Chapter 15

MERRY

I keep getting lost in the sea of bodies undulating on the dance floor, but Holly always finds me, making sure to steer me back to our group. Padma’s and Edwin’s faces are flushed, eyes shining in the ethereal globe lights. They dance together, face to face, hers turned up to his and him leaning toward her. I’m so glad they’re having a good time. So happy to be here among my people.

This feeling, this atmosphere, the fae that surround me, bring a sense of peace and belonging that I didn’t realize I was missing.

Holly pulls me close, her lips tickling the shell of my ear. “Have you seen Orina?”

Orina? Last I’d seen her, she’d been dancing with Shay. I grab hold of Holly and push up on my toes to try and see above the crowd. Holly laughs and grips my waist, lifting me up easily so I can scan the floor.

“Anything?” she calls up.

The colors of the globe lights wash over people’s faces, turning the world blue then green then red and yellow. It’s hard to make out features, hard to focus because I may have had a little too much to drink, and—Oh, there’s Crush. He stands out even with the globe lights. So large and sturdy. I wonder what his muscles feel like. Will he let me squeeze them?

“Merry? Do you see her?”

“No!” But I see Crush and he sees me. Is he coming this way?

Holly lowers me, her expression concerned. “Stay here, I’m going to go look for Orina.” She pulls me toward Padma and Edwin. He loops an arm around my shoulders grinning manically and a fission of unease feathers up my spine. They’ve had a little to drink but the ecstasy on their faces, the joy beating off them and against my senses…

Oh no.

A shadow falls over me, and the scent of wildberries fills my head.

Crush.

I turn toward him, peering up at his brutally handsome face. His gaze roves over me, lingering a moment on my lips and sending a flush down to my toes before he glances at my friends.

“They’ve had fae wine.” He doesn’t raise his voice, but I hear him clearly over the cheery ditzy tune that has everyone moving. “It’s time for all but the fae to leave. Do you still wish to stay for the Silvercrest dance?”

A shiver of anticipation dances over my skin. “Yes, I do.”

He holds out his hand. “Then come.”

I glance back at the others to see them turning away. “What about?—”

They start toward the exit, and they’re not the only ones. Several groups have stopped dancing and are heading toward the arch that will take them out of the club.

“What’s happening?”

“A signal that the night is over…for the humans at least. You can go with them if you like. Or stay and I can take you home.” His hand is still waiting for mine.

I want this.

I need this.

I slip my palm into his. “I’d like to stay.”

It’s strange watching the club empty of humans. Strange how blank their faces are as they navigate their way to the exit.

“Are they under some kind of fae spell?”

“It’s a mild compulsion,” Crush says. “Nothing intrusive. It makes them want to leave.”

“But we’re not affected.”

“No fae is.”

The globe lights dim, allowing the moon to reign, and I spot Holly across the field. She stands stock still watching everyone leaving, and then she looks right at me for a beat, and I can’t be sure because of the distance, but I imagine I see confusion etched onto her features, but the next moment, she turns away and joins the exiting entourage.

“Come.” Crush leads me toward the VIP arch. “We have a little time until the dance begins.”

The icy chamber that was the VIP room is now a dining room that looks like a room from a castle in a fantasy book. A hearth large enough to roast two pigs dominates one side of the chamber, and a heavy wooden table and chairs take up the center.

The three males sitting at it halt their conversation to take me in. They’re all huge like Crush, but their skin has a greenish tinge to it.

These must be his ogre blood friends. I attempt a smile, but the nerves get the better of me, and it wilts.

Crush gives my hand a slight squeeze. “They don’t bite.”

“Not unless you want us to,” the male with topaz eyes says, glancing up from his hand of cards.

“You’re a tiny thing, aren’t you?” another one says. He has warm brown eyes. Kind eyes, and his dark hair is a mess of waves that falls across his forehead artfully, giving him a softer, roguish air.

The final of the trio doesn’t speak at all. He merely stares at me with piercing silvery eyes. He has a hawkish look to him. Hard and almost mean.

I step closer to Crush instinctively.

“Stop it, Roarke,” Crush says.

Roarke smirks, cruel and thin before dropping his attention to his hand of cards.

“Don’t mind him,” Brown Eyes says. “He was born with a resting bastard face.”

Topaz Eyes guffaws. “So true, so true.”

Roarke glares at him and places a card on the table.

Topaz groans. “Fuck you, Roarke.”

Roarke drains his glass and tips his head to one side, indicating the deck on the table then cutting a glance toward me.

“Well, okay,” Brown Eyes says. “Roarke wonders if you want to play with us.”

Can’t Roarke ask me himself? Can he not speak? I don’t want to be rude and ask.

Roarke holds my gaze, waiting, and my cheeks heat.

“What are you playing?”

“It’s called Cast and Find,” Crush says. “We can teach you.”

He is still holding my hand. Maybe I should claim it back. Maybe, but I don’t. “I’d like that.” I smile up at him, and he smiles back, and my nerves melt. I offer the males at the table that same smile because I want them to like me. I want to make friends with Crush’s friends.

“My name’s Merry.”

“We know,” Topaz says, his lips flirting with a smile. “I’m Kalveen, this is Breyburn, and you’ve already been introduced to Roarke.” He pushes out a chair for me. “You can sit next to me. I smell the nicest.”

“Like hell you do,” Kalveen says.

“I like the way Crush smells.”

Crush tenses, and his grip on my hand freezes. I’ve said something bad. I shouldn’t have spoken.

“I’m sorry, I…” Panic tightens my throat.

“And what do I smell like?” Crush asks, his tone low and hushed.

I swallow past the knot of panic. “Wildberries and sunshine.”

Silence reigns for several beats until Kalveen breaks it. “Do you like honey milk?”

I exhale, relieved at the change in topic. “I love it!”

Breyburn holds up a jug. “Then you shall have some.”

Crush leads me to the table, and I climb up onto the chair. My feet don’t touch the floor, and I think I’ll need a cushion to be able to get my elbows resting on the table, but I make do.

“Okay, so how do we play this game?”

“I win!” I hop up and down in my seat. “That’s three in a row.”

Kalveen side-eyes me. “You’re sure you haven’t played before?”

“Positive!”

Breyburn chuckles, the low gruff tone music to my ears. “She’s a natural.”

Roarke gathers the cards into a deck then raps it on the table to get our attention before jerking his head toward the exit.

Crush sighs and pushes back his seat. “The dance is about to start.”

“Oh.” Disappointment flares in my chest, and I quickly squash it. I stayed for the dance, after all; this game and these males are simply a bonus.

“We can play another time,” Breyburn says from across the table. “You should come again next weekend.”

I look to Crush. “You have permanent VIP status here now,” he says. “And a free pass to visit Brimswood whenever you like.”

There’s something in his gaze I need to decipher, but the others are all vacating their seats, and it’s time to head back to the field.

We step through the arch into moonlight and melancholy music saturated with longing and dappled with notes that I’ve never heard.

It twines and twists and forms knots inside me, so I barely feel it when Crush takes my hand and leads me into the throng. But I do feel his arm snake around my waist. I feel the world fall away as he scoops me off my feet and holds me to his chest.

“Loop your arms around my neck, Merry.”

I do so, holding on to him, his breath on my cheek as we whirl and whirl and whirl under the light of the Silvercrest moon.