I yanked at the knot on my head and winced as the knowledge of guzzling three bottles of champagne came tumbling back. Last was lucky I was a mine. Jagger’s blood swallowed liquor and lessened its effects. If I’d been what I appeared—a petite human woman—I would’ve been unconscious on the floor.
Last was tricky. Apparently, I’d been distracted by yards of lace and tulle.
“Don’t do that again.” My words came out slurred.
There was a loud rustle, the whoosh of falling fabric, and then Last turned toward me, a smile on her face. “What do you think?”
She’d always been skinny to the point of gaunt. Her features were hard and tended toward vicious. Her black hair and her black eyes made her pale skin seem almost lifeless. But the dress she was wearing had transformed her.
Instead of gaunt, she looked ethereal. Instead of hard, she was strong. Instead of pale and lifeless, she was made of ice, and if you touched her, you would freeze to death. But the dress made you want to touch her. To freeze and die.
“It makes you look like a monster,” I said.
Her smile widened into a grin. “Doesn’t it?”
She spun in a surprisingly graceful circle, and the swaths of satin and tulle flared around her in a snowy arc. The dress was so wide it spanned as far as her arms could stretch. There were layers upon layers of satin and tulle. The bodice was see-through netting and delicate, hand-stitched lace. The back was almost entirely see-through, and there was a line of seed pearl buttons rising up her spine. The dress fell around her, and she smoothed her hands over the satin skirt.
“You like it?”
The room spun again, and I gripped the ottoman, picturing Last walking down the aisle toward Luvic.
“It’s terrifying,” I said.
“Isn’t it?” She twisted her hand, and the snow and ice dress bled to black. The color swirled through the fabric, soaking up the darkness, until it looked like clouds of smoke snaking into the night sky.
If there was ever a painting of a black widow on the way to her wedding, this would be it.
“It’s hard to believe I’ll be married in two days.”
I blinked, not sure I’d heard her right. I knew the wedding was next week, but two days?
Luvic.
What are you going to do?
Last laughed. “Don’t look so upset. We’ll find you a dress too. But first . . .”
She scrambled out of her wedding dress and then twisted her hand. She covered both of us in illusion: tiny black dresses, high heels, perfect hair, smoky makeup.
I stood and pressed a hand to my bloodred lips.
Last smiled like a snake about to devour a mouse.
“Come on, Mari . . . let’s go break some hearts.”
51
The strobe lights pulsed like a frenetic polaroid, flashing from bright to dark in shutter-fast beats. The pulsing clicked in time with the music—a violently loud beat that vibrated through my blood.
Last shouted something in my ear, her breath hot against my skin, but I couldn’t hear her above the music. When I shook my head, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me through the crowd. Mist rose from the floor, cloaking us, and there was the scent of cranberry and allspice.
When we’d first strolled into The Other Place (meaning the place that wasn’t the Night Den) and I’d smelled the hint of solange, my heart had twisted and stuttered, and I’d gasped at the sudden pain. It was a hint of Finn, and it hurt. I’d ruthlessly shoved it aside and followed Last into the revelry.
The Other Place was similar to the Night Den, except it didn’t have an all-seeing eye guarding the door. That meant there was more cheating, stealing, lying, and murdering—usually nightly. All creatures were welcome at The Other Place, and all vices were catered to.
It was more crowded than I’d ever seen it, probably because Finn hadn’t rebuilt the Night Den after I destroyed it. That meant The Other Place was now the only place.
We made it to the bar, and Last shouted an order. A rock spirit shoved four shot glasses her way. She handed me two and clinked them together.
