The Ice Twins - Nikki Jefford Page 0,34

had never taken an ounce of interest in reunion ball preparations. Of course he’d be here to inspect the devastation in that proud, arrogant way he was such an expert at.

The hall had more volunteers cleaning up—or gaping—than we’d ever had while doing the work of preparing for the event. Suddenly, there were extra elves from the year below and above us, including Almon Ravak, who had brought his kids along to help clean up.

What a bowl of pits this morning was turning into.

Elves were sweeping up shattered plates and wine glasses, righting tables and chairs, salvaging silverware, and stuffing the remnants of our beautiful décor into burlap sacks.

Had Aimer said wild animals did all this? It looked as if ogres had broken in. That could not have been the case, though. Ogres would have had to smash through the door or ceiling to get inside.

In the center of the wreckage stood a force more menacing than any ogre. Thessalia had her hands on her hips, baring the whites of her teeth as she pierced me with her icy glare.

“Look who decided to show up,” Thessalia announced to all present. “I hope your holiday in the mortal realm was worth it.”

I swung my gaze to Aimer. I’d told our regular volunteer crew that I’d be away for a couple days, but only Aimer had known where. Guess he’d shared. When our eyes met, he frowned and moved toward Nonie, distancing himself from me.

“Was this your idea of overseeing the final days leading up to our class reunion ball . . . by bailing before our big night?” Thessalia continued. Her eyes took on a victorious gleam. “We’ve all been looking forward to an evening of enchantment for years. Well, almost all of us. Maybe you lost your motivation after losing your date to the dance.”

My glare was met with the rise of a blonde eyebrow. I caught the brief smile of triumph on Thessalia’s lips before she resumed her impertinent staredown.

Wild animals, my lily elf ass. This had to be retaliation for our stupid face-off about her mate not being around to escort her to the dance.

That she would go to such destructive lengths was sickening. I had no way of calling her out, though—not unless I wanted to make myself look like a worse monster than I already appeared.

“There’s still time to clean this up and have our reunion ball,” I said.

Thessalia released a rude snort. “Do you intend to host our event in an empty room with broken windows? That sounds abysmal.”

“I’ll figure something out,” I insisted.

“It’s too late, Zelie. You’ll never get this place looking the way it did before you took off. The reunion ball is ruined. You might as well call it off.” Thessalia tossed her hair over her shoulder and strode out of the hall.

The gathering stared at me with accusatory eyes. Well, not Ren; he was more interested in the puddles on the floor. What had ever possessed me to want to become mates with that prick?

“The ball will happen as planned,” I announced.

The elves present exchanged glances. First one female set down her broom, then another. One by one, they stopped cleaning and walked out.

“We need to clean this mess first,” I called out to deaf ears. “We can have this place spick-and-span by early afternoon with enough teamwork.”

Not one elf met my eyes. They continued to file out of the hall with somber footsteps.

Fabulous. Thanks for stopping by.

Pitberries!

I grabbed a broom from the floor and began sweeping in rough motions.

Fine, I’d do it myself. Zelie to the rescue, not that these pit heads would appreciate my efforts.

Nonie and Ren, the two elves I didn’t want to stay behind, lingered in the hall. Still holding broken bits of plaster mushrooms in her skirt, Nonie walked over. She stopped in front of me and looked down into her skirt. “Do you think we can still use any of these, Zelie?”

Sky, she was impossible to hate. None of the pieces looked salvageable, but I forced a smile when I said, “Maybe. Put them on the table over there—the one that’s not on its side—and I’ll take a look this afternoon.”

Nonie did as I asked, then looked around and gritted her teeth. She appeared to freeze up when she saw how much cleanup was still left.

“Why don’t you take a break and pop in later?” I suggested.

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.”

“Okay. See you later.” Nonie walked away without a goodbye to Ren. He didn’t glance her way