“Seriously, Cami, you’re gorgeous.” His voice had deepened, his gaze tracking over the deep V neckline. Then he took the box from my hand to grab the earrings and helped affix them.
Az said nothing the entire time, his Phoenix still in some sort of standoff with the owl.
But as Ajax stepped back to view the finishing touches on my outfit, Az groaned. “I’m going to be hard all fucking night, Cami.”
“Same,” Ajax muttered. “If we didn’t have to attend this ball, I’d have already ripped that dress off.”
“We still could rip it off,” Az said conversationally. “Fuck. A few times. Then head down to the party?”
I gave him a look. “I doubt Aflora and her mates would appreciate you ruining the gift they gave me.” I gestured to the gown. “You can’t rip this off of me. Not yet.”
“Fine. I’ll just take it off of you,” Az murmured, moving forward to play with the strap against my shoulder. “Slowly…” He started tugging on the silky strand, bringing it down toward my arm. “Gent?—”
Magic hummed across my skin as the fabric snapped free of Az’s fingers and righted itself once more.
I frowned. “That was weird.”
Az grabbed the strand again, tugging it off my shoulder with more force.
Only for it to jerk right back into place.
My eyes widened. “What the hell?” It reminded me of that chain dress Lucifer had made me wear to his nightclub. Goose bumps pebbled along my neck, trickling to my shoulders and arms.
I grabbed the zipper at my side and yanked it down, then yelped as it flew upward in response.
“Noooo,” I growled, refusing to be trapped in another garment. This one might be silky and cover me in all the right places, but it still functioned as a prison.
At least it’s not rubbing my clit,I thought.
Yet, another part of me whispered.
My eyes widened.No. No. No.I bent to lift the dress and tried to take off my underwear beneath. The lacy panties—the same color as the dress—reached my knees before magically gliding back into place with a resounding snap.
“What the hell is this?” I demanded, only belatedly realizing both Az and Ajax were already deep in conversation on the topic.
Kuro was nowhere to be seen, the owl having disappeared while I’d been freaking out.
“Typhos wouldn’t do this,” Az was saying. “He manufactured the chain dress as a sensual punishment. It was his way of making a statement. I’m not saying I agree with his methods, nor am I trying to explain them away. I’m simply stating that this doesn’t match Typhos’s usual methods.”
“Then who?” Ajax demanded. “Because I highly doubt Aflora did this.”
“Did what?” a deep voice asked as Shade materialized in the room with Kuro perched on his shoulder. “I assume whatever we’re discussing is why you sent Kuro to peck at me?”
“I didn’t send him; he left,” Ajax replied without looking at his best friend. His blue-rimmed black eyes were on me. “Is the jewelry spelled, too?”
I reached for the necklace and unclasped it. The pendant slid down as I pulled the chain away from my nape. “No, seems to—” The charm slid back into place, the necklace clasp re-clicking. “Never mind. It’s the jewelry, too.”
Shade frowned. “That’s an interesting trick.”
“What do you mean by ‘interesting’?” Ajax demanded. “Aren’t the dress and the jewelry from your mate-circle?”
I didn’t like the way Shade’s frown deepened. Because it told me without words that this wasn’t from him or any of his mates.
Which didn’t make sense.
Before Shade could confirm what I really read from his features, I said, “Zakkai brought the dress to me last week and said it was a gift for tonight’s ball.”
Shade glanced over the gown in question, his gaze lighting up. But it wasn’t in an appreciative way so much as an amused way. “Ah, right. His shopping date with the Virtuous Fae.”
