lace, sighing with relief when I found nothing amiss. Bianca would’ve had my head if I’d stained it.
“You look...” Elias paused, coming forward to take both of my hands in his. But he didn’t finish the sentence, instead, tugging me into his arms to plant a soft kiss at the nape of my neck. “Happy birthday,” he whispered into my ear, and I giggled, biting the inside of my cheek.
“Remind me to thank Bianca.” Cal stepped in with Adrian at his side, staring pointedly at the twin mounds of my breasts. “Her taste is… exquisite.”
His eyes ignited dragonfire green and stole the breath from my lungs. There was a world of promise in that gaze that made me suddenly hot.
Draven brooded silently and didn’t dare move, and it seemed Adrian was stupefied.
“You don’t look half bad, yourself,” I told Cal, and extended the compliment to the rest of them. “You all look great.”
And they did. Elias was in a full suit, a deep silvery gray number with a deep purple button-up and matching bowtie. I didn’t think I’d ever meet a man in a bowtie that I could confidently call sexy as hell. I was happy to be wrong about that.
Cal and Adrian were about as dressed up as I think they probably ever got in dark wash denim and button-down shirts that were actually buttoned down several buttons. Cal wore a deep green and Adrian a toasted almond color. It suited them.
And Draven—well, Draven wore what he always wore. A black shirt with that expensive-looking dark gray jacket and torn jeans. Somehow, even without the finery, he managed to look just as delicious as the others and I licked my lips at the memory of what we were doing the last time we’d seen each other.
Shocking myself, the thought came unbidden into my mind; I can’t wait to do it again.
Only next time, I didn’t want him to stop.
I blinked back into the present as Elias squeezed my hand. Damn, how much wine had I had to drink?
“So,” Cal started, still unable to fully lift his gaze from traveling the length of my body. “Down to business.”
Ugh. Did we have to? Way to ruin the mood. “What’s the use?” I said, losing a bit of the excitement I’d just managed to scramble up. “Have you seen how many people are out there? We may have narrowed it down by a paltry fifty people.”
“Yes, but only one of them is going to actively be trying to find out what you know.”
“If whoever they are even took the bait,” Draven added, weighing in where he could. He insisted on coming to offer an added layer of protection. And because he didn’t want to miss my birthday, apparently, but he couldn’t actually help us pursue this person—not in a crowd of witches.
My stomach fell. “They did,” I told him. “At least, I think they did. Bianca was really off on Thursday night like she’s been every other time it’s happened.”
This would be news to all of them. I hadn’t had a chance to see them at all except for Elias briefly during first period in the mornings, and even then, I didn’t want to draw attention to him by staying after to speak with him.
“Then we can’t let this opportunity go to waste.” Adrian crossed his thick arms over his chest as he finally found his voice. “If it worked, then whoever it is will be looking for you. Watching you.”
Did I just turn into the bait?
“Go back out there and do… whatever,” Cal said. “It doesn’t matter what you do, just be present and keep moving around. We’ll be watching. If anyone follows you, we’ll notice.”
I threw my arms up, exasperated. “What kind of half-baked plan is that?”
“The only one we’ve got,” Elias replied, and I released the tension in my shoulders, letting his steady gaze calm me.
31
Harper
All I was missing was a giant sign taped to my back that said, Follow me! Yeah, over here, this girl! Come on!
I’d been circulating the party for hours. I’d slowed down on the wine if only because if I drank any more, I’d be hopelessly drunk and completely useless. I even managed to get some food down into my vacant stomach. Unsurprisingly, I’d lost my appetite this past week with all the added stress. A travesty I could add to all the others in my life.
There was nothing worse than feeling like you were hungry enough to eat a whole dang cow, but