“Finally.” She jumped up, the beads jangling, and hooked her arm through Darci’s.
“Purple?” she asked as they made their way to the stairs.
“Yep.” Kira grinned, the twin dimples in her cheeks flashing as they took the stairs down. “It’s fun. Anyway, I was elected to spring you away from Blaéz. Apparently, my skin’s thicker. The others have gone downstairs. We didn’t think he’d let you out of his sight after last night—jeez! Can you imagine Finnén believing he could get away with that shit? Impersonating Blaéz? And Echo’s new ability? Wow, that was so damn cool. Pity I didn’t get to see her work it—”
“Wait-wait—” Darci stopped dead halfway down the grand staircase, cutting off Kira’s longwinded speech. “Echo has a new ability?”
“Yep.” She nodded in excitement, her beads clinking together again, threads of gold slipping through the braided strands and reforming in others. “She tried it last night after you were taken—” she broke off and her gaze flickered upstairs.
Frowning, Darci looked up as Týr appeared on the landing and loped down the stairs, raking back his damp hair. The soft material of his charcoal-gray Henley stretched over his wide chest at his movements.
“Hey, Dars, good to see you.” He slowed to a halt, his gaze sliding to Kira. Something shifted in those narrowing dark eyes.
Kira snorted and turned away only to spin back. “You missed theonlyrehearsal we had last night.”
“Was busy. You know, destroying those evil fuckers causing terror out on the streets. Meaningless shit like that.”
Kira’s mouth tightened at the taunting words, the gold weaving through her hair changing to a fiery red. Anger. “It was one hour—onehour! Clearly, Nik and Dagan are too feeble to handle one measly hour out on the streets withouthismagnificent presence—”
“Did you miss me, Fluff?” Týr arched a sardonic brow.
She scowled. “Anything goes wrong tomorrow, it’s on your head.”
He smirked, his gaze lingering on her hair. “Maybe I should call you…damn, what’s the name of the purple dinosaur in that kid’s TV show?”
Barney? Darci frowned.
Kira pivoted and grasped Darci’s hand. “C’mon, Dars, we have things to do—a bride’s last fling with strippers—it’s gonna be fun!” She practically hauled Darci off in a fast trot.
“Strippers? Really?” Darci laughed, hurrying to keep up and eyeing her friend curiously. She’d met Kira after she moved into the castle several months ago. Echo’s bubbly, sharp-tongued friend had soon become hers, too. But for some reason, Týr always seemed to rub her the wrong way.
“Which club are we going to?”
“As if.” Kira snorted after they’d put some distance between themselves and Týr. “You want Blaéz to have my head? That man’s possessive to the lastEin the word. We aren’t leaving the castle, I’m afraid. All indoors.”
“Bummer.”
Kira’s hazel eyes darted to her in surprise then she grinned at Darci’s teasing smile, the volatile red streaks in her hair fading. “Hey, I know. You can get that man of yours to do a strip show for us.”
Darci burst out laughing. Right. She could just imagine how well that would go down. Blaéz would probably prefer a sword in the belly.
She pushed open the door to the silent kitchen, the place fragrant with the mouth-watering aroma of freshly baked cakes and tarts. The French doors were closed for a change, keeping out the cold. Through the windows, light flakes of snow floated to the terrace. On the island counter, Hedori had laid out platters of sandwiches, tiny cupcakes andvol-au-vents.
He looked up and his eyes brightened. “Ms. Kira? You’re all set for the afternoon in the blue guest suite, first floor.”
“Thank you, dear Heds. And please, you’ve known me long enough, don’t call me Miss, or I will never help you cook again.”
Darci bit her lower lip, hiding her smile at the threat. It would never work. Hedori probably functioned with a prayer in mind when Kira did help him.
“Of course, Kira. As you wish.”
Wow. The man had a soft spot for her then. He glanced at Darci, his orange-green eyes twinkling. “The decorating team is all set for tonight,” he told her. “I’ve explained to them exactly what Blaéz wanted done. Come tomorrow, you’ll have your dream.”
Darci stared at him, her brow furrowed in confusion.
“Blaéz spoke to me in the early parts of the morning,” Hedori explained, putting another tray on the counter. “He gave me your bridal magazines and notes. We’ll make this event amazing.”
Oh. That meant they weren’t able to save anything. She refused to let despair take over. All that mattered was she had Blaéz.
