Page 20 of Power Shift
He kept surprising me. Surprises were like finding a raisin in an oatmeal cookie when you could have sworn it was supposed to be chocolate.
“Another little demon then,” he said, scratching the underside of one of the traps and snatching his finger out of the way before the plant could bite him.
The bastard laughed again.
Shit. I was in trouble.
I whispered the activation words for the table’s centerpieces and picked my wine glass up. Nudging Moira, I motioned for her to do the same. A thorned vine whipped out and knocked Caelan’s glass over.
The Lord swore and jumped from his seat before any wine could spill on his suit.
But the vine wasn’t done. His salad plate crashed to the floor a second later, earning me an annoyed look.
“I don’t like vegetables anyway,” he said mildly as servants rushed over to clean up the mess.
I apologized to them because I’d forgotten someone else would have to clean the mess up and deactivated that particular spell. Once his chair was clean, Caelan sat back down. “Are you twelve?” he asked mildly.
I wiggled my finger. One of the vines whipped out and popped him on the side of the thumb. Caelan hissed.
“Goddammit, Evie.”
Soren cackled.
The other Shifter Lord had never done anything to me, but they all wanted me to either marry one of them or be bound to a contract to diminish my power, so I sent the other centerpiece thumping closer to him. It sent up several thorned vines and waved them menacingly but didn’t attack.
Soren swore and shoved his chair back.
At the other tables, the centerpieces were busy putting on a light and blooming show, showers of food and environment safe glitter going off repeatedly like tiny bombs. All we could hear were the oohs and ahs of the other guests.
“You are a menace,” Soren growled.
I batted my eyes at him. “Aww. Does that mean you don’t want to be the one to marry me, Lord Soren?”
Moira hid her smile behind her wine glass. Soren stilled.
Caelan snorted. “Told you she’d find out.”
“Can it, Caelan.” Soren eyed the centerpiece warily. “Is it safe to sit?”
“Try it and find out,” I said sweetly.
“Don’t be a baby,” Caelan chided. “This one isn’t poisonous, either.”
“Maybe it’s slow acting,” Moira said and grinned.
Moira was a menace, too.
The dinner went on and on, and people approached our table before the main course, an exorbitant number of women making up the majority of visitors.
All of them gave me a once-over and dismissed me immediately.
Honestly? It was kind of nice. Never had I felt less pressure to be something I was not. And let’s face it. No one here gave a shit about charity. They were here at the Shifter Lord’s behest to get face time and because Caelan was single once more.
Once the umpteenth female visitor left after simpering for an appropriate amount of time, I squirmed in my seat. I had to pee, and I wanted to leave. Not necessarily in that order.
“Jealous, flower girl?”
The heat of my scoff took even me by surprise. “Hardly. If this is the field you’re playing, you should have married Gianna.”
