26. Annalise
Chapter twenty-six
Annalise
Ishouldn’t be surprised to find both Emily and Sasha staring at me, dumbfounded and grinning like the Cheshire Cat as the door clicks behind me.
“What happened to you not wanting a date?” Emily teases.
“Sasha, what did you do to her?”
“Not nearly enough, considering you two just wrecked my makeup,” Sasha shoots back with mock irritation. She laces her fingers through mine and starts skipping—forcing us to join her or stumble the rest of the way back to her room. “Why do you ask?”
“Because she’s apparently gone deaf…or maybe she has amnesia?” I tease. “Either way, she missed me just telling Theo tonight isn’t a date.”
“Uhm, I’m right here, and I can hear you!” Emily protests, grinning as she sticks her tongue out at me.
“Well,” Sasha cuts in, already in full performance mode, “now that you’ve both ruined my makeup masterpiece, your own hair, and we’re running out of time—” she pauses for dramatic effect. “It’s time to pull out some old spells!”
I consider pointing out that we still have enough time to get ready without magic, but quickly think better of it when I see the mischievous glint in her eyes and the ‘Don’t argue with me or else,’ already waiting on her pursed lips.
Sasha kicks her door shut behind us and immediately goes into full whirlwind mode, darting from her desk to her dresser like she’s on a mission.
“Sit,” she demands, knife-hand directing us to the bottom of her bed as she pulls a stack of books from her desk drawer and drops them with a loud thud onto her desk.
“What do you two have in mind for your hair and makeup? Actually, you know what? Don’t answer that. Since neither of you is any good at spellcasting…and you both owe me…I’ll be the one deciding all of our looks tonight.”
Emily and I exchange a look but stay quiet—for once.
Sasha, obviously satisfied by our compliance, practically bounces as she flips through page after page of neat, looping script and strange symbols shimmering when the light hits them just right.
For a minute, I’m worried she isn’t going to find what she’s looking for—some spells barely spared a glance, while others have her scrunching her nose and chewing on her bottom lip in contemplation.
Maybe the styles in her book are outdated—is that even a thing with magic?
“Here!” she says, voice so high-pitched I’m imagining the dragons on guard are wishing they were deaf.
“If Scion didn’t have warning sirens already, that noise alone would be enough to alert the city and scare away any would-be attackers all in one go,” Tyr groans, and it takes all of my effort not to laugh out loud.
“Lee, we’re going with something elevated,” she murmurs. “Refined. Radiating confidence.”
“Okay…but what does that mean, exactly?”
“It means…that you are going to love it! Now, shut your noise nozzle off and sit still.”
“Noise nozzle?” Emily chuckles, but Sasha’s too focused on me to pay her any attention.
Lifting her hand in the air, fingers poised like she’s about to conduct an invisible orchestra, she gives one last quick look over the spell before she flicks my temple and begins reciting an incantation.
At first, nothing seems to change, but then a faint warmth brushes over my scalp, like standing under a skylight for just a little too long. Then the sensation deepens, threads of heat and cool weaving between strands of my hair—lifting, pulling—magical fingers moving with impossible precision.
I reach up instinctively, but Sasha’s already slapping my hand away. “No touching. Trust the process.”
Not willing to risk her wrath, I do as I’m told, hands folding in my lap just to force them from reaching up to feel for hints of what’s happening.
Just when I think we’re done, Sasha mutters something else under her breath, and I feel a gentle breeze brush across my cheeks, before my lashes suddenly have a slight weight to them that definitely wasn’t there before.
Emily leans forward, eyes wide as she takes in my new hairstyle from every angle. “Okay… that’s actually kind of impressive.”
“Kind of?” Sasha mutters, but there’s a flicker of a smile tugging at her lips.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re a rockstar and the greatest spellcaster to ever grace Scion, blah blah blah…Now do me!”
We all laugh, and as Sasha begins telling Emily about the edgy look she’s thinking will go best with Em’s dress, I carefully walk toward her bathroom to check out her creation.
Tears fill my eyes as I take in the woman staring back at me, and a moment of déjà vu passes as I remember when I first got to Scion eight months ago. But the woman staring back at me isn’t that same girl.
That girl had thought she had known rock bottom, but she was so full of hope. Hope for this new chapter. Hope that Scion would give her all of the opportunities she had missed out on. Hope that the world would be gentler than the hell she had escaped.
But the woman staring back at me now knows better.
She knows that pretty words are often spoken half-heartedly, that sometimes people do terrible things for reasons she may never know.
But more importantly, she knows this: no matter how impossible these past months have been, she will never be defeated, never be diminished.
I will not break.
“There she is,” Matt says, smiling softly as he steps fully into the bathroom with me before wrapping me in a hug.
We stay like that for a moment before a wet, warm liquid hits my cheek. Looking up into my best friends face, I’m shocked when I see tears slowly gliding down his cheeks.
“I never thought I’d see you look at yourself like that again,” Matt chokes out, tears gently falling. “Gods, it’s the most beautiful thing.”
“I was just appreciating Sasha’s hard work,” I say, trying to dodge the compliment while I wipe his face dry with my thumbs.
