Chapter Four
He led her over to a bar, and the people crowding around it stepped aside to let her and Gabriel walk to the front of the line. They patted her on the back and congratulated her, and she mumbled insincere thank yous, not sure what to say under the circumstances.
She had the option of going medieval – mead, mulled wine – or modern. She went modern. A possible forced marriage to the dragon she’d been alternately crushing on and trying to arrest for the past year? Calling back to the office to tell them what had just happened? This called for enough alcohol to float an armada.
There followed a blur of introductions. She met uncles, cousins, his gloomy valet Winthrop – who whispered, “My condolences” – and various other servants and friends. Finally Gabriel took pity on her and led her away from the crowd so she could finish her drink.
Gabriel’s mother waved at him to come over, and she made some kind of hand signal as she did so. Of course they’d have hand signals.
“You’ll excuse me just one minute – my mother wants a word,” Gabriel said. “Actually she probably wants several, unfortunately. I’ll be right back.”
He hurried off through the crowd.
Kelly walked away, not sure where she was headed. She was feeling thoroughly disoriented. She’d planned on flying back to Seattle that afternoon, in triumph. Instead she would be stuck here, at least for the night. And probably forever. She could consult with a lawyer, but she knew she didn’t have a legal leg to stand on. Human-dragon shifter relations were delicate enough; no lawyer would want to deliberately stir things up by trying to flout dragon tradition.
As she strolled past an apple tree, she saw a group of teenage girls standing under the tree and gossiping together, and staring and pointing at another teenage girl, who stood alone a few dozen feet away from them. Classic case of mean-girl behavior; Kelly grimaced in remembrance of what that felt like.
She started to walk towards the girl who was standing by herself, and the group of girls spotted her.
“Oooh, are you going to marry Gabriel? He is soooo hot!” one of the girls cried out as she walked past them. “Can you invite us to the reception?”
She paused and gave them a severe look. “No bullies allowed,” she said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to a friend of mine.”
Their faces fell as she walked past and headed over to the dragon shifter, about fourteen or fifteen years old. She wore an ankle-length velvet gown trimmed in gold brocade; it hung awkwardly off her skinny frame. Tall and gangly, with walnut-brown hair that cascaded down her back, she’d be a stunner in a few more years. She just stood there and stared at Kelly without speaking.
“Hello,” Kelly said, holding out her hand. “I’m Kelly. And you are?”
“I’m still making up my mind,” the girl replied.
“About what?”
“Whether you can marry my uncle. So this is the girl you’re thinking of marrying?” she asked as Gabriel strolled up to them.
Gabriel nodded cheerfully. “Looks that way. Evangeline, this is my bride-to-be, Kelly. You should get my mother to take you dress shopping.”
Evangeline resumed her scrutiny. “Well, she seems nicer than Pandora, although I’m kind of disappointed, actually.”
“Disappointed?” Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “You hated Pandora.”
“Yes, exactly. I was looking forward to throwing her off a cliff the first time I got her alone.”
At that, Gabriel shook his head. “No, Evangeline, there will be no throwing humans off of cliffs,” he said firmly.
She squinted at him skeptically. “Not even ones we really, really can’t stand?”
“You heard me. No.”
Evangeline let out a long, martyred-teenager sigh. “Well, I guess I could set her on fire.”
“Not unless you want to be grounded until your hundredth birthday.”
“But then I’d miss the homecoming dance, and prom!” Evangeline pouted.
“That’s why you shouldn’t incinerate or otherwise murder anyone,” Gabriel said sternly.
Evangeline went into a full snit, stamping her foot, and her eyes flashed red. Scales covered her face and sparks flew from her nostrils. “Did I ever tell you that you’re my least favorite uncle? Well, except for Calder.”
Evangeline glanced over at a handsome man who was standing by himself, drinking a beer. The man bore a startling resemblance to Gabriel. He looked so much like him that he had to be his twin.
