Fire Stones - By Kailin Gow Page 0,45
of me.” But he kissed me anyway. “But if it’s important to you, my darling, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. You know that.”
And so it was agreed that Chance, Varun, and I would be staffing the party jointly. My white lie seemed like it was working – Chance was far less aggressive with Varun than he had been previously – and after all, it was true: Haven was working on getting Varun, and it wasn’t like he’d turned her down flat. I smiled cautiously as we worked together to fold napkins at the elaborate dining table that had been erected in the center of the garden: maybe the three of us would be able to spend time together after all.
To my surprise, however, both Varun and Chance – vanishing briefly into the kitchen – returned wearing not aprons and nametags but tuxedos.
“What’s going on?” I looked confused.
“Change of plans,” said Varun. “I told Haven I’d be her date tonight – but only if she let the three of us dress up. I told her that our skills would be better-served leading the dances on the dance-floor than serving cake. Besides, most of these kids will be bringing their refreshments in flasks. Not that I’m supposed to know, of course.” He winked.
Chance smiled too. He looked happier than I had seen him in a while. “We’re ‘hosting’,” Chance said.
I smiled. “I told you Haven wasn’t so bad,” I said to Chance. But I stopped short, frowning. “But I haven’t got anything to wear.”
Chance and Varun exchanged glances.
“Mrs. Peterson?”
“Room 44B!”
They vanished once again, only to return with a red silk dress that shimmered in their arms. The two of them seemed happy together – even brotherly! Now that Chance wasn’t threatened by Varun – and Varun seemed to be mulling over his other options – things seemed calmer between them. I remembered what Varun had said about missing the cousin he grew up with: for the first time, I could see the bond between them.
“Mrs. Peterson’s this crazy old lady in Room 44B – been living there for about thirty years. She used to be an actress – and her closet’s full of all these clothes she wore back when she was a starlet. She used to be just your size. Lucky for you, she’s got a soft spot for Varun here.” Chance laughed. “She agreed to lend out one of her dresses on the condition that he take her out tomorrow night.”
The dress was beautiful. In it, I felt more like Vesta than ever: powerful, regal, beautiful. A deity. The silk rippled along my skin, contouring to my curves. From the looks on Chance and Varun’s faces, they admired the effects of the dress, too.
It was the most magical night of my life. The band was playing music I remembered from my childhood – pre-Erosion music – and I spent the whole evening on the dance floor, letting my feet carry me from one side of the room to the other. I closed my eyes and let myself drift to the sound of the music – dancing first with Chance, then Varun – a passionate tango followed by a gentle waltz. Two pairs of arms around me – two pairs of eyes locking with mine. Both of them were behaving like perfect gentlemen – only the smoldering looks in their eyes betraying their true desires.
I was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. I turned around to see Misty – dressed in full Gothic regalia. She was no longer the old woman I had seen in the locker room, but the slightly punk teenager I recognized from wrestling class. She was wearing a high-necked black lace dress with spikes on her bracelet, her electric blue hair done up in a bouffant.
“I’ve been looking for you,” she said in an unearthly voice. “I’ve seen it in my visions – you have found three of the stones you need. One in the depths of the sea – one in the heat of the sun. One in the cove – between earth and water. And now one hidden away in the realm of the spirit.”
My eyes widened in surprise as she handed me a dazzling emerald.
“Not even Jana got this far. She found an emerald, but it was a false one. The true emerald was the one that I possess. The one I was charged with keeping until the worthiest Embodiment was found. I truly believe that you are that Embodiment, Mackenzie