“Your hair, I believe, after hearing rumors of escaped psych ward patients running the halls in dresses,” he teases as he spins me back around to look at my reflection once more. “But your face is all you.”
For the first time since walking in here, I truly take in Sasha’s makeup spell…or lack thereof.
A pinch of blush, a light dusting of eyeshadow, a glossy lip, and mascara, that’s it. No fancy contouring or flashy colors. Just a few little things to accentuate my features.
Now it’s my turn for tears to well in my eyes, but Matt, always more observant, is already passing me a tissue to dab them away.
“If they fall and mess with Sasha’s magic, neither of us will live to hear our fake tracks announced.”
“And they say men can’t be taught,” Sasha coos from Matt’s recently vacated spot. “But this is magic, Mattey-boy. And I account for everything, including you messing with my muse right before her date is set to arrive.”
“Her date? Your date?” He asks, eyes whipping from Sasha to me.
"Not a date date—" I begin
"It's Theo!” Sasha squeals, doing a little happy dance. "After their little moment in his room earlier, she wanted him to come.”
Matt’s temporarily consumed by a coughing fit as I laugh.
Sasha looks confused for a minute before rolling her eyes and throwing her hands in the air in defeat.
“The Twisted Twins, folks. From mushy-gushy to smutty-mutty in point five seconds!”
“Seriously? You didn’t hear it as you were saying it?” Emily asks, laughing at Sasha through the mirror.
“Not all of our minds live in the gutters,” Sasha says primly, before cracking a smile. “Or maybe that was exactly how I meant it…”
“You’re making things worse,” I mutter, watching Matt’s nostrils flare just a little.
A firm knock sounds at the door, and everything stops.
“Oh. My. Gods. It’s time!” Sasha gasps like it’s Antonio on the other side of that door, but he'd already broke it to her last weekend that he wouldn't be able to make it tonight.
“It’s just Theo,” I say, already heading for the door. “We’re just friends, no one make this weird.”
“Lee—” Matt starts.
Too late.
Theo's entire expression transforms the moment he sees me. Eyes going wide, he lets out a breath so heavy, you'd think he’d been holding it from the time I left his room.
“Hey,” he says, a giant grin spreading across his face as his gaze drifts over me from head to toe.
“Hi.” I offer him a small smile. “Sorry, we—"
Matt's suddenly at my side, silent and staring at Theo in the calm and measuring way he’s perfected to let people know just how much he dislikes them.
Theo straightens almost imperceptibly. He tries to hide it, but I catch it—and so does my best friend.
"Give us a second," Matt says, before swinging the door shut—inches from Theo's face—and aggressively turning the lock.
There’s a beat of stunned silence.
“Matt,” I snap, but to absolutely no one’s surprise, he’s smirking down at me, one hand still on the handle.
“Quick confirmation,” he says, eyes locked on mine. “You’re only going as friends?”
“Yes,” I say immediately. “We all are.”
“And you’ve told him that?”
“Yes. We’re on the same page.”
“Did he say ‘friends,’ or did you say ‘friends’ and he agreed a little too easily?” Emily asks, but Matt’s eyes stay locked on me, looking for anything I’m not saying.
When he seems satisfied, he nods once.
“Okay.”
“That’s it?” Sasha asks. “No speech? No threatening his life?”
“I don’t need to,” Matt says. “She can handle him herself.”
“Handle him how, exactly?” Sasha teases, raising her eyebrows dramatically in my direction, though I know it’s only to get a rise out of Matt.
“Like the cute little puppy she can play with until she’s bored and leaves to chase its own tail,” he says smugly.
Emily grins. “Oh, I like this version of you.”
“Do you think he’s still out there?” Sasha whispers, as though that’s the part of this that would make him uncomfortable.
“Obviously, he’s still out there.” Matt says, hands up as he pants and pretends to be a dog.
“Can we let him in now?” I ask, slapping his arm to get him to knock it off.
"Only after you tell me if you want this showing or not showing," Matt says, bending down in front of me, Hunter's sheathed dagger in hand.
"Not," I say, pulling my dress to the side for Matt to secure the spelled strap around my leg as Emily whispers something about bets on if I'll get pricked by Theo or Matt's gift first.
Once he's sure the dagger is secure, Matt slowly opens the door to reveal Theo once more. Hands in his pockets now, his eyes lift the second the door opens—and land right on me.
“Everything okay?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I say. “Sorry about that. We’re ready.”
Matt steps out beside me, all easy posture and sharp eyes. “We’re all going together,” he adds, casual but pointed.
Theo’s gaze flicks to him, something unreadable passing through it before he nods. “Yeah. Of course.”
“Good,” Matt says, just as easily.
I shoot him a look. “Matt.”
“What?” he says innocently. “We’re all friends, remember?”
Behind me, Sasha chokes on a laugh.
Theo glances between my friends as they all follow me out into the hall before he leans down and half-heartedly whispers, “You know, I don’t mind an audience, but you could warn a guy.”
Emily makes a strangled noise, and I can practically feel the daggers Matt’s imagining stabbing him with right now.
“Just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”
Thankfully, he doesn’t say anything as he takes my arm, helping me down the stairs and out into the courtyard to take the photos Sasha insisted on.