Page 74 of Chasing Tail
“I love the random things you say, Kishi. Ready?”
I hadn’t realized they had announced us while we were talking. I was nervous. I squeezed Callum’s arm and started walking down the immense staircase. Everyone was staring at me. I’d never had this much attention in the ocean before. They weren’t even trying to whisper, so I could pick up snippets of conversations on the way down.
Some of them were talking about how pretty they found me. A few of them had no idea what I was, even with this dress. I really wanted to stab a few terrible people who said I was beneath Callum and he should be with a druid woman. Callum knew what I was thinking and let go of my arm to wrap his around my waist. He pulled me close and kissed my temple. He let them know he heard and disagreed.
Maybe I didn’t need to gut those people. I understood that wasn’t really accepted here on land. Things were much more direct in the ocean, but I could play mind games too, like Topaz did with her dresses. Some of these people didn’t think I was worthy of Callum because I wasn’t like him. Callum didn’t think that, and neither did his brothers.
Why would I stab them once when I knew it would bother them to look at us when we were happy? Topaz had the right idea with her dresses. I didn’t need to kill them when I could draw out their misery by just being happy and in love.
Callum and I were separated as soon as we reached the bottom of the stairs. He was pulled away by a stuffy man and his pinched faced daughter. Harland was tugging at my arm. I wasn’t angry about it and let him pull me away.
“Is Cassandra here?” I asked.
“She’s back home. Pups are welcome at our parties, but there are breakable things here and people who get mad about that sort of thing. Callum and his brothers don’t care about possessions, but a lot of people here who don’t own them do.”
“That’s stupid.”
“So is a party where no one is celebrating. Callum’s father threw these things all the time, but only rich druids were invited. I’m certain he was framing people long before that nasty woman got sick. The nobles in this land used to be varied, but lands and titles were seized and given to druids when people started getting arrested.”
“I’m sorry, but what exactly is a noble? We don’t have them in the ocean.”
“It’s some rich asshole with an over inflated sense of self importance because one of their ancestors did something that caught the attention of a king centuries ago and was given lands and a title. It’s passed down to their children. Those idiots looking down their noses at you and refusing to mingle with us haven’t done a single thing good with what they were given. I hope Callum does the right thing and restores what was taken.”
“Well, I promised not to kill anyone, but Topaz might if this party gets ruined. An otter would know what to do right now.”
“Please. You came to my party. Wolves can liven this up too. Do you trust me?”
“Yeah. We have secrets now. That bonds people.”
Harland brought his fingers to his lips and made this terrible noise. He took my elbow and led me to the divide in the room. His pack sprung into action. The princes were still occupied, but Taron joined us too.
Someone leaned over and whispered to the musicians. The tune they were playing changed to a much livelier one. Harland yanked me to his chest while a female wolf commandeered Taron.
“We might not have been invited for a really long time, but we all know how to dance at one of these things.”
“Well, I don’t. We don’t dance in the ocean, not even at otter parties. This is not like at your party.”
“Just follow my lead. No one tells you how to dance at our parties, but here, there are set steps. The man usually leads. I got you.”
My eyes shot over to Taron. He was standing ramrod straight as the wolf placed his hands on her waist. Taron was very tactile both as a shark and now that he had a body, but he only ever really did that with people he cared for. He hadn’t brought his teeth out and taken a sizeable chunk out of her neck yet, so that was a good sign.
“What about Taron?”
“That’s Ginger, one of my strongest wolves. She has opinions about everything, and she’s not about to let a man control her when it comes to anything. She’ll be leading the dance. He just needs to follow.”
“I like her already. She’d make a good mermaid.”
Harland swooped me up in a dance. I tried to follow and not step on his feet. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be because he made it easy. Taron seemed to be cooperating with Ginger too. No one was bleeding.
“Ready for some drama?” Harland asked.
“Topaz will stab you if you ruin this party.”
“We’re just going to bring some druids into the new era.”
Now that the wolves hit the dance floor, more people started eating and dancing. The druid nobles looked scandalized and weren’t joining in. I saw Nissa cutting through the crowd. I was getting good at picking up magical signatures once I met someone. Nissa had an army of succubae with her and a good bit of good-looking men.
“What’s Nissa doing?”
