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Ever since the First Quarterly Test, I’d been snooping in on their thoughts whenever I passed them, trying to pick out pieces of secrets or confidential information. The problem? Since all of us had at least two powers, nearly half of them had Mind Manipulating, too. Their minds were as protected as mine was. But maybe at the Element Wielder ball, a few drinks would loosen their blockades—and tongues.
“I’ll tell you what,” Coen said, stroking my face. “I’ll meet you at the ball after I deal with the elites in Wasteon, okay? I’ll disguise myself. And then we’ll dance.”
Beyond the bulkheads, the wind had begun to howl again. The ship resumed its rocking. Not because of me this time, just because the world was unpredictable.
But one thing I could count on was that Coen would be there.
“Okay.” I nestled my head against his chest. “And then we’ll dance.”
CHAPTER
41
RAYNA
Music was already thumping through the walls of the upstairs bathing chamber, where Emelle, Wren, and I were getting ready amid a gaggle of others.
“Does this dress make my ass look big?” Cilia asked a few sinks down, turning to inspect herself in one of the ornate oval mirrors.
Mitzi glanced at her midway through applying lipstick. “Honestly, yeah.”
“Yay!” Cilia clapped excitedly.
“Humans are strange,” Willa observed from the vanity counter.
“My hair is strange,” Emelle muttered beside me, holding up a chunk of brown strands that seemed to be sticking out in the wrong direction.
“Here, let me help!”
Felicity hopped up on the stool between us, swiped some clips off the counter, and began pinning Melle’s hair back. Her bell-shaped hat flopped over her head, and I smiled to myself as I dabbed some tinted beeswax on my lips.
The monkey didn’t seem to care or even particularly remember our run-in with Agathea, but she’d been wearing that bell hat day and night, refusing to take it off. Just a sign I needed to get her some more fashion accessories.
“There.” Felicity patted Emelle’s hair. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
I nodded. “Lander’s going to be drooling when he sees you, Melle.” She was wearing a glittering violet dress with a neckline that hugged and lifted her curves. On her other side, Wren had slipped into a sleek black one with long, billowing sleeves. “And you look wonderfully intimidating, Wren,” I added, trying to be more mindful of the kind of compliments she’d want.
Wren’s mouth pulled up in a smile. “That’s the goal.”
“Ahhh, look at us.” Before I knew it, Cilia was coming up from behind and squeezing us all together. “A bunch of sexy women, ready to take on the world.”
“It’s just a ball, Cil,” Mitzi laughed.
“I know, but anything can happen at any point in time,” Cilia said seriously. “Did you know that an Element Wielder came up with the idea for these plumbing systems while she was shitting in a bucket in the jungle?”
“Where’d you hear that? Surely not Mrs. Smetlar.”
“No, course not. That vulture doesn’t teach us anything.” Cilia shook her head, earrings glimmering. “My cousin’s a plumber in Wasteon. She told me all about the history of the human bowels and their necessities when I was growing up.”
“Oh, so that’s why you are the way you are!”
“Shut up.”
Everyone laughed, and the bathing chambers became a cacophony of shrieks and insults and compliments all twisted into one, but I froze.
Wasteon. The name of the village struck me right in the chest. Coen, Sasha, and Sylvie would be attacking the elites there at any moment. As capable as I knew they all were, a nauseating tangle of nerves still writhed in my stomach at the thought. What if today was different? What if…
No. I squeezed my hand around my necklace and took a heaping breath. Coen would be here soon. Maybe he already was—waiting for me somewhere inside the Element Wielder mansion after an early success.
