thought into it!”
Both Darshan and I eyed him. “I will resist the urge to put you through a window,” I said, and downed his drink for him.
If there were any interior design issues with the inside of the ballroom, I didn’t see them. Chandeliers spilled light from high above, reflecting off a polished floor of white marble. The walls were lined with mural panels depicting famous scenes of mages and angels and demons.
“That reminds me, we’ll get to register for next semester’s classes soon,” said Darshan. “Higher and Lower Magic are required, and we get another semester of Practical Education, but what electives do you want to take?”
“Oh, I’m definitely taking Inscription Magic with you,” I said happily. “And Demonology, given…”
In front of us, Wraith wandered through the dancers with a glass in hand, a plain white half-mask on his face. He saw us and gave us a wink before disappearing back into the masses.
“Yeah,” said Darshan faintly. “I don’t even know what’s going on with him. I’ve always thought of the hells as they are nowadays, as an… exotic place to go on adventures for rich people. I didn’t think they’d be relevant to my daily life. Why does Wraith look like a person? Why is he a school? I’ve got to learn more.”
“Ugh, are we really going to talk about classes here? And are you going to take a whole class because of Wraith?” complained Acubens.
“Aren’t you curious?” I countered.
“Not about him, I don’t,” said Acubens flatly, looking across the room. “My brother knows him well enough for the both of us.”
It wasn’t hard to spot Arcturus, even at a masquerade, with his distinctive height. His mask was matte black, a bear’s face abstracted down to spare lines and angles, giving it a lean, predatory look. He’d cornered several other party-goers for a conversation—also Great House, given the extravagance of their costuming.
He was plotting for the future, I knew. By now, everyone had heard the story of Cly and me, and the exchange at the Ash Bridge. Everyone knew that the Nightfelds and Redbriars were preparing for open war. And he was making sure of his allies.
I hadn’t expected him to join me at the dance, and he hadn’t. I reminded myself it was for the best. Getting too close to him felt like a gamble with my soul on the line, and I didn’t like my odds.
“Come on,” said Acubens, tugging me onto the ballroom floor. “You know how to dance, right?”
“Yes,” I said, fighting back a stab of memory: Aegis’s arm around my waist as he walked me through the steps, one-two-three, one-two-three.
“I’ve never learned,” Darshan admitted.
“I’ll teach you!” I said. “Let me demonstrate with Acubens first.”
The musicians began a new, lively tune. I went through the steps with Acubens, pointing them out to Darshan. “See, turn here—left—”
And then I forgot to keep talking, because Acubens was looking at me, his eyes bright, his face very close. “Meow,” he said, smirking. I leaned in and kissed him.
When I opened my eyes again, Arcturus was watching me.
He stood still and tall in a field of whirling dancers, a gravestone amid flowers, too far away for me to read his expression. The dark eye holes of his mask regarded me for a breath longer, then turned away.
My heart was pounding and I didn’t know why. I let go of Acubens, turning to Darshan. “Anyway, like that. Got a little carried away, sorry.”
“It’s fine,” said Darshan, looking at us. He gave a forced smile. “You don’t have to teach me, you know. I definitely wouldn’t be as good as Acubens.”
“I want to,” I told him, taking his hands.
He was always a quick learner. His steps were clumsy at first, but I talked him through it, breaking it down into ones and twos and threes, and then his eyes gained the luminous intensity they always gained when he had a problem to solve. He was seeing the pattern of timing and motion the way he saw a magic circle and understood its hundred intersecting lines, and that was all it took. We glided across the dance floor, each step more fluid, each twirl more perfected. We grinned at each other breathlessly, our fingers interlacing.
Acubens caught up to us by the tables as the song ended. “Okay, let’s find somewhere to sit,” I said, picking up a drink and pushing back my sweaty hair. “I don’t usually wear heels.”
Acubens pouted, looking enviously at Darshan. “One more dance?”
“You know,” I said, raising an eyebrow, “I was thinking something else more fun.”
Unfortunately, a lot of people already had the same idea in the upstairs gallery, with its shadows and vaguely discreet niches.
“This is putting me off the whole concept of intimacy.” I winced at the sounds—and smells.
But Darshan looked with thoughtful eyes at the inward-slanting windows just above us. “They’re closed with locking inscriptions, but they shouldn’t be hard to modify from the inside.”
Which was how Darshan ended up standing on Acubens’s shoulders, scratching new lines into the windowsill with the edge of a coin.
“Wraith, if you can feel this, we’re sorry,” I muttered, yanking off my heels. “But honestly, the vomit back there is worse.”
“There,” said Darshan, swinging the window open. He grabbed onto the frame and carefully climbed out, then reached down a hand for me.
“Ooh, you’re wearing the black ribbony pair,” Acubens said from below.
“I really like the way they look,” I admitted. I hauled him up, and together, with the help of a bit of lower magic, we climbed up the slanted windows and onto the roof above them.
“Nice view,” I said, gathering my skirts and sitting at the roof’s edge.
I tipped my head back, admiring the clear night sky, shining with stars and a slim crescent moon. A late autumn breeze swept the hair back from my face, just chilly enough that I gathered Darshan and Acubens closer to me. “Keep me warm,” I teased.
“Mm.” Acubens nuzzled my bare shoulder, his body pressed against mine. “You smell nice.”
Darshan took off his owl mask and set it aside. More hesitantly, he put his arm around my waist.
Our gazes met. “Do you mind if I kiss you?” he said softly.
“Do it,” I said, leaning in as he did.
His eyes fell shut, his lashes tremoring, as we met halfway.
The party below was a receding murmur of music and voices. A storm was coming, I knew, but it made this calm, this companionship, all the more precious.
Below, the lights of Wraithwood Academy twinkled into the distance.