“A crow.”
He quirked his lips. “We will say raven.” He forced her into a spin before his eyes. “Much more beautiful than acrow.”
Lux stopped with a swish of fabric, tugging her hands from his icy grip. “And what of your costume, if I might ask?”
The mayor adjusted his mask with a grin before snatching a proffered goblet of wine. “A flamingo! Rare bird. I’m sure you’ve never heard of it. Few know of such things.” Lux had indeed heard of it. She refrained from rolling her eyes upward. The mayor drew closer, the stink of too much wine coating the air between them. “Did you happen to bring me a present?”
His hand reached out to finger a feather at her back.
“Yes. A secret.” She leaned in further. There were certainly many secrets she could have divulged to the mayor, but there was only one that wanted for revealing tonight. “There’s a phantom in the forest.”
Strange, she thought,how the words come easily now.
His eyes gave away nothing. “A phantom? You’ve entered the wood?”
“Once.”
“How very brave.” He studied her. “Or very foolish. You never were the best at following tradition, and now I’m sure you’ve disturbed a grumbling ghost.” He winked. “Intriguing all the same. Where is your aunt?”
“We came separate.” At Lux’s statement, the mayor finally took notice of Shaw at her back. He squinted up. “What’s this? A corpse?” His abrupt guffaws sent wine sloshing from its crystal dwelling onto the patterned tiles.
Shaw’s voice cut through, scraping. “Something like that.”
The mayor sobered. “What’s your name?”
“Shaw.”
“Have I met you before?”
“One other. Perhaps you don’t remember.” His eyes blazed and Lux contemplated stomping on his foot.
“Of course I remember. I’ve the best memory.” The mayor finished off the last of the wine before staring forlornly at the puddle on the floor. “If only all could have as great a mind as mine…”
Lux coughed against the derisive laugh bubbling from her lips. “We have been monopolizing you, Mayor. We should allow you to greet the remainder of your guests.”
“Yes, yes.” The look he directed at her turned leering. “Save me a dance.”
Lux considered knocking the goblet from the mayor’s grip until she felt the reassuring pressure of Shaw’s hand against her back. “Of course.”
She stepped away, more than ready for something to coat her suddenly parched throat.
“Wait. Doesn’t Shaw have a gift for me, as well?” The mayor eyed her escort with renewed interest, and the taller man stepped forward, his hand never leaving her.
“Death is like the mist that coats this town every twilight. Hungry and inevitable.”
If the mayor weren’t so happily intoxicated, Lux was sure Shaw would have been thrown into the mysterious prison for such a statement. Instead, the mayor fixed his well-honed grin upon his wide lips.
“Some would say.”
Reaching around to her lower back, Lux dug nails into Shaw’s hand, gripping it within her own. Dragging him from the mayor’s presence, they approached a covered table laden with goblets of wines and mugs of cider.
“What were you thinking?” she whispered heatedly, pushing a glass of wine into his hand. “Water?”
At the servant’s shake of his head, she frowned. Cider it would have to be. She picked up the nearest cup, sniffing its contents. A tentative sip later, the pleasant taste of orange swept over her tongue.
Shaw eyed his gloves with interest. “That buffoon’s so drunk he won’t even remember what I said by hour’s end.”
“We can hope.” She steered them toward the nearest sculpted column, their backs to the wide windows and faces to the sparkling sea. She eyed the decorated balustrade above them, thick ribbons tumbling from its height. “Where is your murder weapon, Prowler? Please tell me you’ve left it at home.”
