“It just had to be unlocked, eh?” He pumps his brows suggestively. My stomach lurches. “Speaking of unlockingthings.” More eyebrow pumping. “I was thinking that maybe we were too hasty when we broke things off.”
“We? I didn’t break anything off. You did, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“Is that so? Are you sure? Well, I must’ve been out of my mind, because out of all the women here, you’re the most beautiful. And you see, I miss you, Addie. You’re all I’ve been thinking about these past weeks ever since we broke up.”
It’s the way he says my name that really grates on my nerves. He says it lightly, without depth, as if my name on his lips is nothing more than a ghost of a word.
It wasn’t that way with Feylin.
Okay, I get it. I’m thinking a lot about him right now. But it can’t be helped because—ball, Edward, horrible love—all that.
“Edward,” I say, taking his tie and straightening it.
His eyes twinkle with delight. “Yes?”
He’s a little breathless as I smooth the collar of his shirt. My gaze flicks from his bobbing Adam’s apple to his eyes. “Edward,” I repeat, “you crushed my heart, and now you’re asking me to take you back.”
He laughs nervously. “Well, when you put it that way?—”
“Yes, I’m putting it that way because that’s how it was. You broke up with me because I wasn’t good enough. You told me so yourself. And you know what I’ve learned these past weeks?”
His gaze swishes nervously from side to side. “What’s that?”
I curl my hands over his shoulders and look him dead in the eye. “I’ve learned thatyouaren’t good enough forme. So no, there’s no way I would ever take you back, and if I can help it, I’ll make sure that none of my sisters fall for you, either.”
His face pales. “Well, you don’t have to be so rude about it.”
I drop my hands to my sides and step back. “Yes, I’m afraidthat I do have to be so rude about it. Have a nice life, Edward. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
With that, he huffs and storms through the crowd and, hopefully, right on out the door.
My chest swells with pride as a laugh bubbles from my throat. I wish Feylin was here to see this.
But he’s not here, and I have to accept that. I’ll have to settle with being proud of myself for telling Edward off, and for showing him how worthless he made me feel.
As a wobbling satisfaction flows through me, I head back to the punch table but get interrupted when the music stops abruptly.
Ovie runs into the center of the ballroom, and the couples on the dance floor part like the Red Sea. “The bookshop,” she yells. “Addison! Come quickly. The shop’s in trouble!”
43
Iarrive to find the shop doors thrown wide open and books streaming outside, carried on a current of magic to a portal, where they disappear.
Two wizards flank the open doors, flicking their hands like maestros as they orchestrate the books out and away.
No, no, no, no, no!
I rush to the portal and pluck an armload of books from the magical current before they have a chance to disappear into goodness knows where.
When I’m loaded down, I throw myself in front of the wizards. “What are you doing? What’s going on?”
The wizard on the left looks at me and sighs like he’s thinking,I don’t get paid enough to deal with this.“We’re shutting it down.”
My heart plummets. “Shutting it down?”
“Yes. Now get out of the way, or we’ll be forced to arrest you.”
I scoff. “On whose authority?”
