“You look perfect.” She pouted. “Oh, Jolene… Peter’s gonna literally die.”
I flashed my eyes at her. “I hope not.”
She giggled and then grew serious. “The mask!” She snapped her fingers. “Where’d I leave it?” She looked around the pile of makeup cases, curlers, and bobby pins strewn about the carpet of my bedroom floor. “Maybe in the front room…”
Still muttering to herself, she headed through the door into my kitchen and front room where I conducted all of my fake pet psychic business.
I dug my fingers into the full skirt of the black gown, tensed, then spun suddenly to face Will.
His already huge eyes widened.
“I can’t believe I agreed to this.” I grimaced and held my elbows wide like chicken wings, then fanned my clammy underarms.
Will sniffed and looked me up and down. “Me neither, you freak.”
IF LOOKS COULD KILL
I moaned. “Why? Why did I agree to go to the policeman’s ball? First of all, I’m a shifter.”
Will held up a long finger. “And a fraud, sister.”
I nodded my agreement. “And a fraud. And…” My stomach turned. “And Will… they’re going to be there. I can feel it.”
He frowned down at my skirt. “Un-claw your hands, you’re wrinkling it.”
I looked down and realized I’d been balling the skirt up in my tight fists. I spread my trembling fingers wide and took heaving breaths, my chest rising and falling. I wanted to rip this dress off.
“My former law firm, Watts, Baker, and Low—they were big donors to the police department and always got a whole table at the ball.” I couldn’t breathe. “They’ll be there—Eve and Zale and my old bosses.” I shook my head. “I can’t do this.”
He lifted a bushy brow. “We’ve been over this, and you can. Masked ball, remember?”
I clenched my jaw but gave a slow nod. “Right.”
“Keep your mask on and your distance from the lawyer crowd, and you’ve got this.” He shrugged. “Probably.”
I gave him a look. “Wow. Great pep talk.”
He scoffed. “You go to that one for pep.” He thumbed over his shoulder toward the front room where Heidi still muttered to herself as she searched for my mask. “I tell it like it is, Jolene.” He tilted his head, eyes challenging. “Besides, I say live it up. Who knows how long you have left.” He pursed his lips. “Still no summons from Ludolf?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “No.” I waved a hand. “You saw my door when you came up—no mark.”
Will huffed. “For now.”
Heidi bustled back in, a donut box in her hands.
I shrugged. “Maybe ol’ Ludolf didn’t see the article in The Conch.” The article that included a front page, moving photograph of me tackling a murderer at a fashion show in front of a huge crowd. The one where Madeline L’Orange had cited me as a consultant for the police. I gulped. Yeah… likely no one had noticed that.
Heidi grimaced, but tried for a cheerful tone. “Yeah… maybe….”
Will barked out a laugh and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Yeah, I didn’t think it likely either, but what was I going to do at this point? I just had to keep living my life and hope the mob boss of the shifter underground hadn’t read the paper a few weeks ago.
Heidi crouched down and set the donut box on the floor.
“Ooh. I want one.” I pointed at it.
She grinned up at me. “It’s the only box I could find, silly.” She lifted the lid and pulled out a black, feathered mask.
I blinked in surprise as she held it out to me. “Wow, that’s… beautiful.” The feathers caught the light and shone, slightly iridescent, in shades of green, blue, and purple.
“We worked on a pair of ravens last week and I just scooped up the extra feathers and glued them on and—” Heidi beamed. “Voila. You really like it?”
I ran my thumbs down the length of the silk ribbons on the sides, and my chest grew tight. I grinned up at her, oddly touched. “Pretty fitting for an owl shifter.” Something about wearing feathers suddenly made me feel a little more like myself, despite all the unfamiliar finery and fuss.
I held the mask to my face. It surrounded my eyes and covered the bridge of my nose, leaving the bottom half of my face visible. Heidi lifted her wand; the tip glowed, and the ribbons magically laced themselves through my updo and tied themselves.
Heidi let out a little shriek of delight. “Okay, stand up. Shoes on.”
I slipped into borrowed pumps and Heidi cast a spell on them to keep them comfortable through the night. Thank the tides—just a few seconds in them and my feet were already starting to cramp.
Will rose and stood beside Heidi, towering over both of us. My closet of an apartment seemed barely big enough to contain the bear shifter.
I stood before them. “Well?”
Heidi’s expression was something between pouting and grinning. “You look like a princess!”
Will snorted. “I was going to say evil queen.”
She elbowed him in the ribs but he didn’t even react.
“Okay. Eee!” She pointed to the full-length mirror in the corner. “You can look.”
I hiked up the long, billowing skirt and stepped around the makeup cases to the mirror, then froze. I literally didn’t recognize the woman in the reflection. She—I—looked elegant, powerful, poised. All the things I hadn’t looked or felt since—well, since that Bruma Eve office party when my life had been destroyed.
I slowly raised a finger to the mask on my face and touched a feather, then spun to face Heidi, the long skirt swirling around my ankles. I opened my arms wide. “Thanks, girl.” The words weren’t enough for what she’d done for me, and I still felt strange, but… good strange.
She stepped into my arms and we hugged each other. Then I let her go and looked up at Will.
“Wish me luck?”
He gave me a hard look, then the
