Chapter 40 Heidi
HEIDI
I should have worn foundation.
Now I'm staring at myself in one of Everbound's bathroom mirrors, and all I can see is my birthmark. Splotchy and pink and right there on my face for everyone to gawk at.
Asher, Ian, and Zak tried not to show it, but they weren't exactly happy when I told them I wanted to come to the Seeking being held at Everbound today.
When I promised that I'm not coming here to look for matches and claimed I'm just trying to show everyone I'm not afraid of society despite everything being said about me online, I know they didn't buy it.
Kaenon wasn't bothered by us coming here, since he's lucky enough to already know we're mates thanks to his shifter sense of smell. But he had pleaded for me to attend this without hiding my face.
The rest of them had joined in, teaming up with their ridiculous hotness and pleading faces and sweet words like, "Please don't cover it up, Shorty," and, "I need to see your face," and, "Keep the makeup off, but can I eat you out again before we go?"
That last one was Zak. I've decided that half-demon really, really loves to eat…me.
Which I am A-okay with, because that tongue piercing is one of my new best friends.
"This dress was the perfect choice from the back of your closet," Jessica declares beside me, pretending to sit on the bathroom counter.
"Sunflower yellow to match your House, but springy and cute.
Look at you, all sexied up with your hair curled.
If you do have any matches here, they're going to be popping boners when they see you on the stage. "
I groan, reaching up to touch my birthmark. "I don't want to be here long enough for the Seeking to actually start. I just want to help Crypt and Nivarrah find Veld, and then get out of here and go home with my guys."
Her eyes widen. "Your guys? We certainly have come a long way from denial, haven't we?"
"A long, long way. I'm falling in love with them," I confess, helpless against all the feelings.
"Thank gods! Bone them, bone them, bone—" She pauses, gasping at me. "I can help."
"Help…bone them? Jess, I love you, but you're a ghost, and they're mine."
"Bitch, no—and don't forget, I've got my own sexy priest to corrupt," she adds before giving me a serious look.
"Let me help look for Veld. I know Crypt did some kind of incubus dream-weaving stuff to get a bunch of people talking about you showing up here to spread the word and draw Veld in—but hello," she motions to her slightly translucent body.
"For once, being a ghost might be useful.
I can be a scout for you, and Athanis can help. "
I raise my eyebrows. "Hang on. You're offering to float through a bunch of gothic castle walls and halls to look for a terrifying incubus stalking this area instead of listening to all the gossip that will happen at the big mingle before the Seeking?
I thought for sure you would be dying to check out all the legacies here. "
"I've got time for both. I'm selfless like that," she adds, tossing her blue ghost hair.
The door of this otherwise-empty public women's bathroom opens, startling me for a second.
A woman with short, spiky, fiery orange-and-red hair and a nose piercing strides in, stopping at one of the sinks to wash her hands as she pops gum in her mouth.
She's wearing a dark green, asymmetrical dress, which tells me she's in the House of Arcana.
When she notices me standing here staring at her like a dummy, her brows go up, and she turns to face me.
"Holy shit. You're the girl on the news.
I heard you might be here. So it's true, huh—you're Commander Frost's little sis?
Everett," she amends before I can say anything, rolling her eyes at herself.
"Force of habit from the Upheaval. I worked with him a bit during that time when I was with the Reformists, but now I'm a rep at the RLHNA, and I need to lose the lingo. It's Heidi, right? I'm Harlow."
She extends a hand, popping her gum again.
"Everything about this girl screams baddie," Jessica whispers. "Look at that makeup. The points of her eyeliner could kill a man. And the hair? Godsdamn it, I should have dyed my hair like that before the Upheaval so I could die looking that good."
I look at Harlow's hand, feeling like an even bigger dummy because there's no way I'm about to shake it and make her feel all my nervousness and anxiety.
"I'm a bit of a germaphobe," I lie, laughing awkwardly and fidgeting with my dress.
Harlow barks a laugh. "Yep, you really are his sister.
" Her attention moves briefly to my birthmark, and for one terrifying second, I'm sure she's going to say something about it.
Instead, she gives me a serious look. "Hey, I know there's a lot of shit about you going around, but only an idiot would believe the things that chauvinist, Marwood, has been claiming about you.
Especially since he tried to send people to attack you—that's fucking messed up.
If anyone gives you trouble about anything, find me, and I'll take care of them. All right?"
"I want to marry her," Jessica announces. "Don't tell Athanis."
Unexpected emotion almost makes my eyes water. I was so ready for everyone I saw here today to stare at me and whisper, but gods, she's so nice. This is just what I needed to brace myself for facing a big crowd.
"Thanks," I smile. "Also, if you're here for matches, I hope you find them."
She grins. "Me too. I just got out of a long relationship, and I'm finally ready for a quintet. Anyway, see you out there."
Harlow leaves the bathroom. Taking a deep breath to brace myself and touching the charm on my wrist to remind myself that no strangers' emotions here are my responsibility, I leave the bathroom to join the other legacies mingling in Everbound Castle's ballroom.
But I only make it a couple of steps before Kaenon falls into step beside me, slipping his hand into mine and kissing my exposed birthmark. His warm brown eyes take me in as we pass a few other legacies, a couple of which definitely notice me and start whispering.
"Yellow is stunning on you," Kaenon murmurs.
