16
Mercy
Two hours later,Anthea showed up at my bedroom door with the dress Ezra had approved for my date, which it turned out was happening tonight. So much for having a chance to really prepare.
Anthea handed it to me, and I unfurled it in my hands. It was slinky emerald-green satin, with spaghetti straps so thin a brisk breeze might snap them and a slit from the ankle-length hem to halfway up the thigh.
Lovely. Ezra might as well be gift-wrapping me.
“I don’t want you to go,” Anthea said quietly. “The things I’ve heard about Jasper Herald…” She winced.
“If he’s bad enough to freak even you out, I don’t want to go either,” I said. “But I gave Ezra my word. I’ll… I’ll figure something out if things get bad.”
“You have proven very resourceful so far.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. “At least let me help you get ready? Maybe if you’re stunning enough, Jasper will forget he wants to do anything more than stare at you.”
I snorted. Not fucking likely. But I motioned for her to stay anyway. Having the company would distract me from the horror that might be waiting for me tonight.
I changed into the dress quickly, making a face when I saw just how low the neckline dipped. Then Anthea spent a good part of the next hour spritzing and then curling my hair and slathering my face with makeup.
At the end of it, I almost couldn’t recognize the girl in the mirror. She looked like a femme-fatale, something I decidedly was not. But it was still me in the mirror.
“Wow,” I said. “Are you sure you’re not also a wizard?”
Anthea rolled her eyes, but her smile looked pleased. She swiveled me back toward her and gave my mouth one last touch-up with the lipstick. Then she took a little velvet box out of her purse and handed it to me. “As a final touch. In case things do get particularly bad.”
I opened the box with some trepidation, but all I found inside was a gold hair pin with a gleaming pearl mounted on it. “I can stab him with it? I think the heels of the shoes I’m supposed to wear with this dress might do more damage.”
Anthea laughed and plucked the pin from the box. She fixed it into the now-buoyant waves of my hair. “Stab, yes, but that’s not all there is to it. You know I specialize in subtler methods. The sharp end is laced with a poison that’ll slow any man down. It should give you a chance to get away from him if it comes to that, without having the murder of a crime boss hanging over your head. Just be careful while you’re taking it out of your hair.”
“No kidding.” I touched the smooth metal surface. I wasn’t supposed to take any weapons with me, but Jasper would never know the difference. Hopefully he wouldn’t make me use it. “Thank you.”
My gaze dropped to the jeans I’d taken off. I wasn’t supposed to take any bag or purse with me, just present myself like, well, a present. Which meant I had nowhere to keep my childhood bracelet on me. After how many times my belongings had been messed with here, I didn’t like just leaving it in my room either.
I fished it out of the pocket and held it out to Anthea. “Would you hold onto this for me until I get back? I want to be sure it’s safe.”
Anthea read the inscription and raised her eyebrows at me. I let out an awkward laugh. “It’s the only thing I have left from my mother.”
Her eyes widened. “Of course. I’ll defend it with my life.” She tucked it carefully in her purse with an air as if she’d meant that statement completely literally, which knowing her, she probably did.
Just then, the door burst open. Kaige sauntered in as if he was perfectly at home in my bedroom.
Anthea gave him a reproachful look. “You should knock.”
“So I keep telling him,” Gideon said, coming in after him. He was followed by Rowan. As the door thumped shut behind them, the three of them stopped in their tracks to stare at me.
Rowan recovered his voice first. “Wow, Mercy, you look...”
He didn’t seem to know how to finish, which was strange for the guy who’d always been quick with his words. I abruptly noticed the hollowed quality to his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept much last night. Had he known what Ezra was planning?
Would he really have been that worried about me?
“Like a siren who came out of the sea to murder us,” Kaige finished for him, walking around me to take in the full view with avid eyes. “Like, seriously, I’m already dying here. I honestly wouldn’t be too upset if you decided to drag me down into the sea with you.”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help the blush that crept up my face. “You don’t mean that.”
Kaige stepped closer. “Hell yeah, I do. I wish you were getting dressed for me, and we were the ones going out. Not that fucking asshole Jasper Herald.”
With that comment, the mood in the room shifted to something more somber. “So, what are you all doing here?” I asked to try to break the gloom. “Did you just come to ogle me?”