10. Felicity
CHAPTER TEN
felicity
This was a bad idea.
The path we’re walking winds narrowly between the trees, the university buildings quickly disappearing behind the dense covering of leaves.
I carefully step over a branch, tugging fruitlessly at the sweetheart neckline of the corset I’ve been stuffed into.
It’s cute enough—a black and red concoction of lace and ribbon—but it’s a size too small, the boning digging ruthlessly into my ribs with every breath.
“Feels like my nipples are falling out of this thing,” I mutter sourly, relieved that Florence had approved the skintight black jeans covering my legs.
She looks at me over her shoulder, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight. “You look hot.” Her tone is friendly, reassuring, but my cheeks still heat, the chilly breeze a whisper of relief against the hot skin.
She turns to look at Ada, cooing, “Come on, demon girl. Midnight’s approaching, and I want to find the lucky man I’m gonna take to heaven.”
Ada scrunches her face into a scowl, but it only lasts a second before a tipsy giggle escapes. “Not in our room, you’re not, or I really will show you how much of a devil I can be.”
“Spoilsport.” Florence sticks her tongue out, and I chuckle, feeling more at ease the longer I’m with them.
Still, tension stiffens my shoulders as the path comes to end at a large clearing already swarming with people.
Music blasts from unseen speakers, vibrating the ground underneath our feet.
It’s the middle of the clearing that catches my interest, though, where the flames of a massive bonfire stretch up to the sky.
I didn’t expect there to be quite so many people here, and the urge to run makes me twitch. We walk further in, and Florence calls out excitedly when she sees someone she knows, disappearing into the crush.
Ada is still at my side, and I glance over, seeing her wide-eyed expression. Frowning, I follow her line of sight, finding her locked in a stare-down with a shirtless guy, his face hidden behind a skeleton mask.
Florence reappears then, a blond guy wrapped around her, a second man a step behind them. His glazed eyes are focused on Ada, who finally drags her attention away from the skeleton guy just as the newcomer slides a hand around her waist and down to cup her ass.
My mouth twitches with amusement. I need a drink before I delve into…whatever this is, so I turn and slip away, heading for the crudely set-up bar I spied on our way in.
There’s a line, but it doesn’t take long before the makeshift bartender, a guy from my political legacies class, is pressing a plastic cup into my hand. I grimace at the strong scent of beer, but throw the entire thing back and grab another.
I drink this one more slowly, stepping off to the side and turning to watch the rest of the party. I can’t see Florence or Ada anymore, too many people between us, but I’m not itching to jump back into the crowd.
A deep, guttural roar cuts through the air, coming from the direction of the castle.
It’s a feral sound, full of power and nothing I’ve ever heard before.
It doesn’t last long, and when the sound fades away, the partygoers shake it off as someone turns the music up.
But an eerie premonition slides through my veins as the night seems to get darker, the fire struggling to light up the clearing.
Feeling uncertain, I finish the rest of my drink. I’ve gotten used to the taste now, and it slides down easily, with me barely even making a face. The aftertaste is almost sweet, so I grab another one, enjoying the way the tension is dissipating from my spine, the world losing a little focus.
People have started dancing not far from me, keeping a safe distance from the fire, and I move into the throng, sweat dampening my skin as the crowd presses in from all sides. My half-full cup balanced in one hand, I close my eyes and tip my head back, losing myself to the rhythm of the music.
Everything narrows to a dark pinpoint, the faces around me all blurred together, the world hazy and filled with smoke. Each song slides together until my cup is gone, lost somewhere, and another body is pressing up against my back, two hands gripping my hips as they grind against my ass.
“Hey,” a deep voice purrs in my ear. “You look like you’re here for a good time.”
“And you think you’ll be the one to give it to me?” I laugh. My face is numb, and I can’t tell if I’m smiling or not. I poke at my cheek, which only makes me giggle, everything tipping to one side.
“Woah!” The man grips me tighter, holding me steady as he chuckles. “I definitely think you should give me a try.”
There’s a surge of noise to my left. Or my right. I furrow my brows, head swiveling as I try to work out what’s going on. Suddenly, there are several screams as the bonfire blazes upward, tongues of orange and gold stretching up to the night sky, billows of smoke leading the way.
