Page 116 of Rejected By My Shifter Billionaire

“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “But if I get arrested for public indecency, I’m blaming you.”

“Noted.” He closed the box with a soft click. “The car will pick you up at seven-thirty. Wear your hair up.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

And with that, he walked out, leaving me alone with a designer dress and a device that was going to either kill me or cure me of my stepbrother obsession.

I was really hoping for the latter.

I SPENT THE ENTIREdrive trying not to think about the device Nicolo had insisted I wear. It was surprisingly comfortable, designed to feel like expensive lingerie rather than scientific equipment, but knowing what it could do made me hyperaware of every sensation. I felt like that princess from the fairy tale with the pea under twenty mattresses, except in my case the pea was...well, definitely not a pea.

Like, seriously. What even was my life right now? If someone had told me a week ago I’d be going to a masked ball wearing a secret vibrator controlled by my stepbrother, I would’ve asked them what kind of weird fanfiction they’d been reading.

The car pulled up to what looked like a palace made of living trees. Massive oaks and willows had been coaxed into growing together, their branches intertwining to form walls and archways, their leaves shimmering with an otherworldly light. Everywhere I looked, flowers bloomed in impossible profusion,climbing roses the size of dinner plates, orchids that seemed to glow from within, and vines heavy with blossoms that changed color as I watched.

Nicolo’s driver, a cheerful-looking woman in her fifties surprisingly, smiled at me through the rearview mirror when she saw my reaction. “First time at a Fae-hosted event?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“The jaw-dropping is a dead giveaway. Plus, you have that ‘I’m definitely not qualified to be here but I’m trying to fake it’ energy that most first-timers get.”

She pulled up to the main entrance, where a red carpet made of actual flower petals led between two towering archways of white roses. Guests were arriving in vehicles that ranged from luxury cars to horse-drawn carriages to what appeared to be a chariot pulled by actual phoenixes.

“This is insane,” I muttered, checking my reflection one more time in the car window.

The dress fit perfectly, of course. Nicolo had somehow managed to select something that made me look elegant and sophisticated instead of like I was playing dress-up in someone else’s clothes. My hair was pinned up in a style that felt more formal than anything I’d ever attempted, and the subtle makeup I’d applied made my eyes look larger and more mysterious.

I looked like someone who belonged at a supernatural high society event.

Which was terrifying.

“You’ll do fine,” the other woman said kindly. “Just remember: everyone here is wearing a mask. No one knows who you are unless you tell them.”

She made such an excellent point...I decided to focus my thoughts entirely on her words as I made my way to the ballroom.

No one knows you. You’re all wearing masks. It’s going to be okay.

Right?

Lucent Summit was a miracle of fae magic and botanical artistry. The walls were alive with flowering vines that responded to the music, blooming and closing in rhythm with the orchestra. The ceiling was a canopy of intertwined branches that opened to reveal the star-filled sky above, and the floor was made of polished stone that seemed to have tiny flowers growing between the tiles.

Everywhere I looked, there were flowers I’d never seen before. Solar blossoms that pulsed with warm, golden light. Ice roses that sparkled like diamonds and felt cool to the touch. Passion vines that glowed deep red and seemed to sway toward couples as they passed.

The guests were even more spectacular than the setting. I caught glimpses of pointed ears and unusual eye colors, of clothing that seemed to be made from elements rather than fabric, of jewelry that moved and changed as I watched. It felt like I’d stepped into some kind of fantasy movie premiere where everyone was supernaturally gorgeous and I was the only regular human wondering how I’d even gotten past security.

And somewhere in this crowd of supernatural nobility and magical flora was my stepbrother, ready to put me through another “compatibility test.”

I was so focused on scanning the crowd for a familiar set of broad shoulders that I almost missed the man approaching me.

“May I have this dance?”

I turned to find a tall stranger in an elegant black mask, his hand extended in invitation. He was handsome in a classical way, with dark hair and kind eyes, and there was nothing threatening about his presence.

Which meant he definitely wasn’t Nicolo.

“I’m actually waiting for someone,” I said politely.