I wasn’t supposed to eat or drink, but I would standout without a drink in my hand. I was just accepting a glass of red wine, when someone whispered in my ear. “Follow me if you want to live.” Suppressing a snicker, I glanced around, but I couldn’t figure out who the speaker was. I glided away from the table.
A man came up and bowed to me. I curtsied back, as best I could. I knew I looked awkward, but there was no helping it. No matter how much I had practiced, I just couldn’t curtsy smoothly. The man held out a hand. I stared at it for a minute.
“Dance with me?” It was a question, yet not at the same time. I desperately wanted to look around for my guys but knew that would give me away in a hot second. Finally, I inclined my head, hopefully regally, and extended my hand to his. As he guided me to the dance floor, I put my untouched drink on the tray of a passing waiter.
I mentally stomped on the butterflies in my stomach. I’m not a dancer and have no idea what to do on a dance floor. Kait had said there would be no dancing. I cursed him mentally. I was not prepared for this! The man pulled me in close to his body. Despite my resolve, I stiffened. I was not comfortable being held this way by a complete stranger.
“My name is Sven. I haven’t seen you here before. What’s your name?”
Oh, shit! We had come up with aliases, but I couldn’t remember mine. My mind had gone completely blank. I stared at him, I’m sure with panic written all over my face, wondering just what the hell I was going to say, when I heard David’s voice in my mind. “Your name is Alva.”
Oh, yeah. “My name is Alva. It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too. So, how did you find out about this gathering?”
I wasn’t expecting the third degree, but now that David had gotten my mind working again, I remembered our story. “My grandmother invited me. I haven’t been before because I wasn’t deemed old enough. I just turned 17 last week.”
He nodded. “And who is your grandmother?”
“Tindra Ostergaard.”
“Ah, welcome, then.” He released me, and bowed, then turned to walk away. He stopped and said over his shoulder. “I was under the impression she passed a year ago.”
“No, that was Tindra Ostergard. My grandmother is fine, but many people have been making that mistake.” He nodded and continued walking away.
I called out to David and Kait in my mind and relayed what just happened. Kait promised to keep an eye on this Sven. He wasn’t on our list that I was aware of, but he seemed like he was someone to watch. I decided to pick out a place by the wall to watch the party from there for a while. After a few moments, there was a whisper in my ear again.
“Come with me if you want to live.” This time, I couldn’t help the snicker. I turned around, to see Hunter staring at me.
“What’s with the bad movie quotes, dude?” He just looked at me quizzically. “Come with me if you want to live?” I said in my Arnold voice. He was still staring at me, completely confused. “Whatever. What do you want?”
“I want you to follow me, so you don’t get killed. Duh.” I rolled my eyes at him, and his face darkened. “I warned you guys. Why are you here? They know. They have a plan…”
“Yeah, so what? Do you think we would be here if we didn’t already know?” I was bluffing my butt off, but hopefully he couldn’t tell.
He scoffed. “Okay, whatever, but when you die, don’t come crying to me.” He held up his hands and walked away.
Because I was a scaredy cat, I called out, again, to Kait in my mind. He laughed when I told him what Hunter had said. “Yes, I know. It’s under control.” I let out the breath I had been holding.
The wall was not the best place to stand. I had a good view here, but it would be easy for someone to take me out without raising a commotion. But most of the people here were Svikari, anyway. I slipped back a little farther so I could rest my back directly against the wall. I didn’t want to be in the middle of the room, surrounded by them, either.
The more I pondered it, the more it became clear. I didn’t think this through. I was so intent on them not taking risks in my place, that I didn’t think about if I was ready for this big of an assignment. Too late now. I fingered the necklace as I thought. My eyes followed Travis as he glided around the dance floor with a beautiful woman on his arm. David was dancing as well. They were following their assignments, checking in on each of the woman they had been tasked with finding and marking. I needed to get on my assignments. I, of course, was tasked with marking the men.
My gaze darted around the room, looking for one of my targets. I didn’t know how I was going to mark them. Since I had already had to dance once, I guess that would be the easiest way to get close to them. When I finally found one, I glided over to him, moving as sensually as possible, hoping I didn’t look crazy walking this way. When I reached him, I ran a fingertip down his shoulder to his elbow, and said, “Excuse me. I couldn’t help but notice you. Would you care for a dance?”
The man turned around, surprise on his frog-like face. His tongue darted out to lick his lips, and then went up his nose. I barely suppressed a shudder. “I would
