Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel #1)(27)

“Is everyone in town invited?” I asked.

“No. And technically, we’re not, either.” She pulled her sequin mask down over her face. “But that’s part of the fun.”

We were going to gate-crash a masquerade held by witches.

Hell, yeah, that sounded fun.

Way more fun than my normal life.

Who’d have thought that getting accused of murder would be one of the best things to ever happen to me? Assuming I could clear my name and not get tossed in prison.

Mac took the creaky wooden stairs two at a time, and I followed her, pulling my mask down. It concealed the top half of my face, a glittery thing covered with sparkles that was more fabulous than anything I owned back in the real world. I hurried up the stairs in my platform boots. The heels were heavy, and I liked them. They would make a good weapon if I had to kick someone.

When we reached the front door, it swung open without us having to knock. A dour butler stood in the entry, his dark suit immaculately pressed and his white hair perfectly combed. He couldn’t have looked less impressed if he tried, and I found myself loving him.

“Jeeves!” Mac grinned widely. “Long time no see, buddy.”

“You are not invited, Macbeth O’Connell.”

“Pshaw,” Mac scoffed. “Check your list. You’ll find my name.”

Jeeves’s white brows lowered. “I am certain I won’t.”

She touched his arm in a friendly gesture, her smile stretching wider. “I'm sure you wouldn’t want Dorothea knowing about your little…hobby?”

Jeeves flushed scarlet, and I wondered who Dorothea was. My gaze moved to Mac’s hand, where she still clutched at Jeeves. She was using her seer’s gift on him and getting blackmail material, I realized.

Holy crap, that was dark.

And clever.

Jeeves sighed and stepped back. “You may enter. But no tricks.”

“Tricks?” She pointed to herself. “Me? Never!”

He glared at her, and I followed her in, giving him an awkward little wave.

As soon as we entered, a crush of people surrounded us. Everyone was dressed to the nines, all in fabulous crazy outfits. There was a giant chicken who shot sparks out of its tail feathers, a monkey with golden fur, and an eight-legged dog who might have been an actual dog and not a costume.

“This place is wild,” I murmured to Mac.

“No kidding.” She grinned widely. “The witches know how to party.”

“Do you gate-crash often?”

“Every time. It’s part of the fun.” She tugged on my arm. “Now come on, I’ve got something I need to do before we meet the witches. It’ll only take half a second, but it’s important. Then we’re on to your stuff.”

I followed her through the various rooms. Each was decorated differently, with fabulous furniture and wild art on the walls. It was all very haphazard and mismatched, but in a funky, cool way.

As we walked, I realized that the rooms were themed for the party. One was done up entirely in glowing red with a volcano in the corner. It went all the way to the top of the tall ceiling, spilling brilliant red lava. People danced around it, drunk and laughing, but I couldn’t look away from the molten stream.

“Is that thing real?” I shouted to Mac over the noise. I knew it couldn’t be, but it looked so lifelike, I had to ask.

“Yeah,” she shouted. “Totally real!”

“Yikes.” It defied the laws of science. But then, I’d entered a world of magic.

“Yeah, don’t fall in. Someone dies at one of these parties at least once a year. Usually a drunken idiot.”

Given the number of people dancing super-close to the river of lava that flowed through the room, I wasn’t surprised. “This would never happen in the real world.”

“The real world doesn’t have magic out in the open like this,” Mac said. “But then again, the Council of Guilds really doesn’t like that the witches do this, either.”

“How do they get away with it if the government doesn’t like it? I know they’ve got sway with the Council, but this seems over the top.”

Mac turned to me and raised her brows. “Can’t you guess?”

Of course. “The Devil of Darkvale.”

“Exactly. He either uses his mind control power or threatens them.”

I remembered the icy feeling of him. “My money is on threats.”

“Mine, too.” Mac turned back and kept pushing her way through the crowd.

We entered a Mardi Gras–themed room, complete with two massive floats and people on stilts. I squinted up at the performers towering over the chamber, admiring their feathery costumes in purple, yellow, and green. Gradually, it dawned on me that they weren’t on stilts.

They were floating.

Man, I hadn’t even had a drink yet.

In the next room, Mac muttered, “Bingo.”

The room was themed like the moon, with rocky ground and dark walls. Gravity seemed to lessen here, and my steps were so light that I could bounce across the ground. “Holy crap, this is amazing!”

“Right?” Mac grinned back at me. “They’ve always got a low-gravity room like this at their parties. Last year, it was undersea themed.”

“Nice.”