I was shocked into silence, and reminded of Bethany, the Red Queen’s advisor, who I pressed for an answer on who murdered the Red Queen. Bethany had tried to tell us something, and some sort of spell had triggered, killing her instantly. I never did learn what she was going to say either.Damn those fae.They were always one step ahead of me.
Baladar distracted me then by producing an item from his pocket. He held it for a moment, before reaching out to give it to me. I opened my palm and a heavy metal object landed in it, a solid gold key with the House of Red emblem marked on it.
“The keys your friends have will expire tonight, but this key…” Baladar gestured to my hand. “Will never expire. You’re welcome in my home anytime, and I look forward to more conversations with you. Bring your bear friend. I would like to speak with him too.”
How did he know about Kade? That stupid website probably. He’d basically told me that all shifters came to his house with gossip on their tongue. There’d be no bigger story than that of an affair between wolf queen and bear king.
Tucking the key in my jeans pocket for safe keeping, I said, “Thank you.” There were athousand questions burning a hole in my tongue, but before I could say more, Baladar bowed deeply.
“I promised Calista you would have fun tonight. So eat, drink, and be merry.” He looked around and inhaled again. “I don’t think the fae wishes you harm. Once I leave, they will come out and find you.”
I was starting to see why the queen had locked him away. He saw and knew far too much, and clearly she had been the keeper of more than a few secrets. Feeling the heavy gaze of unknown sources, I spun around, scanning the bright lights and shadows beneath the trees, trying to figure out if a fae was stalking me.
My dominants were standing guard about six feet from me. Next to them was Violet, pounding pink fizzy drinks like it was her last day on Earth and she needed to get rip roaring drunk. But no fae. When I turned back around, Baladar was gone. Typical magic born. Didn’t he get the memo? No cloaking in my presence. Oh well, I was starting to see that he was in the same realm as Violet – kind of outside my rule.
My guards approached me now that the older shifter was gone.
“Who was he?” Blaine asked, after he gave the proper protocol bow.
“An old friend of Calista’s. He is bound to this home, and has made it a private sanctuary.”
Blaine nodded but he didn’t relax. He remained rigid, his focus constantly shifting around the party. He was uneasy, and I raised my own awareness levels to make sure that this didn’t end up being a bad situation for us all.
Suddenly there was a pink drink thrust in my face. “Spelled drinks!” Violet’s words were a little slurred. “They take the edge off, but if you feel you’re in danger or need to drive home, you just say the magic word and you’re instantly sober.”
Shaking my head, I reluctantly removed the glass from her before she spilled it everywhere. The pink was sloshing dangerously close to the edge. Bringing it closer I smelled it: lemon, strawberry, and a mix of a few alcohols. Shifters were governed by rules based on European society. We could drink alcohol at eighteen; most started even earlier than that. As queen it was frowned upon for me to ever drink to excess. If a war broke out and I was impaired, I would let my people down. But one or two wouldn’t hurt, especially if there was a sober-up switch.
“Prove they’re spelled,” Monica said, watching Violet sway to the music.
“Purple pixies!” the magic born shouted, and immediately the dazed look on her face vanished; her eyes were clearer, and she stoppedswaying. “See,” she groaned, “I’m perfectly fine.” As if to prove her point, she touched a fingertip to her nose, pulled it away, and brought it back again. She sighed. “Of course, now I’m going to need more drinks.”
Somehow she had another drink in her hand then, and she raised her eyebrows at me. I knew she was silently asking if I was in or out of tonight’s debauchery. Staring at the fruity cocktail in my hand, I decided that maybe just for tonight I could forget my worries. I knew my boys wouldn’t touch the drinks; they would stay completely alert the entire time we were here. Monica, Jen, and Violet would drink with me though and it would be fun. Without another thought I tipped the whole thing back, letting the fizz roll down my throat. The sweetness overwhelmed me at first, but then as I got used to the taste I immediately craved more. Once the glass was empty, I noticed tiny writing on the bottom, two words.Lovely lilacs. There was my undo spell. I took mental note and handed the glass to Ben.
Shifters have fast metabolisms. It’s almost impossible for us to become overweight or get drunk, but whatever was in these fruity numbers was clearly laced with more than human alcohol. One drink and I felt amazing. My muscles relaxed; my head felt light and airy. So much ofthe heavy burden I’d been carrying for weeks drifted away and I felt like a twenty-year-old for the first time in a long time.
Grabbing Blaine’s hand, I tried to drag him to a nearby open dance area. He resisted me at first, and no matter how hard I yanked, there was simply no moving him if he didn’t want to be moved.
“I’m your guard … which means I need to guard you,” he said, shaking his head at me as I danced around him.
“Dance with me!” I shouted, throwing my hands up before diving toward him and trying to nudge him over to the dance floor.
I could hear chuckles around me. Violet was laughing madly, clearly happy again under the pink drink’s influence. Blaine tried to remain stoic, but eventually I got him to smile.
“One dance, then I need to keep watch,” he said, leaning over so I could hear him better, his deep voice tickling my neck as he spoke into my ear.
“Yes, sir!” I fist pumped, the way we used to as kids when we got our own way. He shook his head at me again, but the smile was bigger this time. Genuine.
The music picked up as Blaine and I ended up in the middle of a hundred dancing bodies. I lifted my arms, spinning around, moving withthe beat, brushing against my dominant as we moved to the music. He was watching me with stone-like eyes, far too serious. He needed a pink drink. This was the worst sort of relaxing I’d ever seen.
A flash of white to my left caught my eye. Violet was there dancing around us and giggling. Nothing was funny at all, and yet I felt the need to giggle too. This drink made me feel amazing, not drunk just … relaxed. Loose. Carefree. I laughed harder as Violet leapt with her arms out like she was on Broadway. This was exactly what I needed, a night of living like I was just a normal young shifter in New York City. I was just spinning around to look for Monica and Jen when the floral fae scent hit me, stronger than I’d smelled since stepping into the brownstone. They were close.
“Lovely lilacs,” I said quickly.
Immediately the buzzed carefree feeling was gone and I was focused. Blaine reacted to my hesitation, going into guard mode, scanning the area. Both of us saw her at the same time, near a beautiful purple-flowered bush – the lioness familiar in her full glory. No Labrador illusion for her today.
“It’s okay. She’s a friend … I think,” I said to Blaine as I began to walk toward the lioness.
I wished I had Finn with me now. Maybe he’d be able to communicate with this other familiar, find out what she wanted from me. I heard Violet mutter some words behind me and then she was at my side, eyes clear, ready to throw down if needed. All of my guards had fallen into line. It was a shame my night of fun had come to a halt so soon, but it was far more pertinent that I ask that fae from the park more questions.
