Page 78 of Find My Way Down to You

“August!”

The cry comes behind me. I turn, searching. It’s not Cary. He’s disappeared in the sway of bodies. Instead, I find Henri.

Matching dimples outline his grin. He saunters up in a suit so colorful and bright, I’m forced to blink.

He tugs me into a hug. “Finally! This soiree was so boring without you.”

I laugh. “I doubt that.”

Behind his feathered gold mask, his eyes roll. “Fine. ButIwas bored and lonely. A devastatingly handsome messenger among unworthy conversation partners.”

“I’m so sorry,” I say dryly, smiling.

He steps back to inspect me. “Impressive!” A blush flows from my temples down to my neck. “Someone obviously thinks highly of you.”

My eyes flit around. I don’t see Milos anywhere. Absently, I thumb the daffodils on my jacket. I remember Cary’s hands there. The petals quiver like they remember too.

“Come, come,” Henri cheers. He hooks an arm with mine.

I falter. “Where are we going?”

“You said you wanted to know more about the Deathless.”

I did. But everyone in the room is overwhelming. Power radiates off them in effortless waves. My natural urge to be invisible, to be a shadow among them, leaves my skin damp with sweat. Henri clucks his tongue.

“No time to be shy. They won’t bite.” He pauses. “Well,someof them won’t.”

I groan as he tugs on me.

Henri spins us around a girl dressed in nothing but plump jewels and a mask of diamonds. Next to her, someone with copper skin is covered in tattoos that move.

Meli waves at me. Her two-tone dress is a collision of long silk and wild shreds. I smile her way.

“Careful,” Henri singsongs. “She’ll give you nightmares.”

He never gives me a moment to ask questions. We keep moving. Gasps break out as Poppy struts across the floor. Her black gown is threaded with crystals, a collection of changing constellations. Woven through her lace mask are red flowers.

Poppies.

Near the piano, a raven-haired woman wears a chic black suit and a starburst crown. Her pale skin silver like a full moon. “Cate,” Henri says offhandedly, “Deathless of the crossroads.”

My nose wrinkles. “And her name’sCate?”

Holding a finger to his lips, he whispers, “Don’t call her that to her faces.”

When I look again, there’s three heads instead of one. Like Cerby. I blink and she’s normal again.

“Shit,” I hiss.

“Mmhmm.” Henri points to three people standing not far away. “Deathless of vengeance. Triplets.”

He nods at each one: Alek with cropped blond hair against bronze skin, frosted eyes behind a wolf mask, and a fiery suit; Megan, blood dripping from the eyeholes of her mask, sharp talon rings gripping the flowy fabric of her lilac dress; Tish, the tallest, has a horned mask, their indigo tux studded in opals to form a winged beast.

“Never play poker with any of them,” Henri warns. “They’re mean and they cheat.”

As we walk, I feel their stony gazes follow me.

Henri names more guests. So many, I lose count. Some are Deathless. Others, he doesn’t give a title.