The music above stops and voices float through the fog. The band calls for everyone to come upstairs.
It’s the final anthem.
I spin to Julian, my heart suddenly in my throat. We haven’t had enough time…
He turns to me fully, running his hands through my hair. At some point, the pins came loose and my hair falls freely across my shoulders.
“We’ll find each other,” he says. “Nothing can keep us separated now.”
I return his kiss, my rapid breathing eases, and my heartbeat calms at his certainty.
We hurry to dress, reaching for each other, maintaining contact, laughing when we struggle to do up our clothing one-handed. It takes both of us to wrench my heels out of the door and wall.
Damn, I’m going to miss this dress. This room. This ship. But I’m determined that I won’t have to miss Julian, because we’re going to find each other once we leave The Ball.
Pulling on his suit jacket, he tugs me out into the hallway. We fall into step with the patrons heading to the deck. By the time we exit into the fog and sea breeze, a crowd of supernaturals has gathered along the deck, but we keep to the back of the group.
A woman with olive skin, soulful brown eyes, and a crimson dress slides in next to us with a man right behind her who’s wearing a sleek black suit.
She gives me a smile. “Did you enjoy your evening?”
I catch Julian’s eye, biting my lip. “It wasn’t a disaster.” I grin at the woman, lowering my voice. “I’d ask if you enjoyed yours, but judging by the man standing next to you, I’d say I have my answer.”
She blushes and nods. “I’m Willa. This is Jack.”
“Liv. And Julian. Nice to meet you.”
Julian gives Willa a polite nod, his focus on me before he tugs me toward a small open space at the side. He pulls me into his arms just as the siren from the band speaks to the crowd.
“We hope you’ve all found love, even if only for a little while,” she says. “If you haven’t yet come up to the roof, please do so now for the grand finale.”
The band resumes playing a thumping beat that is hauntingly good. I close my eyes and lose myself to the rhythm of the anthem, swaying in Julian’s arms, not wanting the night to end. The sky fills with dazzling light, and the moon is full as the melody continues to thrum around us. Rapidly, people begin to disappear around us. My skin tingles with magic, but I fight its pull.
My eyes fly open. “Wait,” I whisper. “How will I find you? I don’t even know where you’re from.”
“I’m Julian Rossi,” he says, clearly knowing that’s answer enough.
My lips part in surprise as our eyes lock. His name definitely explains his comments about his powerful family. If I’d known earlier who he was exactly, I wouldn’t have given him as much trust as I had. His father and grandfather are known for their ruthless methods of ruling the kitsune who rely on an alpha of sorts.
The corner of his mouth hitches up into a smile that heats me all of the way to my toes. “Wait for me, Olivia,” he says. “I won’t let anything stop me from reaching you.”
I lean closer to him, preparing to tell him that I believe him, but my body freezes—suddenly out of my control.
My surroundings fill with bright moonlight, and I fight the separation from Julian as I sense I’m about to be transported back home. I cling to the hope that I’ll return to the park right where I was taken from. That will mean that Julian should appear there as well.
The light flashes, my surroundings shift… and I find myself at the door to my studio apartment, back in my black shorts, tights, and V-neck t-shirt. My knee-high boots bump against the door as my legs wobble and my heart wrenches.
I have zero proof the night I just experienced ever happened. Zero guarantees that any of it has had any lasting effect. Unless…
Quickly lifting up my sleeve to check my tattoo, I’m relieved that the new marks are still there, telling me that not everything that happens at The Ball stays at The Ball.
But what about Julian?
As I lean against the door, my claws suddenly appear and dig into its wooden surface. If this night gave me anything, it’s the determination to fight for what I want.
I burst into a run, racing along the empty corridor, mentally plotting the quickest path back to the park. I have no guarantees that Julian returned there, but I have to try. Rounding the corner before the park comes into view, I bump into a solid male body racing in the opposite of my current direction.
The scent of forest and river water fills my senses.
“Julian.”
His arms hook around me and his lips crush mine, his chest pounding as he pulls me close.
I try to catch my breath as I pull back to gaze into his bright, emerald eyes.
“I’m here and I’m not letting you go,” he whispers.
Though, I know things can’t be that simple, I let myself believe his words for the moment as the air around us from the night sky cools my heated skin.
I had hoped to find my beauty tail at The Monster Ball.
Instead, I left with so much more. Love, strength, and someone who accepts me for who I am.
Ghosted
1
I sit at the bar, waiting for my drink as the musk of horny men wafts around me. Fake spider webs hang from the walls, and a plastic skeleton wearing a pirate’s costume holds an empty bottle of rum in the corner. Sad attempts at Halloween decorations, but I appreciate the effort nonetheless. Not every dive bar can afford to go all out with creepy decor.
The bartender slides a martini to me, along with the shot of vodka I ordered. It’s been that kind of day. That kind of month, really.
He lingers too long, his crooked smile too eager, as he waits for me to say something. When I grab the shot and down it, ignoring him, he leans in further. “You live local?” he asks.
There are a dozen other patrons waiting to place their orders, but he can’t take his eyes off me.
It’s not because I’m a smoking hot, blue-eyed blond with legs for days. I mean, that certainly doesn’t hurt, but there’s more to the allure.
I feel the threads of my power reaching out to every man and woman around me, enticing them, bending them to my will.
Not in a weird mind control kind of way. Yuck. No, my magic controls other parts of their anatomy.
Every person here wants to get down and dirty with me, and they don’t even know why.
At first, this power was a head rush. Now, it’s just disappointing. This part of it anyway. It’s great when I need a parking spot or someone to hold the door for me; it’s less great when at a bar full of dudes looking to mingle.
I close my eyes and try to pull back my horny-maker. That’s my nickname for my nymph abilities. Water nymph, to be specific, though the sexual magnetism never really dries up. There are some perks to my newfound paranormal self--but this isn’t one of them. If you had told me a year ago I would be complaining about guys coming on to me, I would have laughed in your face. Now, it’s just tedious.
I forgo sipping my martini, preferring to gulp it down like water, draining the glass and then popping the green olive into my mouth as a nod to the dinner I should be having instead. I slap a twenty-dollar-bill on the counter, but as I turn away to leave, the bartender grabs my wrist and pulls me toward him, slamming my hip against the bar.