Page 87 of A Drop of Anguish
I don’t know what Jarron would do if he found out Thompson made the dare, and I don’t want them at odds. Thompson has few allies as it is.
“Trust me,” Thompson says, not for the first time. Except now, it’s to Jarron, not me.
My brows pinch.The hell?I recall Jarron’s offer after the shifter attack. Are Thompson and Jarron more allies now than I’d realized? I shake my head. A question for another time.
“I need another drink.” I march forward and stop in front of Jarron, still blocking the doorway. “Come with me?” I ask as casually as possible.
He blinks and then shifts aside to allow me to pass, then he follows me through the streaming red lights without a word.
“Interesting vibe you got going,” I say as he catches up.
His lips twitch. “You don’t like it?”
Oh, I like it. Even if it’s a bit much. “I didn’t say that.”
“Mmhmm. You really are okay? No one pushed—”
“Nope, I’m good. It was a dare for Elliot, not me. I agreed to it.”
“All right. Are you… having a good time? You’re drinking more than usual.”
I look down at my newly poured mollifying potion. Cool red liquid swirls in the glass. He’s noticed that, has he? “I’m still a bit out of my element here. But I’m good.”
The flutter of something purple grabs my attention. “Lola!”
She nuzzles against my chest and then whirls around my head.
“Are you having a good time?” I ask her. She soars around Stassi’s head.
“We are wonderful,” he says.
Lola lands on my shoulder and whispers in my ear all about how cute Stassi is and how she thinks he likes her. He showed her all around Elite Hall before coming back to the party. I’m grinning wide and lost in her story, so much so that I don’t notice when Jarron slips away.
I turn to find him back on his throne. His posture is straighter now. Stassi and Lola follow me back out to the patio and are greeted by the group.
By now, my mind is fuzzy and my body light. Definitely my last potion of the night.
The game has continued in my absence, and I find the male fae in only his underwear and a wolf shifter nursing a cup of what appears to be blood, a look of disgust on his face.
Ick,I’d fail that dare immediately.
The next several rounds are truths that I barely follow. I guess I’m not in enough on the Elite gossip to care very much about who cheated on who. My mind slips off again until I hear my name. I refocus on the conversation instantly.
“Oh please. You act like he’s in love with her, but I call bullshit,” Samantha says. “He’s protective, yes. He cares, yes. But to my eye? He sees her like a sister.”
My stomach sinks. What in hell are they talking about?
Several people talk over each other after that.
“Didn’t you see them together last year?” the fae practically yells. “He barely touched her. Certainly never bit her.”
“That was because of her, not him,” Lucille says.
“So, you think the Crown Prince of Oriziah is smitten, desperately in love with a human girl, who won’t give him the time of day? That’s way twisted, bro.”
“Let’s test it,” Manuela says, and the group pauses. “She picked truth last time, so she’s obligated to a dare.” Her smile is wicked and suddenly my heart is pattering faster than a bat’s wings. I didn’t realize that’s how that worked. I feel like I did do a dare, but I guess it wasn’t mine.
“Yeah, dare her to seduce him. See how he reacts,” the fae in his underwear says.
