He didn’t respond. He simply stared off into the distance.
“Okay, then,” I said. I stepped away from Shade, glad to finally be free of his overwhelming focus.
“Congratulations!”
“That’s our girl!”
Kizzi and Fiella barreled into me with a swarm of energy. Arms wrapped around my waist, my shoulders. A hand even landed on the back of my head as I was yanked into a haphazard hug.
Weird as the hug was, it was nice.
“Thank you,” I mumbled, my face smushed into a shoulder garbling my words. “Can you believe it? I finally won.”
“We knew you would!” Kizzi insisted. Her mop of green curly hair tickled my chin.
“Didn’t doubt you for a second! Well, except for when you started the art trial. We might have doubted you for a moment there. But you overcame that,” Fiella said.
“Yeah, that part was a little rough,” Kizzi agreed.
I couldn’t argue. I definitely floundered there for a moment.
“Can you believe Shade thought this was a marriage competition?” I lifted my head to look for him, but he was gone, vanished like a ghost.
“Why the fuck would he think that?” Kizzi asked, horrified. “There’s something wrong with that man.”
“Definitely something wrong with him,”Fiella agreed. “But it makes sense. Nobody that abnormally pretty can develop a normal personality.”
Finally, the strange hug broke up. I examined my friends’ faces. The mixture of emotions was hard to interpret—excitement, sure. But also, trepidation. Maybe a splash of fear.
“Miss and Mister Moonvale.” I shrugged. “Easy to misinterpret, I guess. If you don’t ask any questions.”
“Everyoneknows it’s an honorary title. Everyone,” Kizzi insisted. “Where did he come from? The sky?”
“I have no idea. Does anyone know who he is? Redd, Tandor, have you heard anything?”
Redd, who had been awkwardly lingering nearby, joined our circle. “Nothing. Should we ask around?”
“I’m sure the gossip chain would have picked up on it by now.”
“There’s something off about him,” Fiella said. “He smells weird.”
“Weird?” I asked. “Like… stinky?” Somehow, the thought of the beautiful man smelling bad seemed impossible to me. I thought he smelled clean, almost floral, from my time dancing with him.
She shook her head, looking to Redd for help explaining. “No, more like… he smellswrong.”
Redd nodded his head contemplatively. “I know what you mean. The best way I can describe it is that he smells intense. Powerful, but not like any folk I’ve ever smelled before. Everyone smells different now that magic has returned to the realm, though, so that could have something to do with it.”
“I haven’t been close enough to him to really get a feel for him, but I don’t think he’s a wizard,” Kizzi added. “Something else. Should I try to approach him and see what the fuss is all about?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, little witch,” Tandor chimed in, wrapping an arm around Kizzi’s shoulders as he slipped seamlessly into the conversation. “What if he’s dangerous?”
“He just won Mister Moonvale—surely he’s notthatdangerous,” I added. I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to defend the stranger, but the words slipped out of their own volition.
“You’re just saying that because you danced with him. I saw the way he was lifting you up, spinning you around. He’s dazzled you,” Fiella argued.
“I’m not dazzled! I was trying to get away from him!”
“You weren’t trying very hard,” she teased, nudging me with her elbow.
