Chapter 16
The large mahogany door swung open to reveal an explosion of light and chaos.
Bryce ushered us in, beaming in a midnight-blue dress that glittered with bright sequins and beading, her bone-straight black hair coiled into a sleek bun atop her head.
Next to Casimir, she looked enchanting, the pair of them dressed head-to-toe in dark, gilded regalia.
My eyes were drawn to a gold serpent pendant clinging to the elegant column of her throat, its gleaming blood-red rubies glaring up at me.
Beware eyes of venom, the winding coil’s twist, and death’s slithering kiss.
Holy. Shit.
Bryce’s necklace matched up with the hint from the Book of Erebos. Was this the necklace Casimir was planning to steal? More importantly, was Bryce Yu-Ri the Keeper’s Heir?
I couldn’t stop staring at the serpent at her throat. Luckily, Bryce was too busy gawking at Casimir to notice my preoccupation.
The starry-eyed look she gave Casimir seemed to mirror the glimmering sequins of her dress.
Her eyes roved over him greedily, his bronze features rendered even more enchanting in the iridescent light of the porch.
I nearly snorted at the mask of courteous disinterest he wore. To cover my error, I cleared my throat.
Suddenly remembering herself, Bryce tore her eyes from Casimir and focused her attention on me. No one could mistake her surprise as anything but an insult as she looked me up and down.
“Wow, Arden! I almost didn’t recognize you,” she gushed.
I felt the sting of the backhanded compliment, but forced a polite smile anyway. “Thanks, Bryce.” Ignoring the way Casimir’s sharp gaze fixed on me, I added, “What a beautiful necklace you have on. Is it a family heirloom?”
Bryce beamed. “Oh, thank you. It was a gift from my mother,” she explained with a careless wave of her hand. Anyway, I’m so glad you two could make it to my little gathering.” She gestured lazily to the grand foyer behind her.
However grand the outside of the manor had seemed, it was nothing compared to what awaited us inside.
In fact, grand didn’t even begin to cover it.
A stunning crystal chandelier, along with tiny strands of faerie lights, hung from the center of the foyer, their twinkling glow reflected in the pristine parquet floor.
The decadence of the entryway was made more resplendent by the number of baroque-style paintings that hung from the walls, replete with gilded wainscoting.
As I examined the paintings, I recognized Western renditions of famous Greco-Roman works of art: Venus emerging from her shell, Narcissus gazing at his reflection, and others not as easily identifiable.
On either end of a sweeping staircase perched a fat little cherub, each with a pouting expression carved into marbled permanence.
I cut a covert glance at Casimir, who met my gaze with a wry smile that told me that our thoughts were aligned.
The splendor of the mansion’s interior was muddled somewhat by a distinctly acrid flavor in the air.
I’d been prepared for this. Nearly every large crowd I’d ever entered was like a bombardment on my senses.
The bitter taste of the lies rose like vapor and left an acrid taste in my mouth.
I’d forgotten that parties were practically incubation zones for liars.
Tonight, thankfully, no one was telling fibs nefarious enough to make me gag.
Just the usual white lies and braggadocio you’d expect at a party.
I tried to push the sensation to the back of my mind, like an alarm on the lowest setting.
I couldn’t afford distractions tonight. If my theory about Bryce’s necklace was right, and Bryce was the Keeper’s Heir…
it meant that we still had a shot at stopping the Order.
I tore my gaze from the opulent decor and surveyed the guests, many of whom were dressed as extravagantly as Bryce, chatting animatedly against the thrum of music.
Casimir did not look impressed in the slightest.
Bryce was still standing beside us, a glass of effervescent liquid in one hand, watching him coyly. There was no chance in hell that Bryce was going to want to talk to me while Casimir was here… but maybe I could use her apparent infatuation to my advantage.
Bryce moved forward, leaning in so closely that I could count the jewels glued to each of her eyelids as she batted them at Casimir. “I don’t know if I mentioned it earlier… but today’s actually my birthday.”
Casimir’s expression was the epitome of bland disinterest. “Happy Birthday,” he murmured.
From this proximity, I could also smell the alcohol on her breath.
Bryce giggled and blushed prettily. “Thanks ever so much. Come find me later,” she added, pressing her fingers into Casimir’s forearm. With a wink, she sauntered off into the crowd. I frowned at the spot where she’d touched his arm.
The din of the music rose higher, blaring above even the loudest partygoers.
