AllFreeNovel
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She’s across the room. Near the other wall, she moves like I do—between the sea of people, on the fringe of everyone. I peer around a tall Alpha bodyguard, who’s dancing with his wife.
Don’t lose her.
Luna twirls around her Uncle Ryke, careful not to bump into him.
She sways her head side to side, in her own world.
I smile.
Take me with you.
“Ope, sorry!” Millie Kay almost bumps into a teacart. She’s apologizing to the furniture. Hand on a round belly and dressed as Spider Woman, she notices me and her face flushes. “There’s a lot of obstacles here.”
“Only obstacles if you haven’t made friends with them yet.”
She glances back at the teacart, confused. “You want me to be friends with a teacart?”
“Only if you wanna be,” I say, wishing I was talking to Luna right now. She’d get it.
MK nods, pretending to understand. “You know where Moffy and Farrow are?”
“Parlor, last I saw.”
Her eyes grow big, looking around the ballroom and the six sets of doors. Most of ‘em lead into the hall. Akara gave us a layout of Frey Manor in the briefing. Didn’t take me long to memorize it.
Her frown intensifies. “And that’s where…?”
I help with directions.
When she leaves, I swing my head back to Luna…
My stomach falls. She’s no longer in sight, and I move faster, pushing past red hanging fabric in my way. I peer over heads. I look left and right through the dancing bodies, and as I reach the end of the ballroom, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve lost her.
I swallow hard.
I should be looking for Vada, anyway.
So I exit the ballroom into the wide hall. Opening a door, I peek into a new room. Blood-red drapes backdrop a bowl of eyeballs. Party planners decorated some rooms for the event.
No one’s in this one.
Next room is another parlor. A mammoth painting of the original Frey family backdrops a darkly lit room swathed in blues. From the furniture to the tile on the crackling fireplace.
It’s packed with security.
My former roomies are hanging out underneath a stained-glass window of a rose. Moonlight streaming through, they’re drinking goblets of something purple and sparkly. Maybe they’ve seen Lun—I mean, Vada.
Vada.
Fuck me, I’m losing it, right?
I take a breath and go over to them.
Quinnie is wearing a Thor cape, and he puts a hand on my shoulder. “The prodigal roommate has returned.”
Gabe smiles. “For good?” His hope hits me right in the gut.
“Not for good,” Quinn says, his face scrunched up like he’s trying to figure out where his statement went wrong. “I just meant returned to this room, which I guess you haven’t entered before…”
I bail Quinn out easily by nodding to their drinks in hand. “Watcha drinking?” I ask only Quinn and Frog since Gabe is without liquor. He’s on-duty for the night, so he’s probably been doing rounds around the Manor and stopped here for a break.
Frog swishes the goblet. “Some type of fruity flavored vodka. It’s good.”
“Don’t let the boss see you with that,” I mention like their bodyguard camp counselor. “He already reminded us you’re under twenty-one.”
“Ten times,” Quinn adds.
“Fifteen for me,” Gabe says. Quinn gives him a look.
I try to smile. Try to keep it easy. That’s what life is all about. Not this knotted feeling in my stomach. That, I don’t want. I don’t like, but I do love the feeling of her…
Just not the pain that comes with it.
Frog groans. “My cousin can be too much sometimes.” He’s just looking out for you, I’m thinking as she takes a much larger gulp, then tells me, “This is why I’m excited about December.”
“What’s December?” I ask.
“Some fandom convention in San Francisco,” Frog says, inspecting the shimmery stuff in her drink. “Luna’s going to go, which means I get to leave Philly for a bit. Goodbye to Nine’s annoyingly growing protectiveness over me.”
I go still. Unblinking as a feeling paws at me.
December.
Fandom convention.
It can’t be…
Quinn is already speaking. “It’s probably his paternal nature coming out with the baby on the way.”
Gabe gives a hearty nod. “Daddy mindset kicking in.”
“Ew,” Frog grimaces. “Let’s not use that word when describing my cousin, ever again.”
I butt in fast, “Fanaticon?”
Their eyes dart to me in confusion.
Shit. My pulse is on an ascent, and I know I’m not making sense. “The convention,” I explain to Frog. “Is it Fanaticon?”
“Um…I can’t remember. Maybe? Why?”
I know someone who’s going there. “Just wondering…”
There’s no possible way Luna could be the girl I’ve been DMing. That would be…impossible.
That can’t be right.
Which means, Luna is planning on going to the same convention I planned to attend with Illyana. Still, there’s this funny feeling at the back of my head.
I’m dazed, hiking a mountain and reaching uncertain altitudes. But I keep climbing, searching for something beyond the haze.
“Does Luna watch Beneath a Strong Sentiment?” I ask.
