizing she still held onto him, she let go, and he stepped back a pace or two. With a grunt, he turned and busied himself with the debris scattered across the lower counter where she’d been working. He picked up and moved around various items and flowers at random. But he didn’t leave.

“Surprise, is it?” Ward tilted an eyebrow at her, even as his dimples came out to play. “I shouldn’t think so. A fellow likes to pop in and visit his girl on break, doesn’t he? Speaking of . . . you got a break coming up soon?”

Luna shook her head, valiantly keeping her smile fixed in place. “I’m sorry, Ward. We’requitebehind on orders today. What with the Governor’s Ball and all.”

“Yeah, about that.” Ward removed his hat, and that dark curl of his bobbed across his forehead, working its winsome charm atmax appeal. “How about you just ask Mr. Grimm over there for a five minute breather, eh? And come on a little walk with me.”

Her blood went cold. What did a “little walk” mean? Was it code for a one-way trip to the slammer? Her mouth felt dry as a desert, and Luna couldn’t help self-consciously tugging at the cuff of her blouse, even though she knew perfectly well Ward had clocked her heptagram tattoo long ago. Probably the very first day they’d met.

“Um, I can’t,” she demurred.

“Sure you can.” Ward leaned over, looking at Mr. Grimm. “She can, can’t she? You can spare her for five minutes? After she stayed up late running inventory for you and all.”

Mr. Grimm looked at Ward then at Luna. She met his stare hard, even as she kept her smile in place. She gave the slightest shake of her head and watched her employer’s brows pucker.

Then he said, “I cannot spare her just now.”

“Geez Louise.” Ward sighed heavily. “Really, Grimm? Five minutes?” Then he slapped the counter, not hard, but enough to make Luna jump. He continued talking in his habitual breezy tone, however. “Never mind. I wanted to do this someplace more private, but this’ll have to do. Close your eyes, Luna Talbot.”

“What?”

“I said close your eyes. And hold out your hand. Palm-up.”

Luna felt her smile trying to wobble. Was she about to have a pair of handcuffs slapped on her wrists or something? “Why?” she asked, trying to keep her voice light, curious, without any trace of terrified quaver.

“You’ll be happy if you do. Trust me.”

Something told her she was not, in fact, going to be happy about whatever this was. Still, Luna did as requested, closing her eyes and holding out her hand. Something smooth and flat was placed in her palm.

“All right,” Ward said. “You can look now.”

Luna opened her eyes. She found she was holding two tickets in her hand. Two gilded tickets. She blinked and looked more closely, at first assuming they must be for the theater, some concert perhaps. When she saw what was written in gold lettering, however, she was obliged to read it three or four times before the truth finally registered. Then she gasped and looked up at Ward.

“These are tickets to the Governor’s Ball!”

Ward grinned. “I know. Last night’s raid was a resounding success, with the shipment confiscated, and one Dark Sorcerer brought into custody. Nasty fellow by the name of Lancelot Mortimer, all Dire-burned on his face. Yeeugh.” He shook his head, grimacing. “But in honor of our noble service, all the lead officers on that raid have been invited to attend the ball tonight and be awarded medals by the governor himself.” Ward leaned harder on the counter and winked at her. “Told you I was going to sweep you off your feet, didn’t I? How’s this for a bit of a sweep?”

Luna gaped into his sparkling green eyes. For just an instant, in the depths of his black pupils, she glimpsed again a vision she’d scried in his teacup last autumn. She’d seen a glorious ballroom, festooned with flowers, and Ward in his dress uniform, dancing with . . . well, with some future version of herself, in fact. Clad in a gown of such rare and exquisite beauty, beyond anything she’d ever observed in cinema or magazines.

She blinked. And in that moment of closed eyelids, she felt so painfully aware of Mr. Grimm’s presence close to her elbow. Oh, why did he have to be here for this? Why had she begged him to stay?

“Ward,” she said slowly, opening her eyes and looking up at the handsome officer once more. “I . . . I can’t go with you, you know.”

“What?” Ward blinked, surprised. “Why not? Dames love this sort of thing, don’t they?”

A low growl sounded somewhere to her left. Luna cleared her throat loudly and pushed the tickets back Ward’s way. “I don’t have a dress,” she said. Which was true enough. She certainly didn’t have a dress anything like the one from her vision—that glorious confection of pink and yellow and multi-layered skirts.No onehad a dress likethat. Not even the Queen of Brython herself!

“That’s all right,” Ward answered with an easy grin. “Buy one.”