Page 15 of Unveil

“I bet he did it to corner you into saying yes,” Brylie spits. “He’s even telling people this is yourengagementparty. He made tacky flyers and everything.”

She points to the black and gold invitations on a nearby table, save-the-dates I never agreed to.

I snort. “I appreciate the enthusiasm, Bry, but not everyone is a villain.”

A strobe light flickers over her scowl. “They are in my book. At least until they prove they’re the hero.”

Lucy shakes her head. “Inmybooks, Zy is as white knight as they come.” Her nose wrinkles. “I’m partial to the villain myself.”

“Really, Loose?” Benoit melts out of the shadows, resting his arms over our shoulders. “I would’ve expected you to fangirl over the blond romantasy prince.”

“They’re always the real bad guys!” Lucy scoffs. “I thought you said y’all read my books. That’s romantasy 101!”

“Eh, maybe I just skim to the spicy parts. Nox is the one who actually likes them.” Benoit’s smirk grows as he slips her drink from her hand and downs it in one fluid motion.

“Benny!”

“I take my shadow responsibilitiesveryseriously, and you know the rules. No underage drinking in Uncle Jaime’s bar.” He points to the man who’s been in our lives since before we were born.

Jaime took over Masque when Madam G passed, and suddenly, our fun uncle became a stickler for the rules. Now he crosses his arms, wearing a raised “don’t try me” brow. Lucy pouts back, hands on her hips. She’s much sassier with a liquor coat on, but Jaime takes her threatening posture for what it is—adorable—and grins back.

She huffs and drops her bravado. “Okay. Y’all are rude, but whatever. I’m gonna go dance.” Grabbing Benoit and Brylie, she drags them to the dance floor. They’d probably go willingly, but she’s too annoyed to give any of us an option. “C’mon, Luna!”

“In a minute, I should talk to my boyfriend.”

“Fiancé, you mean?” Brylie grimaces, then salutes. “Godspeed.”

I automatically salute back. Godspeed, indeed.

Despite my resolve to confront Zy and my messy emotions, I slip deeper into the darkness to gather my courage.

Everyone from the auditorium has packed into Masque. Jaime outdid himself, decorating the speakeasy like an idyllic forest lake with classical ballet songs playing between mainstream dance tracks. The floor shimmers beneath myfriends’ feet as Benoit twirls them around. Blue strobe lights flash over Bry’s and Lucy’s white feathered costumes, their arms elongating like wings splashing water. They’re lost in a pas de trois until two guys in light blue and gold masks spin the girls away into a waltz, leaving Benoit to eagerly head back to the bar.

All around, vines and flowers hang from the ceiling, hiding me from well-wishers and anyone I pissed off by taking their shine tonight. Only my friends know I’m in turmoil.

Is it bad to break up with a guy on your birthday? If not, it’s definitely a faux pas at your “engagement party.” But tonight was my personal ultimatum, and, considering that peck on my cheek after proposing out of the blue, I’m more certain than ever that there’s no spark. Nothing like my last birthday.

Warm hands grip my thighs like he needs me, opening and spreading me around his hips as he holds me up, our masks keeping us anonymous, letting me just be me. His soul-destroying kiss brings me to the brink as he grinds into me, then?—

He vanished like a ghost.

“The nerve,” I growl, then snap my hands to my sides when I catch my fingertips tracing my lips. The guy had to be a tourist, because I never saw the clit tease again, and if I ever do, I swear I’ll knee him straight in the balls. Right after he finally gets the job done, obviously.

I sigh.

Yup. More passion during fifteen minutes with a stranger than in six months with the ever-respectful Zy. Before tonight, I would’ve even sworn he liked someone else.

“Now what am I supposed to do?” I mutter.

“Didn’t see this one coming, huh, Madam Boudoir?” Nox jokes as he strides up to me. “Oh, that’s right, you were afakemedium before you were arrested for swindling people. But hey, at least you got a thigh tattoo out of it, right?”

There’s an edge in his words, sounding just as conflicted as me.

“Like you have room to talk,” I try to taunt back. “You were arrested right along with the rest of us.”

“Except Lucy. We gotta learn to listen when she says to run. Our records would be a lot shorter.”

We laugh halfheartedly, his temper heating his golden eyes. I wait for him to break the ice. He’s almost as good as I am at avoiding emotions, but he never lasts as long.