trousers and a black turtleneck. She’d streaked her hair with red. Christie, dropping down beside her, said, “Is that Victoria Tudor over there?”
Sylvie glanced at Finn. “I’ve counted four of Christie’s exes so far. Vic Tudor is one of them. Sit, Finn, put on your skates.”
“You go ahead. I’ll come after.”
Hester Kierney, pretty and sleek in ice blue, crossed to them from the bonfire. “I’m glad you came, Finn. Sylvie. Christie.”
Christie smiled at her. “For you, Hester, I’ll try to be fun again. Maybe you and I—”
“It’ll never happen,” Hester said, before slipping an arm through Finn’s. “Let me introduce you to the rest of us.”
Christie and Sylvie were already trudging toward the pond. Traitors, Finn thought, before the heat of the bonfire blasted her and she reeled back—
“Finn?” Hester’s eyes went wide with horror and regret. “I’m sorry.”
“Nice, Hester.” A curvy blonde in pink rolled her eyes and gently guided Finn to a deck chair. “Did you forget about her nearly getting barbecued on Halloween night?”
“We, uh, promised not to talk about that.” A boy with brown hair swept over one eye looked over his shoulder. “Vic, get her a cocoa. You like marshmallows, Finn?”
Finn felt prickly, surrounded by the blessed, the ones even Reiko Fata hadn’t dared touch. She straightened in her chair and tried to ignore the bonfire and the unpleasant memories that surfaced. “I like marshmallows.”
A willowy girl who resembled the brown-haired boy handed Finn a paper cup of marshmallow-frothed chocolate. “I’m Victoria. That’s Nick, my brother.”
“She’s met everyone else.” Ijio Valentine’s eyes glittered in the firelight.
“Not me.” The curvy blonde sat next to Finn. “I’m Claudette Tredescant. And we want you to know, we are beyond sorry about that night.”
Her stomach suddenly sour, Finn set down the untouched cocoa. “Aubrey already apologized. No hard feelings.”
Then Aubrey asked, “Where’s Jack?”
“On his way.” Finn began to take off her boots. If she could get her skates on, she could escape to the pond.
Aubrey rose and grabbed his skates. “We’re sort of afraid of him.”
Finn experienced a moment of hilarious disbelief. “Afraid of Jack?”
“Yes.” Hester smiled, but her eyes were dark.
Finn straightened. “You think Jack’s going to start killing you off for revenge or something?”
“The good-looking ones always die first.” Ijio poured something from a flask into his cocoa.
“You had Reiko Fata lording it over you. She was a sociopath. And Caliban was her pet.” Finn’s phone hummed in her pocket. She took it out—and it instantly went dead.
Ijio shrugged. “Oh, we were terrified of Reiko. At least we knew what to expect from her. We never saw Caliban.” The lights flickered for a moment, the music stopped, before everything buzzed back to life. “There are Fatas here, Finn, so electricity and batteries are kind of iffy.”
Finn scowled at her phone and stood, balancing on her skates. “Jack is not going to kill you.” She wondered if they knew about Seth Lot and decided she’d better let Phouka handle that. “‘Hey, Jude’ is playing. I’m going to skate to the Beatles.”
Aubrey gallantly extended one hand, snow glittering in his clubbed-back hair. “Come on. I’ll get you onto the ice.”
She gripped his hand. They trudged across the snow-crusted ground and he walked in his skates like a pro. As she stepped onto the ice, she glanced back and saw a slender figure speaking with Hester Kierney. Her heart jumped when she recognized Phouka Fata—now Phouka Banríon—all wintery, flower-child elegance, her auburn hair coiled up with sparkling flowers.
Aubrey gripped Finn’s hands and gently spun her. She laughed when she found her balance so easily. “I haven’t done this in years.”
“It’s just like riding a bike. You know, I’ve never ridden a bike.”
Christie was weaving in and out among the skaters. Sylvie was spinning with a pretty boy—Black Apple, one of Jack’s Fata friends. A willowy figure wearing a rabbit mask swerved past them. A bald girl in black fur spun, ribbons fluttering on her sleeves. Finn recognized her as Darling Ivy.
“Oh, hell,” Aubrey murmured. “They’re here. Jack’s friends.”
“Well, you can’t not invite the fairies to the ball.” Finn was actually a bit relieved to see Jack’s crew.
“You’re a very brave girl for using that word.” Aubrey glided backward. A blonde in a clinging dress of green silk—Aurora Sae—caught his hand and drew him away.
Finn felt someone grab her wrist, and spun, expecting Jack.
It was Moth, in jeans and a black hoodie, his pewter-colored hair tousled beneath the jacket’s hood, his face shadowed. His gaze in the firelight reminded her of