Page 43 of Curse of Thorns
She nods slowly. “Are you here with Rev?”
My eyebrows pull down. “Why would I be here with Rev?”
“Oh,” she says sheepishly, “it’s just that I... well, it seems unlikely you’d have been invited.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Well, I was.”
“Oh!” she says, eyes widening. “I’m sorry—"
I waive it off. “It’s fine; I’d have assumed the same thing. I was shocked to get an invitation. I’m still expecting an ambush at any moment.”
She giggles, but I’m entirely serious. A large number of people here want me dead.
A long-haired, arrogant fae with amber eyes enters the hall and marches down the stairs dramatically. Another person I’d rather not meet face to face. Not that Drake would show his animosity in the slightest. He’s charming and cares about his reputation far too much.
He’d surely find a way to make me squirm, though.
“Let’s get a drink,” I declare, hoping she too would like to avoid her old ally.
“That’s a fantastic idea.” Kari leads me across the room, and I dart through the crowd, twisting through the shadows, hoping to keep unnoticed by most.
“You don’t have to hide. No one will say or do anything to you tonight,” she tells me.
“Their eyes will say plenty, even if their tongues don’t.”
“You don’t strike me as the kind of fae who cares how peoplelookat you.” Kari grabs a tall glass of sparkling liquid and a short glass with purple liquid from a waiter’s tray. She hands me both.
“What is this?”
“Crystal Court delicacy. Humans call it a Yeager bomb.”
I bust out laughing. “What?”
She chuckles alongside me. “It’s a joke. You drink it the same way though. Drop the tonic inside the glitter glass and drink. Quickly.” Her eyebrows flick dramatically.
I follow her directions and drop the small glass inside the clear bubbling liquid. Immediately the solutions combine and fizz, rising to the rim at breakneck speed.
“Drink!” Kari calls.
I’m laughing as I put the glass to my lips. It zings immediately, with a taste not unlike lavender mixed with an exceptionally spicy chai tea. I gulp the concoction down but not before a stream of prickly bubbles escape my mouth, dripping down my chin and onto the floor.
Kari cheers me on and laughs at my failure.
Eyes all around are on us now, but this time, I don’t care. Because now, I’m not alone. This time, I’m accepted by someone who belongs.
The pressure on my chest is gone entirely. “Let me show you how it’s done.” She winks.
She bites her lip as she carefully holds the purple liquid over the clear, pauses, focusing intently, then drops the small glass and chugs like it’s a damn race. Maybe it is. She finishes the drink without even one drop escaping her lips.
“Impressive,” I say.
“I’ve had a lot of practice.”
This time, a waiter passes by with a drink I recognize. I grab a glass of light red wine that pops like sparkles are inside it.
“Ahh, a wine-y, huh?”
I shrug, brushing that conversation off. I didn’t get much time to experience adult drinks in the fae realm. This is literally the only fancy fae drink I’m familiar with, and it’s not even from my own court. I know a bit more about wine from the human world, but living as a teenager meant my education was limited to stolen or cheap liqueur. I can make a mean screwdriver, though, and can chug bad whiskey without a wince.
