fingers through the white-blond strands of my hair and letting it fall across my shoulders. I’d put it up in my usual French braid almost every day for years. Maybe circumstances called for a change. I wanted to feel like someone else. Find something in myself that I’d lost—or maybe that I’d never had to begin with before now.
Tomorrow’s party might decide whether there’d been any point in my embarking on this mission at all. I’d better be ready for it.
I debated adding the pink and purple streaks I’d often conjured into my hair while I was at school, but the vibe didn’t feel quite right. Instead, I teased my fingers over a few of the locks, forming syllables to my meaning, and a soft turquoise sprang into being here and there. When I studied my reflection again, I looked like some kind of water nymph—if a pretty jaded one. Well, that would fit a party out on a yacht, wouldn’t it?
I came back into the main room in time to hear the chime of a text on my secret phone. Noah.
Are you sure it’s a good idea going out tonight? You can take a breather, you know, especially if tomorrow’s going to be as big a deal as you think.
A bittersweet smile pulled at my lips. Even after my sort-of meltdown the other day, even after I’d soundly rejected him, the Ashgrave scion couldn’t help worrying about my well-being. Of course, maybe that was as much because of my meltdown as in spite of it. But the fact that I’d snapped like that made me all the more determined not to bow under pressure again.
Going out will be good for me, I wrote back. It IS a breather. We’re going to talk about how I can prepare for the party, but Emeric promised he’d have something fun for us to do too so I can shed some of the tension.
That might not be what Noah would really like to hear—me having fun with another guy. How else could I have put it, though? I hadn’t mentioned the kiss or the very date-like feeling of our last outing. There was no need to make him stew over the possibilities… the way I already was.
Make sure you do at least as much relaxing as preparing, then, he replied a moment later. You should go into that party as sharp as possible. I know you can knock their socks off.
My mouth twitched with a real smile. It didn’t seem as if he’d lost any confidence in me, anyway.
When Emeric pinged me on my regular phone, I headed down to the lobby to meet him. The daylight was waning outside, but the humid air fell over us like a wool blanket, almost sweltering. When Emeric directed me into the passenger seat of a small two-door coupe, I sighed in relief at the chilly wave of air conditioning.
“You figured we’d drive this time?” I said.
Emeric gave me a mysterious look. “We’re going a little farther afield this time. I’ve got to make sure you see all the best of Portland before you win the day and head back to Blood U.” As so often, his tone toed the line between effusive and mocking. After the time we’d spent together, I suspected he just wasn’t all that comfortable handing out compliments openly. It wouldn’t be surprising from someone who grew up as cagey as the average fearmancer had to be.
“I suppose if I miss something I could always come back for a visit.” I paused. “Okay, maybe not when half of the fearmancer community here will see me as doubly a traitor at that point.”
Emeric’s smile was equally enigmatic. “So better get all the sights and experiences in now!”
As he merged into traffic, he didn’t say anything more about this secret destination, but then, we did have more pressing topics to cover before we got to the fun part of the outing. I stretched my legs out as far as they’d go in the cramped space, the rumble of the engine thrumming through the seat beneath me. It’d been a long time since I’d ridden in a car that cost less than fifty grand.
“I did find out a little about tomorrow’s party while I was staked out at the hedge garden,” I said. I hadn’t been able to share the details over the phone—we didn’t want to take the risk of saying anything via a device that could be compromised. “Have you heard of a