Page 106 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
“Is it always like this?” he asked, opening his silver eyes and blinking twice before looking on me with worry.
“What can I say? Seeing the future is hard.” I played it off with a light shrug, but he didn’t look convinced.
“If you could see me,” he asked slowly, “then what about yourself?”
“I barely caught a glimpse of the top of your head over the crowd,” I explained. “So no.”
“Can you only see the future once a day?”
He was prying.
“One ability is like that.” Since we were going to be traveling together soon, I corrected. “I have a perk which let me know you were going to be shot, remember?”
“And now, we’re back to that. Shall I go and get it over with?” Julian stood and offered me a hand. “We should at least be there for the unmasking.”
I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. “Before we go, is John’s shadow with us?”
Julian frowned. “No … Why?”
Damn his low voice and striking eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear he was trying to seduce me.
“I just want to know what kind of poison is in my drink.” I held up my hand and summoned my glass from storage. “[Appraise] isn’t working, so it must be hidden with a powerful perk.”
He started in surprise, then his mood darkened. “Since when?”
I shrugged. “It wasn’t poisoned from the start. It happened right before the toast.”
He cursed and said, “Let’s go back.”
I decided to keep holding the glass, for show. We returned with some time to spare before the unmasking, and Julian brought us to check in with Calisto first. John was standing with the grand duchess.
“There you are!” Calisto tsked. “Henrietta wanted you to know we found Lady Amy.”
Relief washed over me.
“Already?” Julian squeezed my hand and shot John a questioning look.
“Just now,” he explained.
“The saintess is over there.” Calisto pointed toward a couple. I wouldn’t have been able to tell, since the elf had changed her skin color to gold and her hair to black. The person she was dancing with was also a mystery in green satin.
“Thank the gods.” That was one less thing to worry about.
“Yes. A guard found her with a young man in a hidden alcove in the east wing.” The duchess snorted. “Ah, to be young again.”
“Her father is going to be furious,” I said. I’d promised I wouldn’t reveal her tryst … but Henrietta had made no such vow.
“He’ll get over it.” Duchess Calisto smiled. “After this dance, we’re going to do the unmasking.” Calisto herself was wearing an elegant dark-blue feathered mask.
“In the meantime, John, could you come tell me what this is?” Julian plucked my drink out of my hand and waved it.
The man glanced at it. “Belladonna powder.”
Grand Duchess Calisto frowned. “That’s a legal poison.”
“The joy of being Madame Potts: my first official assassination attempt.” I shrugged. “Speaking of, Julian was supposed to get shot soon, so we were thinking of moving to a harder-to-reach spot.”
“Son, why haven’t you put up a shield?” the grand duchess inquired.
