“You okay?” Arowyn asked from my bed, where she lounged on her stomach. “Your neck’s doing that thing again.”
I looked down to see red splotches crawling up my neck from the top of my gown.
Tessa swirled a finger at me. “Is this one of your tells? Because we’re going to have to do something about that with Scarven.”
I swatted her hand away. “Trust me, I don’t have any tells. I’ll be fine.” Lying was second nature at this point. Fantasizing about my ex-captor, however…
“Well, you look good, Dev,” Tessa said, scanning my body as I stood. “Can I call you Dev?”
I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know, can I call you Jaggy?”
She threw her head back with a laugh, causing her dark braids to sway against the chair. “Fair enough. For what it’s worth, I’d let you spy on me.”
Arowyn snorted. “Yeah, especially when your breasts look like that.”
I chuckled and turned to face the full-length mirror, taking in my reflection. She wasn’t wrong—the girls certainly knew what they were doing when they picked out this gown.
It felt strange to refer to Arowyn and Tessa like that.The girls. As if we were some sort of close-knit unit who made a habit of doing each other’s hair as we laughed and gossiped and ate chocolate. As if we werefriends.
I wasn’t sure what we were—whatanyof us were—but the way they barged in and made themselves at home in my new suite did something funny to my chest.
My hands slid over the deep red fabric of the gown. The sleeves fell off my shoulders, and the tight bodice crossed in an elegant twist between my breasts. It cinched at the waist and fit snugly down my legs until it hit my lower thighs, then cascaded into a floor-length skirt.
“I don’t know how you expect me to move in this,” I grumbled as I twisted to get a look at the back, where the smooth fabric strained over my backside.
“That’s kind of the point. Also, you might want to get rid of that,” Arowyn said, tilting her head to the slit on my right thigh where my dagger rested. “They won’t let you take it into Scarven’s manor.”
I sighed. I figured as much. “Fine.” I pulled the blade out and set it on the vanity next to my glasses.
Tessa stopped me before I unclasped the sheath. “Leave it. It adds intrigue.”
Intrigue. The whole purpose of this evening. To catch Kane Scarven’s attention and hold his interest enough to make him want to spill all his dirty secrets.
I still couldn’t believe he was Nox’s half-brother,andthat he killed their father. That must mean Nox would have been in line for the governor’s position. My mind had been barreling through all the factors and family dynamics at play since I’d discovered the truth three nights ago. How Scarven probably despised and envied Nox in equal measure, how he held his power over Nox using mind games, how his obsession with these experiments was driven by his hunger formore. How I needed to present myself as somethingmorefor him to want. To collect, as Nox had put it.
In a sense, this mission was perfect for me. A way to use the skills I’d learned when that was the only way to take care of myself growing up.
“You need to leave soon if you want to catch up with the Mysthelm contingency,” Tessa said, glancing at the ornate clock on my wall. “You have to act like you came with them. Your story is that you’re part of the ship’s crew, and they let all of you have the night off to attend the ball. Have you picked a name?”
“How about Selena Nyte?” I offered as I pinned back one side of my hair.
“Oddly specific,” Arowyn said.
“It’s the name of one of the girls I used to work with. She was a bartender all the patrons fell in love with.” I shrugged. “Feltfitting.”
“I thought you were a lady’s maid?” Tessa asked, cocking her head.
“I’ve been many things, Jaggy. Did what I had to do to put food in my stomach.”
She unfolded herself from the chair and padded across the room to fix a few strands of my hair. “Well,Selena Nyte, stick with us, and we’ll make sure you always have food in your belly and a roof over your head.”
“Yeah,” Arowyn called from the bed. “The only things you’ll have to worry about are death by carriage and deranged Shifters who experiment on you in your sleep.”
“Comforting,” I said with a laugh.
But as strange as it seemed, the thoughtwasrather comforting.Stick with us. After three weeks, I’d earned some semblance of trust from these people. We were all working toward the same goal, after all. And it felt…nice. Different.
“Nox will be at the ball, since Scarven always makes him stand at his side for things like this. Nox’s letting Everett come as long as he disguises himself with an illusion. But the rest of us don’t have access,” Tessa continued. “Arowyn and I will be just on the perimeter of Scarven’s manor, so I can hear if anything goes wrong, and Arowyn can stride in to get you. Remember,” she gripped my shoulders so I couldn’t look away, “don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with. If you need out, just say the word.”
