Conspiracies (Mercedes Lackey) - By Mercedes Lackey Page 0,37
Then they both did the same for Muirin and Addie.
Muirin took hers back with a smirk. “Since I took Ballroom and I have a bigger quota, I’m going to go collect on some favors,” she said, archly, and sailed off in the direction of the other tables. Addie laughed.
“But … I don’t know how…,” Spirit began.
“Which is why we picked easy stuff.” The music changed, and Loch held out his hand. “Come on. Just do what I do, backward.”
It wasn’t as easy as Loch had implied—but it wasn’t as hard as Spirit had feared. He helped by counting it out under his breath—it was a cha-cha, a dance she’d only seen in movies. She managed to not trip and fall or step on his feet. He brought her back to the table, and since the next dance didn’t have his or Burke’s name after it, she sat and watched the others, trying to get the steps.
Loch was a very good dancer, and some of the girls started coming up to him to get him to sign their cards, which he did, readily. It seemed to Spirit that he was sad, though, and she couldn’t figure out why. Okay, there was no real reason to be all that happy, but there was a melancholy look to him that was odd.
She couldn’t get up the nerve to ask any of the boys to dance the way Muirin was doing, and anyway, since she hadn’t taken the Ballroom Dance classes, she wasn’t being graded on this, so she just sat and drank diet cola and watched in between being taken out on the floor by Burke and Loch, and felt a little envy when she watched Murr-cat being whirled around by Loch in a waltz. That looked like fun; Muirin was even smiling.
About ten minutes to midnight, there was a little stir at the door, and a moment later it was obvious why. Doctor Ambrosius strode into the room, though he spent a little time greeting the teachers at the “bar” end of the room. Spirit sighed. They were probably in for another speech.
She just hoped Loch would come get her for the midnight dance. That would be a nice sort of omen for the new year.
But it was Burke who came over to the table, and held out his hand, just a little awkwardly. She didn’t want him to feel badly, so she got up and took it and let him lead her out onto the dance floor with a smile, even though she was a little disappointed. Still, at least she wouldn’t be sitting out the first dance of the New Year. That would bite.
The music didn’t start, though, and Doctor Ambrosius walked out to the edge of the floor, standing in a spotlight. Spirit tried not to sigh. Here comes the speech.…
The sixty-second countdown started before he could open his mouth, much to Spirit’s relief. Ambrosius didn’t even look annoyed; he had his “genial” face on, the one he’d worn when the presents were given out. She felt Burke tighten his grip on her hand, and in spite of it being pretty corny, she found herself counting down aloud with everyone else. Burke caught her eye and smiled. She smiled back.
She wondered if he was trying to work up the courage to kiss her … and she wondered how she’d feel about that, even as she called out the last few seconds. Did she want him as a friend, or as a boyfriend? Maybe it would be easier to keep things the way they were. But if he was her boyfriend, maybe he’d feel like he had to support her more. That would help while she tried to convince the others that they were still all in danger.
But would that be using him? Was that fair to him?
“Five … four … three … two … ONE!”
Suddenly the lights went out. Completely out.
The “Happy New Year!” shouts died, abruptly. It was very dark, and unexpectedly quiet. A couple people laughed nervously. Even the emergency exit lights were out. It was like being in a cave.
Spirit wondered if this was supposed to be part of the evening, even as Burke held her hand even tighter. But nothing happened, and even the nervous laughter died out.
She got a strange, horrible, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, and a cold chill went down her back that had nothing to do with the cooling air of the room.