People are running away from the raging fire, rushing through the dance floor. One crashes into me, propelling me backward, my arms flailing. The guy curses, but doesn’t let me fall.
Everything goes kind of gray, like the static on a television. I blink furiously to clear my vision, but nothing happens. Panic flashes through me as I cry out, “What’s going on?”
“Don’t worry,” he tells me. “Someone’s just fucking around with the fire.” His fingers dig into my sides, one brushing over my breast, but then he’s urging me backward through the press of bodies still dancing to the music.
“Let’s go find somewhere quieter,” he mutters.
I try to say no, but my tongue doesn’t feel like my own, a broken whimper escaping.
My feet tangle beneath me, and I stumble, but he doesn’t stop.
Instead, he hooks his hands under my arms and hauls me along.
My chin sinks to my chest, my skull too heavy, my neck unable to hold it.
Still, he doesn’t notice, even as he’s dragging me like dead weight.
Or maybe he does, and just doesn’t care.
“Stop,” I manage to whisper—or at least, I think I do. Darkness is crowding into the edges of my vision, and every time my lashes drop, it gets harder and harder to lift them again.
“Guess someone else did the work for me.” The guy laughs, his voice sounding like it’s underwater. “Don’t worry, we’re almost there.”
Where? I want to ask.
Let me go! I want to scream.
And then he freezes, like maybe I did.
Except when he talks, it’s not to me. “What the fuck do you want?”
“For you to get your hands off what’s mine.” The voice is icy, furious, and mocking all at once. Relief fills my chest, but there’s a war in my head because that voice shouldn’t make me feel safe.
But it does, something hot throbbing in my chest, like it’s stretching out to him, demanding his touch.
The haze temporarily clears, and I see him standing there, his fists clenched at his side and his jaw gritted.
His hood is pulled up, but it does nothing to shadow those preternatural eyes or the starkness of the runes against his pale skin.
“Yours?” The guy’s laugh is high-pitched—scared.
“Give her to me, and fuck off.”
There’s a long pause, but then, “Whatever. Not fucking worth it.” With a heavy push against my shoulder, he sends me stumbling with a cry. Two bruising hands latch onto my arms before I can hit the ground, yanking me into a hard body.
A hand cups my face—his palm on my chin and fingers lying against my cheek—holding me against his chest. I’m not sure if it’s a move that’s meant to trap me or help me keep my head up, and I don’t care, exhaustion pummeling me as I watch the guy stomp away through bleary eyes.
“Worked faster than I expected,” Vaelor mutters above me. And then he bends down, scooping me into his arms. His touch is soothing and inflaming at once, a strange heat unfurling in my stomach and spreading throughout the rest of my body.
“Hot.”
“I know.” There’s a strange edge to his voice, a mixture of satisfaction and concern. I don’t have time to dwell before he’s striding into the darkness of the trees, leaving the party and the sounds behind us.
“Letmego,” I mumble.
“That seems to be your mantra at the moment,” he says with a low laugh that makes my stomach clench.
“But I expect that will change soon, Princess.” A week ago, he called me princess in the most mocking voice, filled with condescension.
But tonight, the word sounds soft, reverent.
I know that can’t be true because if there’s one thing Vaelorisn’t, it’s soft.
At first, the silence is oppressive, but the quiet soothes the dull throb I hadn’t even realized had started in my head. I can’t fight the urge to sink against him, a deeply buried instinct reassuring me that I’m okay now…even as my mind screams with panic.
A branch breaks nearby, and Vaelor pauses. My lashes lift long enough to find his glowing eyes fixed to the left, and then they fall closed again.
A voice calls out, “The Mireveil worked then?”
“Slipped it in before you even got near the flames.” A humming sound vibrates against my ear. “I don’t think I ever understood how truly defenseless a human could be until I stood right behind her and tipped it into her cup without her ever realizing.”
What? I try to force my way up through the thick sludge to make sense of that, but it’s too thick, too sticky, pushing me back down.
A raspy chuckle strokes along my nerves with familiarity.
“Yeah, well, humans don’t play with shadows as well as as you do.
” A finger reaches out to trace along the neckline of the corset, teasingly tugging at it before he pulls away.
My skin feels cold in the absence of his touch, and I shiver.
“Gargoyles are out. Let’s get the fuck out of here. ”