“I’m not hiding anything, thank you very much. I know exactly who I am, and I’m very happy with it.”
“Sure,” he said, raising his already arched brows. “There’s a Shakespeare quote about a lady protesting, but I forget how it goes.” Aurora swatted his shoulder again, and he let out a good-natured laugh. “Anyway, we’d really love to have you at the next family dinner. Mom was crushed when you bailed on the last one. And the one before…”
“I’ve been busy,” she said, flushing just a little. “You know how demanding my job is.”
“Demanding is right. You don’t seem to have time for anything else.” At her sigh, Duval softened a bit. “Look, just try. Okay? Mom would love to see you. Hell, we all would.” He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.
“I’ll try. Of course I will.”
“That’s the spirit,” he said, brightening up. “Now, get yourself a drink and live a little! Just a little.” With that, he snuck a kiss on her forehead and dove back into the party.
Maybe he was right. Maybe a drink or two would be just the thing. And maybe, just maybe, she’d leave the cleaning until tomorrow.
With a cold gin and tonic in a plastic cup, she sidled back in to see Ryan and his band howling out in full fashion. His petite wings shimmered from the back of his plush, lime green jacket. It was impossible to dislike someone so outrageously comfortable in his own skin.
And there, in the center of the floor, swaying lightly with his eyes fixed on the lead singer, was Nathan. Even the throng of people couldn’t coax a stitch of clothing on his upper half—though he sparkled as though he’d smeared glittery lotion all over his skin—and shirtless as he was, he was probably a damned sight more comfortable than anyone else on the overheated dance floor. Aurora was beginning to regret choosing a sweater of all things, even as light as it was.
Thinking back to the escapade with the dead mouse that morning, Aurora felt a pang of remorse. She really needed to apologize more thoroughly to Nathan. Even if it was unintentional, the last thing she wanted was any ill will in the house. So, squaring her shoulders, she made her way through the crowd until she caught his eye.
“Hey,” she gave a light wave, and he replied with the far cooler version of it. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry about this morning.”
“What?” He held a hand up to his ear. She raised her voice to try to cut above the music.
“I said, I’m sorry!”
“What?” He waved her closer. Stepping through the dancers until she was right beside him, she made another attempt.
“I’m sorry about this morning.”
An almost comical look of surprise filled his face and his body lurched, as though someone had bumped him, though no one was close enough. And then the entire front of her outfit was drenched in bright blue liquid. The chill of it on her skin took her breath away, and her eyes bulged at the neon stain ruining her clothes. Nathan wore a victorious smirk. He’d been trying to get her close enough to do that.
“Oops,” he said blandly. “Guess we’re even now. Besides, maybe now you’ll change into something more appropriate for a party than a sock hop.”
Burning with humiliation, Aurora turned on her heel, only to bump directly into Kelly.
“Whoa,” Kelly said. “Dig the new look. Very chic.”
That only frustrated Aurora more. She wanted to get out of that room before someone else coughed up a smart remark. But before she could move, an electric, magical tingle unlike anything she had ever felt sang through her entire body. The whole room seemed to shimmer. Looking wildly around her, she searched for the source of the sensation. Someone was here, and she needed to see them.
And there he was.
Standing just in the entry to the main room was a man with dark blond hair and kind brown eyes she could feel in her core. A wolf shifter. It was impossible to say how she knew that, but she did with a diamond-hard certainty. He spoke to an older man. Kelly whistled through her teeth, snapping Aurora out of her trance.
“Who’s the new guy? What a hunk.”
“I, um. I don’t know. I have no idea,” Aurora stammered. “The older man he’s talking to is a triune judge though.”
“That’s right!” Kelly snapped her fingers and chucked Aurora’s shoulder. “Old judgy-boy asked for a plus-one. Said he’d bring his replacement or something. Something about going on vacation? I wasn’t really listening.” She took a hard pull from the full bottle of whiskey in her hand.
Aurora wasn’t really listening either. Her gaze was fixed on the handsome shifter next to Judge Bedlow. Then something about him changed. He froze in place, ignoring his companion, and sniffed lightly at the air. Blinking rapidly, his eyes grew wide and he cast away any pretense of manners and quite blatantly sniffed. With searching eyes, he hunted through the crowd, undoubtedly seeking the source of whatever he scented. A thrill in Aurora’s stomach told her she needed to hide from him, but she couldn’t have said why if a gun was held to her head.
Trouble was she had no way to escape the dance floor without him spotting her. She needed a diversion and she needed it now.
“Whoa! What the hell?” Nathan’s voice came louder than anyone had ever heard it.
The whole room stopped, and even the band faltered. Whatever super-cool version of dancing he had just been doing was long gone. Instead, his feet set to tap dancing like he was auditioning for a Broadway show.
“What the fuck?” he cried as his body moved lithely.
“Language,” Aurora muttered absently, barely above a whisper.
Everyone watched his killer moves. High kicks. Jazz hands. Barrel rolls. He was really going for it—all without the benefit of music. Lurella began to tickle at her keyboard, sliding from a Night Sparrows rocker to some good old-fashioned ragtime. Ryan howled with laughter.
“Lurella, cut that shit out! Somebody help me.”
It was the most heated Aurora had ever seen him, but it didn’t make sense that he’d need someone to help him. Then it hit her. She was doing it. Somehow, she was forcing Nathan to dance. Any time she thought about a particular step, he copied the image in her brain. She had no idea how she was doing it or—even worse—how to make it stop. All she knew was that it was exactly the diversion she needed.
The crowd had closed in on Nathan, including the handsome stranger who barely even glanced in his direction, but the mass of bodies hid her exit nicely. As she passed their closest point of approach, her nose caught a strong, intoxicating whiff of him. Who needed gin when you could have that? Looking back one last time as she hurried outside, she drank in every drop of the man before losing sight of him in the throng.
She didn’t know who he was, but she wanted to find out more than anything. Well, except running away, that is.
Three
“Alright, who’s the joker who took the evidence file from my top drawer?” Fisher had been at the judiciary for nearly half an hour but had only just managed to settle into his work station. His question was met with stifled giggles, and Aurora looked around the room at her fellow junior investigators.
Every one of them had their eyes glued to their desktops, suddenly profoundly invested in whatever work was at hand. Cleon’s shoulders were shaking lightly. Anybody could have seen he was the likeliest culprit. Unfortunately, Fisher wasn’t the sharpest investigator in the room by a handy margin.