The woman beside me applied a conservative shade of pale pink lipstick, her pin-straight bob grazing the shoulders of her long-sleeved emerald gown. I watched her lips absentmindedly for a moment, weirdly annoyed at how precise she was being. Each sweep of the lipstick careful, slow… I rolled my eyes. Just get it over with already.
She must have felt me watching her, because she paused, midstroke, and glanced at me. Our eyes met in the mirror and I froze—icy horror flooding through me for the second time tonight. Eve. The coworker who’d cursed me and ruined my life and called the cops on me when I tried to confront her about it. Eve was standing right next to me.
Her eyes tightened with the hint of recognition, and I held perfectly still. Maybe if I didn’t move, I’d disappear? She cocked her head, lips pinched, and a wave of annoyance flushed over me.
Urg. She had so many little tics that’d annoyed me—the lip purse one of them. She’d always been so prim and proper and such a stickler for the rules. No wonder the way she’d been applying her lipstick had irked me.
Her narrowed eyes searched my reflection as if she knew she knew me from somewhere. My chest heaved—did she recognize me? Thank the sands this was a masked ball. She cocked her head, and her lips parted to speak. Snakes! If I had to answer her, I knew she’d recognize my voice. And that was a chest of trouble I did not want to open tonight.
“Eve!”
We both startled, and she glanced to her right. An older woman in lavender, her mask bedecked with amethysts, swept up to Eve’s other side. My former coworker shook herself and turned to the other lady. They exchanged cheek kisses, and I saw my opportunity to book it. I pushed back from the sink and turned toward the exit but stopped midstep when the older woman spoke again.
“I heard the good news.” Her voice held a wink.
I frowned. What good news? A burn of indignation rose up my throat. Of course Eve, despite being a no-good conniving witch, would have all the luck.
“Let’s see the ring... oh my. It’s beautiful.”
Ring? Despite my mind screaming at me to get out of there before I was recognized, I couldn’t help myself. I turned as Eve pulled back her left hand from the woman’s grasp, a glittering engagement ring on her fourth finger. I rolled my eyes. Of course the woman ruined my life, but she’d found love and hers was just peachy.
The older woman’s face split into a huge grin. “You and Zale make such a great couple. Congratulations.”
Zale? I blinked as my vision went all splotchy and a wave of white-hot rage flooded me. Zale?! My former fiancé?
I shot an arm out and gripped the wall to keep from toppling over. A woman passing me on her way out shot me a concerned look, but I waved her on, gasping out, “Tight corset.”
She gave me a nod, her eyes uncertain, then pushed through the exit to the ballroom, voices, string bass music, and the clink of cutlery briefly flooding the ladies’ room. Which seemed oddly topsy turvy—and it wasn’t just the sway of the ship.
I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood. Great. Just great. Eve cursed me, something she’d be in jail for if I wasn’t a shifter, then stole my ex and got to live a happy little life, going to balls and being a fancy lawyer, while I struggled to eat in the slums. Oh. This was just…. I gritted my teeth so hard my jaw ached. Just so great.
The door swung open again, and a woman in a tight, glittering white dress that glowed against her dark skin pushed through. Her mascara ran down her cheeks, and her red eyes shone with tears. I frowned, surprised, as I recognized the singer from the jazz band. Wow. Seemed like everyone was having a great night.
She sniffled and stumbled forward, pushing past the long line of ladies waiting for a toilet. She cut ahead of the woman in front and nabbed an open stall.
“Hey!”
“Get in line!”
Women clicked their tongues and exchanged “can you believe her” looks. But I knew how the singer felt—sometimes you just needed to go cry your eyes out in a public restroom. I sighed, gathered myself up, and downed the rest of my drink in one go. I tossed the glass in the waste bin, wiped my mouth roughly with the back of my hand, and gathered up my skirt.
There was only one way I was going to make it through this night, and it involved many more potions—strong ones.
AND THE AWARD GOES TO
I sat, hunched over my plate, and pushed the mashed potatoes around it with a fork. My stomach had turned into one big clenched knot after seeing Zale, Emerson, and, as the coup d’etat, Eve. I stabbed a piece of steak with vehemence.
Peter cleared his throat, and I looked up to find the other officers at the table and their dates all staring at me wide-eyed. Oops. I sat straighter and adjusted the cloth napkin in my lap. The golden fork stood upright in the meat.
I forced a watery smile. “All done.”
The others gradually returned to their conversations, but Peter leaned over and lowered his voice. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, lips tight. “Mm-hmm.”
Daisy, sitting in a chair, on Peter’s other side growled. Liar. She glanced my way, and I could barely keep myself from rolling my eyes. The dog, sitting at the table in a
