EIGHT
When I got back to my room, there was a dress waiting for me. It was hanging up on the edge of the dressing screen. It was red and black and clingy. I touched the fabric, and I knew that it was probably worth more than any paycheck I had ever received. Then, I saw the box and knew that I was in for it.
It was one of those long wide boxes that rich women kept their jewelry in. Most of my jewelry had come from thrift stores. With uncertain fingers, I popped open the box and nearly dropped it. Diamonds winked up at me from some kind of black metal, making them look like stars against a curling night sky. There were earrings and a bracelet to match.
“What the heck are we doing?” I wanted to know.
I had never been on a fancy date before. The closest that I had ever gotten was my junior prom, and that had pretty much been a bust. Mostly because my date had spent the entire time trying to get his hands on my bust, and when that hadn't worked out, he'd turned his attention to a friend’s. Not exactly good memories.
I was a little nervous. Okay, scratch that. I was a lot nervous. I didn't know what to do with myself in that kind of outfit. What the heck was I going to do with my hair? I had the bare minimum of make-up, and this was definitely the kind of dress that you gussied up for.
In an act of hope and desperation, I sent a single word text to Jenny. “Help.”
~~
“There are even shoes!” she exclaimed twenty minutes later, “Cute shoes.”
I had to agree. The heels were more sensible than I would have thought after seeing the necklace. Simple black ones with a strip of glitter across the ankle and the toes. I wondered if those diamonds were real, too. They certainly glittered like they were.
“Okay, so lemme get this right.” She flopped over on my bed, stretching out like a big warm brown cat. She held one of the shoes in one hand, and the box of jewelry in the other. “You done agreed to let all the boys take you out?”
“Well, the invitation is open, but Wei isn't having it.”
She stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes. “He stupid, anyway.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I don't think he's stupid. I think he just doesn't...like the idea of being beholden to prophecy.”
She shrugged. “Well, ya got that in common.”
I guessed we did. I hadn't thought of it that way. I smirked and shook my head. “It doesn't really help me with tonight.”
“What can I do?”
“Can you do hair?”
She snorted and swished her head back and forth so that her braids swayed, the bits of crystal glittering. “What'choo think?”
“I beg your help.”
“Take a seat.” She rolled off the bed and motioned to the vanity. “You gonna tell me 'bout the big magic you casted?”
“Can you tell?” I asked, slipping into the seat.
“You smell like magic.”
“I broke a window. I don't know if that counts as big magic. It was kind of an accident.”
I told her the entire story, describing everything I could in detail while she worked a completely different kind of magic on my short mop of hair. For the first time since I had chopped it all off, I wished I had kept my long ash brown curls. Oh, well.
“You got any products?” she asked.
I opened a drawer in the vanity, showing her the paltry selection of styling products I had. It consisted of some soft hold hairspray and goop that I would use before shifts at work to hold my hair under my hat while I sweated like a pig.
She smirked. “I can work with this.”
“You are a goddess.”
She grinned. “True. But yeah, you worked some damn big magic. It's not as easy as people think to break things with magic. The Weave likes ta be where it's supposed to be. Pulling at it like you did? Big stuff.”
I hadn't known that. Maybe because I didn't know it was easy for me, or maybe I had a knack. I wasn't sure which. Heck, I was pretty much not sure of anything. Great place to be.
“Neat. I can make really big messes. Magical.”
She snorted and tugged her fingers through my hair, leaving a thin trail of product in their wake. She held her fingers there, so that when she released it, the hair fell in cute waves around my face. The effect was pretty elegant, if simple.
“Yesterday, you couldn't even see The Weave. Today, you can cause it to go against its own nature. Yeah, that's a big deal.”
Well, when she put it like that, I felt pretty sheepish.
“Is this the first date?” she wanted to know as she moved to the other side of my hair.
“Kinda? I dunno, Dmitri and I had a... moment.”
Her eyes caught mine in the mirror. “Didn't I tell ya he was somethin' else?”
I grinned my agreement and then told her about the whole night.
She sighed dramatically. “If only he was a she.”
I reached up and patted her hand. “I'm sorry, sweetie.”
She shrugged. “I'll find someone.”
I really hoped she did. I had only known her for a couple of days, but already I was firmly in her corner of support. She deserved everything and then some.
