Page 22 of Riot of Autumn

Her face wrinkles in confusion, but then she shrugs and jogs after her group. I worry about Sherri when she nearly trips over her own feet before she reaches them.

Once it’s just me, and I hope Ruby, in the hallway, I hiss at her. “Where are you?”

“Here.” Her voice comes from directly opposite me.

“Stay there, I’ll come to you. Also, do you think it’s a good idea to be talking to people when we’re invisible?”

“She was so wasted, she had no idea who was talking. She was hitting on the door.”

I swipe my hand back and forth until I once again get a handful of Ruby’s boob.

“Seriously?” She sounds unimpressed.

“I keep forgetting how short you are. I’m not doing it on purpose.”

“Well, you can let go of my breast now.”

My thumb brushes over her pebbled nipple, and she hisses at me. She’s definitely not wearing a bra. Fuck me. Now is not the time to get a boner. I run my hand down her side until I find her hand, and we start down the hall.

I can’t let go of what she said earlier, though. “You really want to fuck a guy with an accent?”

“Accents are hot. Aren’t we supposed to be quiet? I can’t believe I’m the one who’s being responsible and has to remind you.”

This magic blows. Ruby’s face is so expressive when she talks. I miss seeing her emotions painted all over her. Even when she wants to hide her true feelings, I know every single one of her looks. With this magic, I can’t see the way her dark blonde eyebrows cock up. The way she smiles with one side of her mouth when she’s only slightly amused. The mischievous twinkle that rarely leaves her eyes. And her smell. This magic is potent because there’s not even a hint of citrus and berries that always surround her.

“Just answer the question then, and we can stop talking about it.”

“I don’t even remember what the question is,” Ruby hisses at me. “Shut up before we get caught, or we’ll never figure out what the hell all these Fae are doing on our island.”

I almost say something back, but we’ve reached the room that appears to be the central hub of the party.

“Fuck,” Ruby whispers under her breath as we walk through the doorway. I could not agree more.

9

RUBY

There’s a man sitting on a throne in the middle of what I think is supposed to be a game room. There’s a pool table and one of those fancy poker tables with the green felt on top. Also currently on top of the table, a naked woman being eaten out.

Holy shit, did we just walk into Eyes Wide Shut or something?

I’m no delicate flower, but I was sort of joking about this being a big orgy house. I didn’t think that’s what we were going to walk into. Mother fu—I barely keep from cursing out loud when I spot Colton taking up too much space on the couch. His arms are slung over the back, and his legs are spread wide while one of Sherri’s friends is going down on him.

Sherri! Where the hell are you? Get your girl and get out of here. Also, how the hell did he get her down there so freaking fast? They were like one minute ahead of us. This whole room is insane. I’d swear everyone here was doing drugs, but I don’t see anything besides alcohol.

The room is packed, forcing Ezra and I to hug the wall. When I spot Anthony moving toward the man on the throne—an honest to God, throne—I tug on Ezra’s hand, making him follow me. He pulls back, trying to get me to stay in place, but I want to hear what Anthony and the King are about to talk about. That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?

Actually, now that I think about it, that’s probably the Duke. Zara said he’s a fancy asshole with long white-blond hair who thinks his shit doesn’t stink. This guy fits the description down to his pretentious nose that’s sticking up in the air.

The two men couldn’t be more different. Anthony is handsome for a guy in his early fifties, with salt and pepper hair that never has a strand out of place. He’s buttoned up and uptight, whereas the Duke looks like he’s on vacation. His cold blue eyes are half lidded and there’s a bored look on his face. He doesn’t appear much older than his mid-thirties at the most, and I wonder at the power structure in Fairy. Are they born into their roles like royalty? Or is it closer to a corporation where you climb up the ranks, maybe even sleep your way to the top? I bet the Duke screwed the Queen to get a promotion.

Despite the heat and the stuffy humidity of the room, Anthony’s wearing a full suit like he just got out of a business meeting. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen him out of the damn things. Granted, he would look wrong as fuck in shorts and a t-shirt, but the dude is ridiculously uptight.

The Duke seems to have embraced human fashion in a really baffling way. He’s wearing a pair of linen pants and a matching shirt that’s almost completely unbuttoned. The whole thing is giving mecult leader who lives in a commune and convinces you to give up all your worldly possessions while he buys Hummers and Ferrarisvibes.

I yank on Ezra’s hand, lacing my fingers through his for good measure. I really don’t want to be separated from him in here. There’s no way I’ll be able to find him again. Not that we can’t split up, if need be, but safety in numbers and all that.

We stick to the walls. It’s still a minefield of drunken party goers and what I’m beginning to suspect are other Fae, tucked away in corners. Zara can identify the Fae by sight alone; she says she can sense their magic. Lena has the ability to see their auras and tell the difference between Fae and humans. Me, nope. I can still only throw shit around with my mind.

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