Things That Should Stay Buried - Casey L. Bond Page 0,67

garment after garment across, metal screeching across metal. It was an oddly satisfying sensation since I knew noises like that bothered Kes. I could almost hear his teeth grind.

“What must be?” he asked after a long pause.

“Constantly having to do what you’re told. Never having your opinion matter,” I answered, shrugging a shoulder.

“My opinion is valuable to Aries.”

I rolled my eyes, fully aware he could sense the movement but not bothering to turn around so he could see it.

I mean, Aries did as Kes asked in one circumstance – honoring the right he invoked. Other than that, Kes was like Cinderella. Kes do this. Kes do that. Well, what if Kes thought what he’d been ordered to do was wrong? It wouldn’t matter, because he’d been ordered by his maker to do it.

His glacier eyes watched for a reaction as he said, “I was going to tell you that Helena is coming over to help you dress.”

“I’ve been dressing myself since first grade, but thanks,” I quipped, wishing he’d leave already but also wishing he wouldn’t. I was mad at him, but I hadn’t seen him all day. Even if I was irritated at him, Kes was someone I could count on in a world where no one could be trusted.

“Aries has requested that you and Xavier, along with everyone else in his kingdom, dress traditionally so that for the time being, you might be more difficult for the other Zodia to pick you out of a crowd.”

I turned around at his choice of words, quirking a brow. “Traditionally?” I deadpanned. “Which means…?”

“You’re not going to like it,” he warned. “And you’ll definitely need help dressing. How long did it take you to get that prom dress on?”

Ugh. I mean, technically, it took me longer to get it off than on, but if Kes said I wouldn’t like it, he was probably right.

“Will it just be the four of us at dinner?” I asked, infusing too much hope into my voice.

“Five,” he answered, squashing said hope.

I bet the ethereal Virgo was staying for supper. Lovely.

Two taps came at the door and Helena stepped in. She was dressed in leather pants and an off-white, cashmere sweater that fell off one shoulder, with smoky eyeshadow that was on point. If this was traditional dress, count me in. She glanced between the two of us. “Should I come back?”

“No,” Kes said. “Please come in. I was just leaving.”

I tried to give Helena a smile as Kes vanished between us. She pushed her long, lavender bangs back. “Okay,” she drawled. “So, what color do you want to wear?” She looked around the room and gestured to the wall. To the deep teal and gold… “Are these your favorite colors?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

She opened the bedroom door and tugged in a small, wheeled cart filled with mountains of fabric swaths. Her hands gravitated to the deep teal color of my walls. “An exact match,” she mused. “I think Aries favors you in this color.”

“I don’t care what Aries favors,” I snipped.

A knowing grin slid over her lips. “Then let’s make him regret providing the color.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on his side?” I mean, she was a Guardian, which meant she was beholden to him like my brother was. Without responding, she began gathering swaths of fabric. I wasn’t sure how she could possibly turn them into a dress in time for dinner, then she made the first knot. “You’re knotting my dress… Wait – am I going to look like Virgo?”

The last person in the world I wanted to dress like was her. She was perfect and I was definitely not. If we twinned, it would only highlight my laundry list of flaws.

Helena laughed and it made something akin to happiness flutter through my veins. “Virgo barely shows any flesh. She’s the proverbial embodiment of modesty and purity,” she mocked. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you want to project the same image to Aries. I think you want to make a statement. Not only to him, but to all of the Zodia.”

“All two of them?”

She shrugged her bare shoulder. “Word travels fast among them, despite alliances. And there will be three attending tonight’s dinner. Aquarius just arrived.” She walked to the cart and grabbed a handful of thin, golden strands. “Aquarius will particularly enjoy the gold we’ll embellish you with. He’ll enjoy it enough to set Aries’s teeth on edge.”

“Why are you so keen on helping me torture Aries?” I asked