He's dressed in dark pants and a yellow shirt, since I wanted us all to blend in.
His long, dark hair is pulled back from his face once more, showing off his striking face and those fantastic cheekbones.
And I know I'm not the only one who thinks he's gorgeous, because a few legacy women openly check him out as we finally walk into the big ballroom where everyone is.
Even though I've tried to avoid all things legacy-ish for years, I've heard plenty about Everbound.
It used to be the government-mandated finishing school for legacies to train to fight at the Divide.
Not coming here to find your quintet, break your curse, and graduate to fight fiends usually resulted in not getting legal legacy documentation, which meant being hunted down and severely punished or worse.
I used to be terrified of this giant, gothic castle and the university housed inside it. Now, standing here now in this grand, brightly-lit old ballroom decorated with all the colors of the Four Houses is just…surreal.
"Holy fuck, this place is so cool," Jessica breathes beside me, taking it in just like I am.
Someone is using magic to make a little orchestra play quiet, tasteful music in the corner of the ballroom.
Crowds of well-dressed legacies mingle, eating hors d'oeuvres and drinking punch and champagne.
The many legacies here are all dressed in yellow, red, green, or shades of bluish silver, showing which House they're in as they chatter with each other, clearly excited for the first Seeking in so long.
A stage has been constructed at the end of this vaulted room—the place where legacies will go if they light up from the holy magic of whatever priest or priestess is helping the gods reveal matches today.
It feels overwhelming just to walk in here.
But it gets so much more overwhelming in the worst way possible when people start noticing me.
And thanks to my shifter ears, even though they're not being obvious, they still kind of are.
"It's Skidmark," someone whispers.
"Holy shit! I thought the rumors were stupid, but she's actually here."
"Whoa, check her out. Wouldn't mind getting matched to all that."
"Seriously, she looks nothing like her brother—and what the fuck is on her face?"
It's that last whisper that has me frozen in place.
I can't do this. This was a terrible idea. Even worse than my going-out-on-a-date-finally idea. I should just run now and—
Asher steps out of the crowd, Ian on his left and Zak on his right.
They're like three gorgeous saviors, all dressed in their House colors and sexy as sin.
They move to me quickly, and while Zak is clearly trying to distract me by offering me an antipasto skewer, I don't miss the death glares Asher and Ian have turned on anyone they catch staring.
As soon as they're around me, I feel like I can breathe again.
That's right. I can do this. So what if some people say stupid things? As much as it may trigger me when people comment on my appearance, that's not something I have time to linger on right now. In fact, the whole point of my being here is to draw attention in the first place, to get Veld here.
Accepting the skewer from Zak with a smile, I look past my boyfriends and spot the Amato quintet talking to Brigid Decimus and one of her quintet members near the stage.
I think Maven must've known I was coming to the Seeking, because she glances in our direction without much of a reaction—but when Everett notices where so many legacies are looking, his eyes widen on me.
I give him a little wave with the antipasto skewer and a thumbs-up.
He starts making his way through the crowd toward us. I don't know if it's his reputation or the scar, but something about my brother is scary enough that people part out of his way immediately, practically scrambling.
"I'm going to find Athanis and let him know we're your scouts," Jessica tells me, drifting off.
Ian is apparently done glaring at anyone who looks at me wrong, because he holds up one of the two glasses of champagne he's holding, offering it to me.
"I'm good, but thanks," I tell him, smiling up at my thrall.
I should really not be drinking right now. I'm kind of a lightweight in general, and I want to stay alert for any signs of Veld.
To my surprise, Ian nods and downs both glasses of champagne like they're shots. He sets the empty flutes on a nearby table covered with a tablecloth embroidered with Everbound University's crest, the four House colors with a golden heart in their center.
"Gods, that didn't help. Why the fuck does anyone drink champagne anyway?" Ian scowls, his gaze slipping to my neck.
Oh. He's thirsty, thirsty.
Before I can awkwardly offer for him to tap a vein, Everett finally reaches us. He glances at Asher with something like begrudging respect before he smiles at me, showing off the one dimple left in his unscarred cheek.
"You came. With everything going on," he looks at the four guys gathered around me meaningfully. "I really thought you would wait another year. Why the change of heart?"
"I have my reasons." I look around. "I admit, Everbound isn't what I expected."
"The Decimus family has made a lot of changes, now that Brigid is the Headmistress," he agrees.
"Maybe it sucks less ass now," Asher grumbles.
I look at him, surprised. "You've been here? I didn't realize they made bounty hunters attend."
"No, most of us hunters got our documentation when we graduated from the program. I was just here for Seekings," he adds with a cranky huff.
For the first time, I realize something. Ian has never been to a Seeking because he faked his death, Kaenon was asleep in the Nether, and Zak obviously never came here because he was fighting to the death in the Entity's arena all his life…but this isn't Asher's first Seeking.
He can't be far from Everett's age, which means he's never gotten a single match for years.
Suddenly, my chest aches all over again over what he said to my brother last night—about it not even being a question that he was going to be with me. When Everett brought up the possibility of him getting matches, Asher was so sure it wouldn't happen.
But…what if it did?
What if, right now, in this room, there are other people he might belong with? What if he just thinks I'm "it" for him because he's too downcast on the idea of feeling rejected at a Seeking again?
He was willing to be with me even if I was matched with other people.
I should be willing to do the same for him.