Wide-eyed, I slowly removed the coat and shivered lightly at the loss of insulation as I tossed it aside.
“Only for a few minutes,” he promised.
Resolutely, I put the earbuds in. Music filled my ears. A slow soothing mix of piano and violin that was far from enticing.
“How exactly am I supposed to seduce anything by listening to this music?”
Although I knew I said the words, I couldn’t hear them. His earbuds were amazing. There was nothing in the world but the music. With sad realization, I wondered how bad Fenris’s problems were that he needed such a thorough escape from them.
My second realization was even more enlightening. This was the music that Fenris listened to when he wanted to escape.
He twirled his finger at the girls, and they obediently turned their backs to us even though Lauv rolled her eyes. Then he pointed at me and pantomimed dancing.
I shook my head.
He arched a brow and changed the music with a touch of his phone screen.
The heavy beat called to my soul. It demanded movement as much as the cold did. My gaze flicked to the druids, who still had their backs safely turned to me. When I looked at Fenris again, he had a knowing smirk. He’d removed my reason to refuse dancing before I’d even had a chance.
Stubbornly, I scowled at him, shook my head again, and rubbed my arms.
The mutt had the nerve to pantomime a chicken just as the vocals started.
I itched to move. To give in to the seductive beat.
This wasn’t like making Tegan into a love slave. This was simply dancing. Couldn’t I do that to save Ashlyn? I could. Or, at least, I could try. After all, in the privacy of my own room, I danced wildly to exhaust myself and distract my thoughts from my hunger. When the club was empty enough, I danced too. But I never really let go. Not like I knew Fenris wanted me to do now.
Fenris moved to sit by the fire, watching the druids, not me. He’d asked for my unconditional trust because he knew he already had a small level of it. Now, I knew he’d keep the druids safe from me. But letting completely go? That scared me. What if I couldn’t pull myself back from whatever happened? What if I did something terrible?
He glanced at me and gave that sad smile that I was coming to realize he only wore when he felt bad for me. He nodded, pantomimed dancing again, and gave me the “you’ve got this” sign.
How did he always seem to know when I was doubting myself?
Trying to relax, I closed my eyes, let the world melt away, and started to move.
Then, I let go.
I allowed myself to feel confident, strong, and pretty. Arms above my head, I rolled my hips and arched my back. I trailed one hand down my arm and across my throat and tipped my head back, swaying and moving with the rhythm. Each sway of my hips, right then left, matched the bass beat and my pulse.
Smiling, I embraced the moment. I loved dancing. I loved moving. But mostly, I loved being free to be myself, completely without restriction.
A familiar ache of loneliness clouded over the joy I felt. I hated that I always had to dance alone. I wanted arms around me, swaying with me.
As if my thoughts conjured them, a light touch feathered over my shoulder. I lifted my arms, giving access and begging for more touching. My partner complied, stroking a finger down the thin material covering the inside of my arm. I shivered at the touch and leaned back against a hard chest. Something tickled the side of my neck at the same time something pressed against my backside.
In time with the beat of the music, I moved my hips against the pressure. My partner trembled and wrapped an arm around my waist to hold me closer.
The scent of earth and rain teased my nose, and I breathed in deeply. Another tremble coursed through my partner as something lightly touched my cheek. A hand captured mine, reeling me forward as I moved, until I was pressed against someone else.
Sandwiched as I was between my partners, my movements should have been limited. Instead, we swayed together as one. The hips grinding against my backside forced me into the hips grinding into my front. I inhaled more earth and rain. The flavor coated my tongue, and an involuntary groan escaped me.
Both my partners jerked and trembled suddenly, losing the rhythm completely.
Their support disappeared, and I stumbled as I opened my eyes in confusion.
Anne was whooping and fist-bumping the air as she grinned. Lauv and Meg were rushing to me, each holding a clear bottle. And Fenris was sitting at the base of a tree, his head tipped back and his eyes closed.
I pulled out an earbud.
“She freaking did it. I can’t believe it.”
Meg grabbed my shoulder and partially turned me as Lauv crammed her bottle against my stomach.
“What are you—”
The words died, and bile rose as I stared down at the iridescent goo slowly sliding its way down my shirt. When Meg pressed something against the base of my spine, I knew more was there, too.
I closed my eyes against Anne’s happy-dancing and let the druids collect their pure essence, all the while wishing the earth would open up and swallow me whole. The music that continued to beat in my other earpiece did nothing to soothe me.
“Start getting everything ready, Anne. The fresher this is, the longer the cloaking spell will last,” Lauv said.
“No,” Fenris said. “Eliana’s spell first.”
I didn’t open my eyes to look at him, not even when both girls stopped pressing their bottles to me and moved away.
“We can’t. We don’t have everything we need for that one.”
“Then I’ll hold onto both of these until you get what you need.”
The scuffle of noise was enough for me to finally open my eyes. Fenris held two vials just out of any of the girls’ reach. Barely. He deflected a knee to a groin but not a stomp on his foot. He cringed enough that the distance between Lauv’s grabbing hands and the vials closed by an inch.
“Do it again,” Lauv said.
My eyes went dark at the thought of them trying to hurt Fenris.
“Enough!”
All four froze and looked at me.
“You have until Tuesday to get what you need, and you will start looking for Ashlyn before you even consider leaving Uttira. If you don’t, the Council will be the least of your worries. Do you understand me, druids?”
Lauv nodded slowly. There was no fear in her eyes, just acceptance, which I didn’t trust at all.
I grabbed my phone from the coat on the ground and handed it to Lauv.
“I want all of your numbers. And when I text, you will answer.”
She nodded again and passed the phone to Meg after entering her number. My distrust grew. They were listening too willingly. Why? Anger curled inside of me at the thought they might be entering fake numbers.
When I got it back, I sent all three of them a text and heard three devices chime with notifications.
Appeased for the moment, I nodded to Fenris to return the vials and grabbed my coat from the ground.
“Tuesday,” I repeated. “Do not fail me…or Ashlyn.”
Chapter Seven
I blinked away the black that I knew had crept into my eyes and shrugged into my coat. Though I needed the warmth, I shuddered at what was getting on it. And what was currently sticking to my stomach and back.
Fenris jogged to catch up to me. As he came alongside me, I plucked the other earbud from my ear and handed both of them to him without glancing his way.