“Damn right you will. Even if I have to gather up every lesbian on the mountain and bring her to your front door.”
She stuck her tongue between her teeth and chuckled. “Don't be stupid. Okay...let's do your make-up.”
Half an hour later, I looked like a CoverGirl version of myself. I did a little turn in front of the full-length mirror and took a deep breath. “Holy crap.”
“He's gonna want to sink his fangs into you.”
“Do they do that?” I asked, “Like, I know that the stories all say that, and they got the pointy teeth and...well...yesterday morning there was this moment but...crap, they totally do that, don't they?”
She nodded at me. “They totally do. I hear it feels good.”
I remembered how much my body had ached for Alan to taste me yesterday, and Dmitri's response to the near bite.
“Yeah, that's what I hear.” I swallowed.
The door opened, and Jenny and I both jumped. I expected to see Alan standing there, or maybe Dmitri, though I couldn't imagine him being rude enough to just open my bedroom door. It was neither. Instead, Wei stood there, his big shoulders filling the doorway. His eyes swept over me, from head to toe. He didn't say anything, just looked.
“Problem?” I asked.
“Alan says he's ready.”
I raised my brow, surprised that he was bringing that bit of information to me. I couldn't really imagine Wei being anyone's messenger boy.
“I'll be down in a moment.”
“You can tell him that yourself.”
“So what, you can bring his message to me, but can't be bothered to respond?”
He lifted his chin arrogantly. “It was either I do it or Dmitri. I am not cruel enough to send Dmitri to see you walk into the arms of another man dressed as you are.”
I blinked. When he put it like that, I felt kind of bad.
“I'll go,” Jenny said, putting a hand of support on my shoulder, “You look great.”
“Thanks,” I answered and watched her go. Wei still stood there.
“What?” I asked again, feeling irritated. God, he got under my skin. “What is it?”
He took a deep breath. I wondered why. I was pretty sure that the vampires didn't need to breathe. “Do not draw this out. If you are going to pick, do it quickly.”
I didn't have any plans of dangling the guys, that wasn't really my way. There were some people out there who liked having multiple partners. That was cool, so long as they weren't lying about it. Me? I just wanted one guy. Just one person that I could depend on. A guy who was as much my friend as he was my lover. I didn't think that was asking too much.
“I promised them both the chance. I intend to keep that promise.”
“Why?” he wanted to know.
I blinked in surprise. “Because...you are supposed to keep promises?” I answered. What kind of weird question was that?
“You do not honor your parents, but you honor a promise?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Dude, I explained this to you last night. My parents have done nothing in my life that has made me want to honor them.”
“Your father cared for you, provided for your life.”
“Yeah, because the law demands it of him. Besides, that's the bare minimum as far as I'm concerned, and no one gets a pat on the back for doing the absolute least shitty thing that they can do. He never bothered to try to help me when I struggled, or gave the least bit of a damn about my hopes and my dreams. He just expected me to listen to him and never to talk back. That's a dictator, not a parent. Okay?”
He frowned at me or maybe it was at himself. It wasn't his usual grumpy-face but something more introspective. “So, people who learn who you are? Who support you...”
“Those people? I will go to the wall for. Anyone who I can count on knows that they can count on me, too. Like Jenny. If that girl needed a kidney, I'd give it without even asking why.”
“You do not know her.”
I shrugged. “It doesn't matter. With some people, you just know.”
I stood up, and he watched me. I wasn't blind, and even though he usually looked either grumpy or stoic, I could see the heat entered his eyes as I walked towards him.
“My respect has to be earned,” I explained, “but the moment that it is? It's pretty damn hard to lose.”
“I do not agree with that view...but I can respect it.”
Then, he bowed. Really bowed. Like his hands stayed at his sides and he put his body in a deep graceful dip that was a sweep of motion that struck me breathless.
Prickly boy’ I thought to myself, but there was something there. I just didn't really know what that something was.
“Thank you.”
“Your date awaits.”
He moved out of my way, letting me pass by. I paused in the hallway and looked over my shoulder at him. “Hey, I don't really want to be involved in this prophecy either. But I am making the best of it. I won’t ask you to take part. That's not cool, but I'll let you know that the invitation is still open if you want to get to know me.”
He watched me with the cool unblinking stare of a hawk. I could feel the gaze as I walked away.