I bent over and clasped the black strappy heels around my ankles. A diamond necklace that a guard had hand delivered earlier, sat in a velvet box on the vanity table. I hadn’t worked myself up to clasp it around my neck yet. It looked more expensive than my car.
Holly bustled in, her hips swinging in the apron she wore over her black chef uniform. “Put it on. Diamonds are meant to be worn.”
She grabbed the necklace and snapped it around my neck before I could squeak out a response.
“I suppose I could use it to put someone’s eye out if need be,” I said, eyeing the necklace in the mirror. “Or throw it in a corner and distract the women as they grapple for it.”
She shook her h
ead and slid an errant pin into place near the nape of my neck. “You’re ready. Go with Master Fin and have some fun.”
Something told me she didn’t know the purpose of this party. Apparently, before Olivia had died, she’d gotten us both on the invitation list to this A-list party, and the Black Mage might be attending. I wouldn’t ruin Holly’s sunny smile, though.
I stood and checked my level of movement. The slit in the right thigh allowed me to move my legs reasonably well. The sharp points of my heels made a decent enough weapon. Fin had said the security staff at the party would likely have metal detectors and scanners, so I couldn’t bring a knife. Yards and yards of satin, and I felt completely naked without a weapon.
I descended the stairs, a small clutch Holly had pressed into my hand, held tight in my fist. The guards still lined Fin’s halls, and they kept their eyes fixated on the walls opposite them. Good, because I was in the mood to hurt someone.
Fin stood facing the door and turned when the clack of my heels hit the tile floor of the entry.
Damn.... The man could wear a tuxedo. A classic white and black ensemble hugged every single muscle-bound inch of him. He’d brushed his hair away from his face into a neat ponytail at the nape of his neck. He wore that tuxedo like he’d been born to it.
“You look incredible,” he said.
“Remind me why I have to play the arm candy and you get to be the dashing wealthy benefactor?”
He scanned me from head to toe with a sigh. I shouldn’t have liked it so much.
“Because you are arm candy, and I am a wealthy benefactor.”
I glared and walked toward the door. “Why do you have to ruin my complaints with logic? How will they know I’m just arm candy?”
He held the door open, and I marched toward the car in my towering heels, praying I didn’t break something before the night ended. And by break something, I meant Fin’s nose.
Once we settled into the back of the car, it pulled away and I faced Fin.
“Let’s go over the plan again, please. First dinner where I have to pretend to enjoy your company. Then dancing, with more of the same. Strictly a recon mission. How are we even going to know the Black Mage is there if he shows up?”
Fin tapped his fingers on his knee, the only outward sign of his anxiety. I’d already chewed my cuticles to bits with nerves. This wasn’t my first undercover mission, but I still feared screwing it up.
Fin captured my hand in his, stilling both our nervous tics. “Be the nice, pleasant woman I know is deep in there somewhere and nothing will go wrong.”
I jerked my hand away. “Thanks for the pep talk. You suck at it. Don’t worry, I won’t threaten anyone or curse at anyone. You forget I grew up with the elite of bounty hunters. I’ve been to these kinds of parties before. I hate them, and they often make me want to steal a bottle of booze and run away, but I can handle it.”
“Excellent,” he murmured. His focus flicked out the window.
The venue turned out to be an estate house, a little like Fin’s, nestled in the country. The mansion glowed from the long winding road. When the car pulled to a stop in front of an ornate set of doors, a man in a suit approached to open the car door. I let him help me out and gave him a sweet smile of thanks.
Fin came around the car, buttoning his tuxedo jacket, and took my arm.
“Ready?” he whispered.
I clutched his arm tighter, allowing myself to lean into him. “Absolutely not. Sure wish I had a few knives right now.”
We walked into a foyer lined with candelabras, wax candles warming the enormous space pleasantly. Men in tuxedos and gloves lined a path to a dining room so like Fin’s I almost checked for the coffee bar I’d fallen in love with.
Fin captured my chin in his hand and tilted my face toward him like he might kiss me. “Do you want to eat or skip to dancing?”
The way my stomach had dropped to my toes at the look on his face told me I couldn’t handle food right now.