The Moon's Fangs | 1

Amelia

I ran a hand down various silks as I navigated through the hall of fabrics. The pleasant sound of foreign music swayed between them, luring me in the right direction of the gala.

Butterflies fluttered through my middle at the thought of how Reks might react to seeing me make my entrance. It felt like a dorky prom thing to think - I fully recognized that and had the strong urge to palm my own forehead for it - but I couldn't help but imagine him pausing everything when he laid eyes on me, asking for a dance.

Gahh. I'd never admit it out loud, but I was a total sucker for those cheesy romance cliches. Well, romance in general.

~I do hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the sibling glamours may spoil those hopes and dreams.~ Nox said, slipping from my skin to curl around my shoulders.

I frowned. How dare you.

No matter the ambiance, I needed to remind myself this wasn't a date. This was a mission. We're here to find and confront Sio. All of our long-awaited questions would be answered tonight. It would be the first right step in the direction of saving Blaire.

Tonight was a big deal.

I gave Nox a little head stroke. Hate to be a killjoy, but you can't hang out in this form in the gala room. The Circle rank might be able to detect you. We can't take any chances.

Nox's head drooped a little, looking up at me with pouty puppy-snake eyes. ~This council is quite a nuisance.~

I continued to traverse through the flowy silks, stopping before accidentally running a hand through my fixed hair.

Shion had added a line of black and silver sparkles to the part, then sprinkled it into the straightened locks, creating an impression of dazzling stars around the black halo she adorned and lightly twisted onto the crown of my head.

It paired well with the double-winged black and silver eyeliner she used to accentuate my eyes and the light sheen she added to highlight my cheekbones.

But the dress she designed truly stole the show. The mesh material from the floor up to my waist was the blackest of nights, sheer enough to catch glimpses of my bare legs and the tiny bodysuit.

The slit on my right leg wasn’t as deep as Danika’s dress, but it exposed the entirety of my leg with every step nonetheless, showing off the matching heels. I had to pay attention to my strides so as to not reveal the blade strapped to my opposite thigh.

Having Reks' blade there made me feel ridiculously assassin-like.

I ran a sheer gloved hand down the top of the bodysuit. The thin material hugged me so well, it could have been considered a second skin. The black faded up, allowing the eye to catch the top of my belly button and higher, along with a generous view of cleavage from every angle of the glamoured body.

The star-like sparkles looked to be painted onto the center of my breasts, creating a beautiful scallop look. The stars were concentrated on top, dispersing throughout the entire dress like falling stars. Since it was sleeveless, Shion added a few black and silver cuffs to blend in with the glamour around my bicep. My favorite part was the faint amethyst sheen creating an aurora around my waist. It looked pretty with Blaire's gem hanging from my ear.

Shion claimed she wanted to capture the night sky, because nothing was more primordial than the cosmos. As for the aurora, her inspiration came from a legend about the Fates she heard when she was a child.

A couple women rushed past me, hurrying through the colorful drapes to get to the gala. I'd never practiced running in heels, so rushing through was out of the question for me.

Somewhere ahead, one of the girls must have bumped into someone because she barked out at them to watch where they were going.

The fabrics swayed just enough for me to catch a sliver of a female guard navigating through the colors. Her attention seemed to halt when landing on me through the rippling silks. A strange feeling leadened in the pit of my stomach when the guard receded from view, hidden easily by the buffet of camouflage.

Nox hissed an urgent warning, ~blazing stars, that guard is targeting you–~

A hand suddenly clamped over my mouth. My heart leaped into overdrive, hands shooting up to wrench the hand away – but it refused to budge as they silently dragged me to the opposite wall.

I flailed, unable to make a sound louder than a muted muffle. I stomped on a boot with the sharp end of the heel, kicking back to try to cause damage. Then my back pressed against the solid, cool marble of the wall as the hand covering my mouth turned into one single finger.

My heart, along with every vital organ, hitched.

Reks pressed into my front, unglamoured and wholly himself. “Shh.” a wicked smirk tugged at one corner of his mouth as he slowly dragged his finger down mine. My lips parted as his finger added pressure against my bottom lip before pulling down enough to grip my chin between his thumb and index. “Care to explain how you managed to rile up a high-ranking lady? One willing to send personal guards to exact her vengeance.”

Nerves knotted up in my throat. Not because of Lady Candycane’s measures, but because of the sultry darkness threatening to swallow me whole.

“I, um, might have slapped her. But she definitely deserved it.” I quickly added, feeling the need to justify my actions.

“I don’t doubt you.” he whispered, head turning as the guard spoke out somewhere within the rippling silks. She cursed, calling out a masculine name.

I gave Reks a suspicious look as he activated his glamour to conceal his identity once more. But my look softened, or more like melted, when Reks looked at me and saw past my own disguise.

“Fates…” he breathed. It sent a shiver through me as he took his time to take all of me in.

Heat flared across my cheeks, over the bridge of my nose. I tried to bite back my smile, but failed. “Look whose the stargazer now.”

Reks breathed out a surprised laugh, dropping his hand from my chin to take my hand and lead me into a twirl. "How else am I to safeguard my lucky star?" he pulled me back in from the spin. “If not for the significance tonight carried, I’d have already dragged you away through my gate ring."

“Why?”

His hands softly caressed both sides of my face, sending my heart fluttering, fanning the flames within even further. “Isn’t it obvious?” the warmth of his breath kissed my face as a slow, feral smile crept into view. “I don’t like to share.”

The sound of approaching women broke the tension, and I pushed at his chest to back up. Though, every part of my body ached in protest. He looked devastatingly handsome in his princely-knight attire. “Need I remind you we’re glamoured to look like siblings.” I whispered, beckoning for us to head toward the gala.

I'd imagine the Voa twins to be livid if they learned of any indecent rumors making rounds among their peers.

He bit his lip down to something milder. Wolfish, but controlled.

“Fine. I’ll play along for now,” one of his hands swept past my hair to grip the back of my neck as we moved through the silks. “But it’ll cost you.”

Fire and ice went to war in my veins as his grip loosened to trail down the exposed skin of my back, all the way down to the aurora waistline. One of his fingers idly skimmed the hemline, like a predator toying with the idea of crossing over the line.

“Cost me?” I forced my attention to remain on navigating through the colors, not daring to catch the heat in his eyes. It would incinerate me if I did. “It’s not like I chose these glamours. And on another note, do I need to be worried about that guard’s friend or partner or whatever?”

Even now, I faintly heard her calling out his name in angry whispers, trying to figure out where he disappeared to.

“Your concern is wasted on idiot perps like that. But he'll be fine. Unconscious and out of view.”

Sheesh. What did that Tansy girl tell her goons to do? I was lucky Reks showed up when he did.

For an assassin, he hadn’t done much killing since I met him. None, actually.

As if he read my thoughts, he whispered, “Sudden assassinations tend to be killjoys at parties. Best saved as a closing party favor.”

His finger slipped away from my back as the gala came into view between crimson and gold silks.