we can go shopping together sometime!”
My sip of champagne turned into a swig. My bullshit radar was pinging. More likely, Lenora had avoided me while I was the school joke, and only decided to seek me out now that rumors swirled that I was playing some kind of long con. Most of the Great Houses were sticking with the Nightfelds, due to Arcturus's intimidating strength—that, and the sheer number of people Priam Redbriar had wronged at one time or another. But the Hastings were already irrevocably associated with the Redbriars, due to marriage ties; they weren’t likely to be popular with Arcturus, no matter what they did. It made sense that Lenora Hastings would instead choose to double down on me and hope her gamble paid off.
Unfortunately for her, I wasn’t Cly, and I hoped she lost her shirt on her bet. “I’d love to,” I said with a tight smile as insincere as hers. “But I’m afraid I just don’t have the time—”
“It’s always good to meet family in a new place, my lady, if you don’t mind me saying so,” said Aegis. Oh hell, did they know each other? I needed another drink.
Lenora beamed at his assist. “Aegis! I hardly recognized you! Yes, I’m so glad our paths can finally cross tonight. I haven’t seen you in ten years!”
That was about when Cly’s lack of magic became apparent, and about when Priam Redbriar picked me up from the human world. Redbriar Manor had closed to all outsiders after that. No wonder I didn’t recognize her.
Lenora turned back toward me. “See, we all need to get reacquainted with each other. All I’ve heard from you these last ten years were those awful rumors!”
Okay, that could be fun. “Awful rumors? About me? Tell me more.”
Aegis shot me a disapproving look, while Lenora’s smile wavered. “Oh, no one could possibly still believe them after your time here at Wraithwood!” She gave me a conspiratorial wink. “I suspect now that they served as a smokescreen. But now the gears are in motion, aren’t they!”
“Sure.” I grabbed another champagne.
“Anyway,” Lenora persisted, “I know this great shoe store about twenty minutes from here. It’s run by the most adorable little humans I’ve ever seen, you’d love it—”
I pretended to sway. “I’m sorry. I think I’ve had a bit too much to drink. Do you mind if I get some air?”
I walked off unsteadily before they could stop me. Aegis made as if to follow me, but Lenora clung to his arm determinedly. Apparently, if Cly Redbriar wasn’t available for networking purposes, Cly Redbriar’s hot bodyguard was the second best target.
I wandered through a trellis arch, deeper into the gardens. I wasn’t as drunk as I pretended to be, but I was definitely feeling a little lightheaded. This was my first time with alcohol, and the champagne had more kick to it than I expected. I could use a place to sit down.
A roar of raucous laughter arose from somewhere in the gardens. It sounded like the alcohol was turning this to more of an archetypal college party. Suddenly I wondered what Arcturus would look like drunk. It was hard to imagine him ever letting go. Maybe he’d have one hair out of place. Two, even.
I grinned to myself ruefully. That was definitely a thought I wouldn’t have had while sober. I found a bench in a secluded alcove and plopped down, resting my buzzing head against its wrought iron backrest. Distantly, another roar of laughter gusted above the rustle of leaves in wind.
“Well,” slurred a voice much, much closer to me. “What have we here?”
My heart thudded, the world snapping back into focus. Here, at last, was Acubens Nightfeld.
And whatever he’d been drinking made the champagne look like grape juice. The reek of alcohol coming off him crashed into the sweetness of the night-blooming flowers, becoming something at once sickly and intoxicating. The floating lanterns cast wandering, dreamlike light over his fallen angel’s face.
Curse his face. It was his only redeeming quality. It drew closer, as Acubens half-leaned in, half-fell over me, bracing his hands on the backrest, just close enough to brush against my shoulders.
“Ah, I see you, Cly,” he murmured. “I’ve missed you.”
I willed my heart to calm. “I… have not. Is this a good time to talk?”
He laughed, star-pale eyes glittering feverishly. “I have a few things to say. Cly. Clytemnestra. In the myths, your namesake got a sword stuck in her.” The relish in his voice made the innuendo clear.
“She