Page 25 of A Spot of Tea and Sorcery: Vol. 6

“Hey now, there’s that glum look again,” Ward’s voice spoke low in her ear. Luna turned to him, and he tilted his head with concern. “Aren’t you happy?”

“Of course I am!” she protested at once. “Just a little . . . overwhelmed, perhaps.”

He nodded sagely. “I know what you need, Luna Talbot.”

“You do?”

“Yup. You have the look of a girl in desperate need of dancing!”

With that, he pulled her out onto the dance floor, and Luna soon discovered that he might actually be on to something. Ward was, after all, a very good dancer. When he moved and twirled her about the floor, she didn’t have to think about anything. Just music and movement. It was easy. Fun, even. She had always enjoyed dancing with him.

But then the musicians modulated from an elegant waltz into a lyrical rendition of the hit tune of last summer. And Luna’s heart sank.

“Watched you dance with someone new,

Heartbreak wrapped in shades of blue.

Every smile you give away

Turns my dreams to shades of gray.

Oh, love! Like a rose in the rain.

Each petal a sigh, each thorn a sweet pain!”

Suddenly, she wasn’t under the crystal chandeliers and surrounded by ostentatious floral displays and all the upper crust of Brython on display. In her mind, she was underneath a banquet table at The King’s Crown, her head bent at an awkward angle, her body held in the arms of Nigel Grimm. She couldhear this same song playing, feel the warmth of his hand at her waist, his other hand gripping her fingers. The texture of his work apron was rough under her cheek as she rested against his shoulder.

And his voice, that rich, elegant, velvet-dark voice, crooned in her ear:“What is life, after all, but the striving after impossible dreams, day after day?”

The song ended. The musicians paused for a break, and couples drifted from the dance floor. Ward took Luna’s hand, leading her away, and she found she couldn’t quite bear to meet his searching gaze. “Hey,” he said, “how about a little break from dancing? We probably need to stand in line to meet the governor, you know. It’s only polite.”

Luna nodded mutely. They moved to stand in the receiving line. It wasn’t as much fun as dancing, but this was an important event for Ward, so Luna did her best not to fidget. He had been awfully nice to her after all. And though that last dance hadn’t helped her mood very much, she suspected a few more might be just what she needed. All told, this wasn’t the worst way to spend her last night in Ballycastle. A final, flashy memory to tuck away in the back of her mind before she made her getaway.

Chewing the inside of her cheek, Luna glanced around, searching for something of interest on which to focus. She spotted the rose arbor across the way, where a thaumagrapher snapped pictures of posing couples. Even as she watched, Miss Peabody dragged a young fellow with carrot-colored hair under the arbor with her, told the thaumagrapher to take the shot, then wrapped her arms around his neck and snogged him a good one. Luna watched the young fellow’s eyes bug from his face in shock. He pulled back, seemed to drag in a big breath while Miss Peabody beamed up at him. Then, with a little lunge, he caught her in his arms and kissed her soundly and . . . there it was. The very image glimpsed in a white Whittlewedge teacup yesterdayafternoon. Played out not quite as she’d assumed it would. But certainly to everyone’s satisfaction in the end.

“Hey,” Ward said, pulling her attention back to him. Luna offered a smile, though she suspected it wasn’t all that convincing. “I know this is a drag,” he said, “but once we’ve met the governor, we can get some wine and maybe take a little stroll around the garden. How does that sound?”

“Lovely,” Luna answered promptly. “Whatever you’d like to do.”

His brow quirked suggestively at that, and Luna dropped her gaze. That didn’t stop him from leaning in and murmuring, “You have no idea just how gorgeous you are, have you?”

His tone did something funny and not altogether pleasant to her middle. Luna swallowed, remembering her roommate’s words from earlier.“The guy gets you tickets to the absolute hottest shindig in this whole blasted-blazes city! What do you think he’s going to be expecting afterwards?”

Luna cast her gaze about the room again, halfheartedly looking for an escape route. Her eyes passed without recognition over a rather large-framed, hunch-shouldered individual. The next moment, however, she looked again, more closely, and her pulse lurched.

It was Ebenezar Prodigimus. Complete with his pointed nose and his monocle and his expression of stern judgement. She would recognize him anywhere, the Minister Supreme of the Sorcery Suppressions Convocation, who had once stopped in at The Arcane Bouquet and stayed for a tea-scrying. Only, of course, it hadn’t really been Ebenezar Prodigimus then. It was Fabian Grimm, her own Mr. Grimm’s older brother, wearing a sorcerous face-swapping disguise. And this man? This Minister Prodigimus? Was it the real him or . . . ?

Luna’s stomach cramped, like a fist grabbing hold in her middle. Even from across the room, she could see the strangewarping in the air around his face, the not-so-subtle signs of sorcery which altered his physical appearance. Though she could not tell if the real man beneath the glamour was Fabian Grimm or not, she’d bet good money that it was. But what was he doing here? She’d been under the impression he had left Ballycastle.

He turned suddenly. Narrowed eyes, one enlarged by the lens of his monocle, peered directly at her.

Luna turned away quickly, curls bobbing to shield her face. He wouldn’t recognize her, would he? They’d only met the once, a little over a month ago, and so very briefly. But when she dared chance another glance back, she found that he was still watching her, even as his over-large body turned toward a couple standing close beside him. They were a mismatched sort of pair. The blonde woman was tall and shapely, a beautiful creature, carefully crafted to be the most fashionable version of herself, complete with siren red lips. Beside her stood a stout little man with a prominent paunch and red eyes. Though the hour was yet early, he looked halfway pickled already as he nursed a glass of wine.

Suddenly, the blonde woman turned, staring at Luna hard. Her mascaraed eyes flashed with interest, and Luna resisted the urge to take a step back. Something about that woman radiated an impression of purepower.Who was she? Luna had never seen her before, but something about her felt dangerous.

A sorceress,some instinct deep inside her head whispered.She’s a sorceress. Right here, in the Governor’s mansion. Surrounded by SSSD officers, without a care in the world.

A sick, panicky sensation coiled from her gut up her throat, cutting off her air supply. Luna turned, gasping hard, and gripped Ward’s arm without realizing what she did.