Page 23 of Skyblossom
I checked out the book.
Chapter 10
THE BIG DANCE
SUMMER
I swear the universe set her up for me, perfectly placed by the ley lines to steal my breath away—Cadence in a sleek, flowing dress that glimmered with subtle enchantments, the color twinkling faintly between black and midnight violet, long hair braided back into an elegant knot, and when I saw her standingunder the rose-wrapped brick archway into the Scorpion House gardens, I stopped for a second just to take her in, breathless.
And frustrated. I didn’twantto meet my true love. I had what I wanted right here. All the academy’s hypnomancers together couldn’t make a dream half as beautiful as her.
A rustle came from the bush behind her, and she turned to where she laughed in surprise at a pair of luminis flying out of the bush, swirling around her head. Seriously, I wasn’t sure I’d seen so many luminis close up in my entire life as I had since I met Cadence. Maybeshewas the destined true love, and Lumi’s… divination clock was just off.
“Hey,” I said, expecting the luminis to scatter when I did, but Cadence looked over at me with eyes shining, and one of the luminis perched on her shoulder just as the other one streaked towards me and touched down on my shoulder. Holy hell. She really did have some magic love enchantment. Was love magic a thing? Amoramancy? She was a pioneer. “Okay, nature princess,” I laughed, looking between the two birds, as she stepped closer with the sweetest smile I’d ever seen.
“They don’t normally do this… I thought it was just that they liked you, because it’s only been happening since I met you.”
Right. Because that didn’t mean anything, of course. Magic birds associated with love, flocking around the two of us since we met. Yeah. That was nothing. “Well, who doesn’t like me?” I said. “You, uh… you look gorgeous. I mean, that dress is stunning.”
She blushed, smiling wider, as she tugged the front of my suit jacket. “I’m quite fond of this, too, as it happens,” she said, and she checked back over her shoulder before she leaned in and went up on her tiptoes to kiss me quickly. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“Of course. Events like this are more fun with… special people.”
She got that glint in her eyes when she was about to say something that would give me butterflies, and she stepped closer, and she stepped very quickly back when a door banged open behind her, her friend Rosie exploding out along with the rest of their galeria. “Summer!” she sang, sweeping across the garden to give me a hug, and I gave Cadence a proper distance to hug Rosie and then their evoker Kali, who looked like she should have been a runnerjock but wasn’t, their artificer Opal who found a way to work artifacts into every conversation and was clearly about to mention the small device glimmering on their wrist before I moved on to their runologist Drake, who acknowledged me with a quick, polite hug.
And their summoner Viv just narrowed her eyes at me in that way I’d learned meant she liked me. Hey, I’d take it. I got the feeling she didn’t like people often.
They were all dressed up too, even though Opal’s outfit was a bit eclectic for a fancy event like the one Lumi had told me about, and I gushed in small talk with all of them before I managed, “So, um… is… is everybody going?”
“Of course!” Rosie said, and Kali clapped a hand on my arm.
“Cadence is our little baby. We can’t let her out of our sight in a place like this.”
“You guys,” Cadence said, scowling. “I can handle myself!”
“I didn’t want to go,” Viv said. “Kali made me.”
I still couldn’t work out if they were a couple. I got the feeling Viv would kill me if they weren’t and I asked if they were, so I’d just asked Cadence. The best answer she’d been able to give me was a weary sigh and anot yet.“Okay, well,” I said, “I wasn’t expecting Cadence’s whole galeria to come with her, but I’m sure we’ll have fun!”
“I won’t,” Viv said.
Which tracked, honestly, with the fact that half an hour later, inside the glimmering ballroom of the Lachlan ArcaneCenter, Viv was the one outdancing everybody, practically doing competitive tango across the floor together with Kali. Viv clearly channeled some kind of extraplanar power, magic coursing like enchanted filigree along her arms and legs, and Kali could only barely keep up even with her obvious physical training, and I was making a face at them from the side of the room when Rosie caught me.
“We’re still waiting for the two of them to get together, too,” she said.
“Cheers,” I said, raising my glass to hers, a bright cocktail of tart hookfruit with sparkling wine. “I was just thinking that channeling extraplanar magic to help ballroom dance with a girl is not… the most platonic thing I’ve ever heard of.”
She winked at me. “Speaking as an expert in not staying platonic.”
“Ah.” I let my gaze drift across the room. Lumi had caught me at the entrance when we’d gotten inside, throwing herself on me in a hug gushingyay it’s so good to see youand then immediately pouting that I’d kept her waiting forliterally years and yearseven though we were technically early, and then she’d taken Cadence to chat while they got snacks. I was glad for their friendship developing, but I just worried something would slip… and it also left me open and vulnerable to assaults of questions from Rosie. “You know, I don’t actually know what she’s told you about everything.”
“She’s told me that shereallylikes you.”
“I mean, yeah, I… well, I like her too,” I said. “But you know about the, uh…”
I felt like I was talking to exters saying it out loud, thought she’d look at me like I’d lost my mind, but she finished it for me. “The true love vision, yeah, Iknow.What, are you not happy with what you and Cadence have?”
“No, I mean, I am. Damn, she’s amazing. I’m a sucker for a smart girl. But, well… you know. We both agreed it made sense to just do this on a time limit.”