I stood in the entryway, feeling entirely like I didn’t belong there, despite Gwen’s stunning dress. I wrinkled my nose.
Casimir frowned after Bryce. “She lied.”
I stared at him in utter bewilderment. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“She said she didn’t recognize you.” He continued to frown after her. “You look exquisite, but you also look exactly like yourself.”
I flushed at the compliment even as I contradicted him.
“I hate to break it to you, but she wasn’t lying.
” Even I had hardly recognized myself in the mirror after Gwen had finished with me.
“Besides, she was too busy drooling over you to care what I look like. I could’ve shown up wearing a sack, and she wouldn’t have noticed… ”
Casimir’s frustrated frown was an ornament to his drawling tone as he sighed. “Why does it not surprise me that you can’t take a compliment?”
“I can take a compliment,” I retorted. “But we have more important things to think about right now.” I quickly filled him in about the hint from the Book of Erebos and my suspicions about Bryce’s necklace.
“Caught that, did you?” he remarked wryly. “It’s not the necklace we’re looking for.”
I frowned. “How do you know?”
“Let me worry about that,” he evaded.
We pressed our way through the throng of partygoers, past an arched doorway, and into the dining area where most of the other guests were assembled. Margot Penbury, Hugh Langburg, and several other Circlites I didn’t recognize were huddled in a corner of the room, looking sulky about something.
The guests were clustered around a bar stocked with hundreds of bottles of various liquors, crystal glasses, mixers, and a smattering of skewered olives.
In spite of its sheer opulence, the room was tastefully adorned, clearly designed for elegant entertaining.
The arching French doors opened onto a sweeping terrace where partygoers already mingled, laughing and drinking.
Faded portraits of wan, ethereal women draped in Romanesque splendor hung along the walls.
The elegance of the room, however, stood in sharp contrast to the partygoers themselves.
In one corner, a girl in a short green dress hurled the contents of her stomach into an ivory trash can while a group of boys snickered, lewdly eyeing her exposed undergarments.
Further down the hall, a group of upperclassmen were cheering on as a smaller boy chugged a bottle of liquor.
I turned to Casimir, all business. “Bryce is dancing now. Go talk to her. See what she knows about the Keeper.”
Casimir raised his brows in surprise. “You want me to glamour her?”
I flattened him with a look. “I didn’t say that.”
“What did you mean, then?” he probed.
“I only meant you should try flirting with her. Put those hideously arrogant charms to use.”
“So, you do find me charming?” he concluded.
I shot him an exasperated look. “I didn’t say that, either.”
“But you’re fine with me using my glamours if it’s for the greater good, right?” Before I had a chance to retort he continued, “I’m just surprised, is all. Especially after seeing your reaction to my using magic on the librarian.”
“This is different,” I insisted. When he did not reply, I conceded with a groan of frustration. “Fine, yes. I want you to do whatever you have to—infiltrate her mind, glamour her, whatever. Just find out what she knows.”
Casimir fixed me with a strangely unreadable expression, as if I were a puzzle he had yet to solve.
“What?”
“Nothing, it’s just…I’ve never seen you be so brutal.”
“If you don’t like it, shut your eyes,” I growled.
He leaned in closer. “I never said I didn’t like it.”
My stomach did a little flip, but before I could reply, Casimir leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper, “I’ll handle Bryce, you get us drinks. And for gods’ sake, they’d better have decent alcohol.”
I watched from my seat at the bar, a glass of champagne in hand, my eyes fixed on Casimir and Bryce from across the room.
I couldn’t hear their conversation, but Bryce was smiling and laughing.
I guzzled down the last dregs of champagne and poured myself another glass.
If only I could’ve heard what they were saying.
One thing was for sure, Casimir was smooth. He leaned in seductively, tracing the curve of Bryce’s jaw with his thumb, eliciting a shiver that made her dress sparkle under the chandelier light.
Under the pretense of examining the array of rings bejeweling her delicate fingers, Casimir pressed a kiss to her hand, making her giggle.
His fingers rose to twine in the gold chain at Bryce’s throat, his other dipping to curve against her waist, his body angled in a way that could only be described as predatory.
And Bryce was lapping it up like a cat in heat.
I tried to ignore the unpleasant twisting in my gut while I nursed my dwindling glass of champagne.
A few minutes later, a voice spoke in my right ear. “Was one of those supposed to be for me?” Casimir was back, a distinct air of triumph about him.