I can’t honestly say that she was in the club to pry into my life, though. I remember all too clearly the hesitation on her illusionary face when I invited her to play cards, her cautious steps following me into the room. Her initially poor choice of trump, as if she wanted to get my win over with and get out of there.
At the time, I thought it was simply a matter of a club employee worried about the consequences if I didn’t like the outcome of the game.
If Elodiewantedme to warm up to her and start spilling secrets, why would she have presented a reluctant attitude? Wouldn’t she have acted as if she appreciated the attention, encouraged me into conversation?
She barely spoke through the whole game.
Burn it all, she hardly said anything even today. I blurted out my insecurities with barely any prompting at all.
I rub my hand over my face as if that’ll set my thoughts in better order.
Is she manipulating me through some subtle magic I’ve never experienced before? Could she have drawn me all the way upstairs to run into her both times without me noticing the artificial compulsion?
It’s hard to wrap my head around Elodie Devine playing servant at all. How could her pride allow it? Where would she have ever learned to bow her head and scamper around to other people’s orders?
I groan through my gritted teeth. I’m not getting anywhere.
The new flowers bobbing in the field below beckon me. I shake off my frustration as well as I can and tread down the hill to inspect what I’ve grown.
Clusters of white yarrow sway with my passing. Blue asters beam in broad clumps so dense I have to veer around them. Sprigs of goldenrod shine in the fading sunlight like soft flames, and delicate purple phlox pokes up amid the long grass.
Over close to the trees that flank the field, several raspberry bushes have billowed into a mix of blossoms, pale nubs… and in a few cases, deep red fruit.
My breath catches in my throat. I reach out and give one berry a gentle tug. It pops off into my hand as if that’s where it belongs.
They wouldn’t normally be ripe until July. Just how much power did I manage to command today?
More than I’ve ever summoned here before.
A renewed grin tugs at my lips. I glance around, buoyed by my triumph.
Of course, there’s no one here to share it with. There won’t be anywhere else either.
My parents would have more concerns than compliments about my odd pastime. I can’t trust Hannah not to blurt it out in front of them. I can’t think of any classmates who’d congratulate me rather than joking that Byron Worth has gone batty.
Except maybe…
Why in the blazes am I picturing Elodie standing next to me, her eyes widening with appreciation when I offer her a perfect berry?
I smack my forehead hard, but I can’t shake the thought of her completely. That comment she made about how she had reasons for being at the club—what could she possibly have meant?
Why did she look so fragile in that first moment when I saw through her illusion?
No. Elodie doesn’t need my help. She doesn’t need me worrying about her. She sure as hell has never done anything to deserve it.
Maybe I should just turn her in. There’s probably evidence I could point to—whatever attendant she was disguising herself as would be able to testify that he never came in. She’ll have left traces of ephemera in the club unless she’s a much better magic-worker than even our professors.
Another flush of heat washes over me, setting my teeth on edge. Even picturing the head of The Eclipse confronting Elodie brings out the urge to leap between them, to shelter her from his cutting words. To pull her close against my body?—
For fuck’s sake. I’m definitely not followingthatline of thinking to see where it ends up.
It was bad enough the way I couldn’t seem to let go of her in the hall, the way my heartbeat spiked at the impression of her smooth skin through her clothes?—
No.
Shaking my head, I stalk back toward the lane. My breath has gone rough in my throat. My slacks feel too tight.
It’s better if I don’t think about her at all. Better to avoid her entirely rather than have to deal with this unwelcome effect she’s having on me.
