Page 85 of Dahlias, Sapphires, and Cool Autumn Dusk
Wow. His gaze seemed so blank as to be nearly vacant, like a sleepwalker. “Yeah, I think so. I don’t feel weird or anything. I also don’t see Maggie, but I haven’t seen her all night.” I shrugged.
“Hal, are you full of shit?” Phoenix called out, but Hal vanished into the crowd. I spotted Murial, though, and waved.
“Hi,” she said and smiled. “What a random party this is.”
“Is it?” I looked around, the lights still going blurry, the way I saw online they did when people had astigmatism. I wondered if I could be abruptly developing astigmatism. Aloud, I told her, “Hal just said Maggie put something in my drink. I don’t see her, and I feel fine, so we were discussing whether or not he’s full of shit.”
She put her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowing in a way that sent a chill down my spine. “She didwhat,now? Stay here. I’ll find out if she did and what it was.”
Phoenix turned me to face him again, and I remembered how lovely he really was. Truly handsome, with his carved features and shiny hair. “You sure you’re okay?”
I should panic but everyone always seemed so strange to me. Who would make up a story like a drugged drink, though? I wondered abruptly if I could use it forPoor Relation. If it was drugged, the drink tasted fine.
Phoenix started to kind of turn…glowy. In fact, everyone did, but their shades varied. Everyone in the room glowed, their dancing or moving bodies wreathed with dimly bright color. It was kind of…awesome. Usually, people at Pullman might seem so full of themselves, but why wouldn’t they be?They are gorgeous. Bathed in light. Huh.
“Hey,” Phoenix said again. He took my cheeks in his hands, turning my face to his. “Look at me.”
I tried, but I honestly wanted to look at something more interesting. My body was hot, so I tugged at my collar. Oh, I liked how it felt to have his hands on my cheeks. I liked it…a lot. I nuzzled into his touch, turning my head to bite at the pad of his hand.
“Keep doing that,” I said and grinned at him, sliding into his touch. “Forever. I can feel you everywhere.”
Phoenix lifted his lids, his gaze unfocused, but his brows furrowed as if he tried to fight it. “Would love to, but you’re not okay, Red. Your pupils are huge.”
Murial returned. “It’s ecstasy. I am so done with her. Her obsession with you is ridiculous.”
Phoenix sighed. “Well, this will be fun, but it will wear off. Eventually. Why would she give her ecstasy? It’s not painful—just the opposite.”
“Who knows why she does anything? Maybe she thinks that she’ll fuck you then Jeremy won’t like it? I don’t know. I am not going to pretend to understand how a crazy person thinks.”
She patted my arm, and I jolted at her touch. Murial glittered brightly gold, almost too bright. It didn’t feel good against my light, like Phoenix’s touch. I didn’t want her to touch me at all, so I frowned at her. She stared into my vacant gaze then shrugged. “Yeah, she’s gone. See you later. Let’s go to the Whitney tomorrow.”
I couldn’t be bothered to think about her, especially since she took her gold light away, leaving me alone with the much preferable Phoenix. I told him, “You are so gorgeous. You always are. Have I told you that? How completely beautiful you are to me?” Tears came to my eyes. “Or how much I love being part of your life? Because I really do. I mean, I love you, Phoenix. I don’t usually say it, because I am such a superstitious scaredy cat, but I love you.”
He shook his head, his lips thinned. “Say that to me again tomorrow.”
The twins arrived, and Jeremy held a beer. “How’s it going?”
“She got drugged by Maggie. She slipped something in her soda, and now she’s high as a kite on ecstasy.” Phoenix passed me to Jeremy, as if I were baggage or something. Luckily, I liked his glow and scent, too, so I burrowed into his arms. “I am not in any condition to know what to do here. Should we call Barrett?”
“What?” Jeremy shouted as his arms came around me gently. I shuddered at his warmth, nuzzling into his neck where his scent somehow smelled warmer. I could really get used to the sensations, especially the lovely glows.
I held onto him, my nails digging a little into his back. “I love you, Jeremy. I love yousomuch.”
He shook his head, and his voice sounded rough when he said, “Hush. Not here. We need to get you home.”
A loud bang resounded through the house, and everyone went still and silent for a second.
“Fuck,” someone shouted. “It’s the cops.”
21
The what?The wordcopdidn’t really translate to anything in my glowy state. Instead of worrying about it, I focused on the colors, reaching for a pretty one near Jules’ ear.
“Time to go.” Jer said and tugged on me but Jules stopped him.
“We’re too late. All the exits and entrances are blocked. They’ll let us go, so we just need to wait. We’re fine.”
Jeremy shook his head. “No, Phoenixisn’tfine, and Maggie drugged our girl with ecstasy.”
