“You won’t be in danger,” I promise her. “Rev will be looking out for you.”
“I know.” Sarah nods. “I’m happy to do it.”
When we reach the turnout, Rev and Sarah climb into Rev’s beaten-up old Honda and pull away first so they can be in position when Nova and I get there.
We’re taking the truck. The one the guys stole on their escape from The Hollow. Still masked, thankfully.
I offer Nova my hand as she climbs up into the passenger seat. By the moon, I wish I was taking her out properly tonight. Going to some fancy event with her on my arm because I’m trying to woo her not because I’m trying to prevent her being put in jail by the Bureau.
When I start up the engine, she inhales deeply as if she’s stealing herself for what’s to come.
“It’s going to be okay,” I tell her. “Worst comes to worst, Snow will get us the fuck out of there.”
She turns and smiles at me. “I know he will.”
“Nova, about earlier—”
“It’s okay, Mack. We can talk about it later.” She straightens up in her seat, hands in her lap. After a beat of silence, she looks at me sideways and adds, “You look good, by the way.” A smile flutters on her lips. “Really good.”
Seeing her look at me that way sends a shiver of arousal down my spine. It shouldn’t. Especially now, I shouldn’t be thinking about all the things I want to do to her in that dress. I shouldn’t be thinking about how much I want to see her beautiful face become flushed and sweaty while I’m buried between her thighs. I shouldn’t be wishing she’d ignore what I told her about only going so far. Tie me up again.Makeme give in to her.
Adjusting my pants, I try to focus on what we’re about to do. I’ve run through the steps at least one hundred times. Sarah causes a distraction, we slip past the spell detectors, then make it to the front of the audience where I drop my mask long enough for Annalise to notice me. After that, it’s all unknowns. What I’m hoping is that Annalise will sense the urgency in my face and find a way for us to meet. As a backup plan, however, Snow is ready to let all hell loose on the gala and break us out if he has to.
“Is Sam doing okay?” I glance at Nova. I can’t sit here in silence for the next forty minutes. We have to talk aboutsomethingor my mind will wander and I’ll start thinking about all the wrong things.
“He’s been through a lot,” Nova replies, biting her lower lip. “He wants to put it behind him, but there’s a lot he needs to process.” She rubs her forearms as if she’s suddenly feeling chilled. “I get that. I mean, I didn’t really have time to process before I met you guys but—”
“Any time you need to talk to me.” I’m speaking urgently. The thought of her still suffering—feeling in any way hurt or damaged by what that monster Johnny put her through—makes me sick to my stomach. “Any time… I’m here, Nova.”
“Same,” she says quickly, fixing her eyes on me with a heat that makes me feel like I’m standing in direct sunlight. “I’m here, Mack. Ifyouneed to talk.”
After that, I flick on the radio. I find a station that’s playing music and crank it up. Nova taps her fingers on her thigh in time to the music.
Half an hour later, we reach Solleville. I know the hotel because when I was an agent, and then a teacher at the Academy, I attended the gala every year. Usually, I was forced to make a speech or schmooze wealthy donors. Rev’s car is already in the parking lot. There are two entrances. The one up top is for people who want to be photographed. The one down below, opposite where we’ve parked, is more subtle. It’s tempting to go for the latter, but we need the attention of the press.
Nova and I wait for Sarah to get out of the car. Rev stays put, ready to drive away as soon as Sarah’s finished her dramatic performance.
As Sarah heads for the stairwell that leads up to the main entrance at the front of the hotel, Nova and I follow a few paces behind. Up top, we wait in the shadows. When Sarah approaches the doors with Rev’s cell phone in her hand, displaying her ticket, we perform our masking spells.
The ease with which Nova is picking up these new spells is both impressive and disarming. She’s never been around magick, never even knew how to tap into her elemental affinity until a few weeks ago. Yet, she’s almost quicker than me already. She shakes her hair and flexes her jaw. “My skin feels tingly and tight,” she says. “Is it supposed to feel that way?”
I tilt my head from side to side. “Sounds about right,” I tell her.
“What do I look like?” she asks, looking up at me.
I study her face. I’ve always found masking people a strange experience. In many ways, Nova’s the same. Green dress, curly silver hair. But her face is different. Her features aren’t her own. Her eyes are now dark brown, and her lips aren’t right either. If I saw her in a crowd, my eyes would catch on her and I’d think,Oh, that’s Nova.But the second she turned to me I’d realize I’d made a mistake.
“Different,” I tell her. “Not you.”
“Same.” She reaches up and strokes the side of my face. “I don’t like it,” she says. “Where has my Mack gone?”
My heart thuds faster in my chest.Hers. I’m hers?
Ahead of us, at the entrance, Sarah reaches the checkpoint. She opens her arms and stands with her feet apart to be body scanned. Immediately, the alarms go off. She’s asked to empty her purse. When she takes out her wand, the security guard gruffly explains they’re not permitted inside. I hold my breath, praying she can muster the required level of outrage.
As it turns out, she’s a better actress than I imagined she’d be. In a loud, wailing voice, she begins to shout. When she gets to the part about unelementals still being treated like second class citizens, the reporters with cameras start to take notice. A crowd forms. Another unelemental steps forward and starts yelling, too. Sarah turns and starts speaking directly to the journalists. They frantically take pictures. A flurry of security guards appears.
I grab Nova’s arm. “This is it,” I tell her. “Show time.”