and no one else’s, and yet I’m kept in the shadows, a girl behind a mask, wishing she could remove it, wishing she could remove his. Wishing we could just be together. No secrets, no shame.
But he has secrets, if not shame.
And they all come down to his cousins and uncle.
I know that’s the cause.
I know that’s why he doesn’t want to be seen with me.
I’ve seen his father; he’s even come and said hello to me. It was brief but very kind. I’ve seen his sister too. Absolutely the most fucking gorgeous woman I’ve ever encountered. I was nearly drooling on myself. They both seem like the good people I’ve been told about. They exude it.
And then there’s Blaise and Pascal and Gautier.
Gautier has to be the worst of them.
He’s younger than his brother and yet somehow looks older. Thankfully, I haven’t made eye contact with him, even when I felt him staring at me for a really long time. But from the glimpses I’ve seen of his eyes when looking around the room or talking to other people, they seem to glow with malice. I’m not even exaggerating. There’s a coolness to him, a confidence that doesn’t come from knowing who you are, but rather from knowing that you’ll do anything to stay at the top. He’s a snake on two legs, and even if Olivier hadn’t warned me to stay away from him, I would have naturally.
Oh, and here’s another reason why masquerade balls aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
They’re creepy as fuck.
I’m going downstairs to head to the back terrace to get some fresh air since it’s still so damn hot inside, when I literally run into some man with a mask that has three sets of eyes.
He giggles maniacally at our encounter, reaches over to pinch my ass, and then runs up the stairs. I don’t even have time to yell at him or react, and, for all I know, he could go and switch into another mask, and I’ll never know who he is.
Yup. Having people stare at you without your even knowing is one thing; overt sexual harassment is another.
“Ugh,” I say to myself, smoothing down the back of my dress and feeling dirty. I’ll be sure to tell Olivier when I get a moment to talk to him, because I don’t stand for that shit, and I don’t care if it’s going to be a problem. That’s probably the vibe I’m picking up on at this party. Like a Marie Antoinette version of The Purge, where everyone is free to flirt and giggle and grab and leer and get stupidly drunk, all while remaining coy and supposedly anonymous.
Outside it’s only a little bit cooler, and while the band is playing and people are dancing on the terrace and on the grass, there’s a swan that seems to take an interest in me, and not in a good way. With my feather mask and white dress, I might look like one of his relatives.
I start going back inside, but before I reach the doors, I see Ludovic, Gautier, and Pascal all step out of a room that Ludovic locks behind them. I hang back and wait, and Gautier and Ludovic then move past the row of armored knights toward the stairs, but Pascal turns toward the doors.
Toward the outside.
Toward me.
I gasp internally and then quickly spin around so that he doesn’t see me.
Which, unfortunately, leaves me nearly face-to-face with that swan.
It opens its mouth and hisses.
I open my mouth and hiss right back.
For a moment the swan seems stunned, and I think perhaps it actually worked. If he thinks I’m a swan, maybe he thinks I’ve said fuck you right back in swan language.
Then he waddles toward me and honks lightly.
“Don’t worry—his honk is worse than his bite,” a smooth voice says from behind me, and suddenly Pascal comes and stands right between me and the swan, his back to me. He mutters something to the swan in French and makes a sudden movement. That sends the swan pivoting around, flapping his wings, and waddling away.
I’m staring at just Pascal’s back, and already it’s familiar to me.
Do I know you? I want to say. How could I?
I don’t say anything at all.
Pascal turns around and grins at me. “But, of course, his bite is pretty fucking bad.”
I blink at him, trying to remember what to say and do. It’s all on me.
“You speak English, don’t you?” he asks me.
I nod slowly. “I