Shadowspell

I chewed my lip while we waited. There was no way Finn wouldn’t guess where we were headed, which meant it wouldn’t be long before he showed up here himself. If we were inside the club, he might have a bit of a hassle getting through the bouncers, and then he’d actually have to find us before he could drag us back. But if we were just standing around in the hall like this …

“Are you going to get in trouble with your dad because of this?” I asked Keane while I tried not to fidget.

“I’m an adult,” he said with a cocky grin. “It’s not like he can send me to my room without my supper.”

He had a point, at least technically. Though I’d never been there, I knew Keane had his own apartment—or flat, as they called them here—and he actually supported himself as a self-defense instructor. But despite all that, and despite his attempts to make me respect him as a teacher, I often found myself thinking of him as a slightly older kid rather than as an adult.

Just as I was beginning to think there was no chance we were getting into the party before Finn intercepted us, the door to the club burst open and Kimber practically danced out into the hallway.

“Dana!” she cried, her face lighting up with pleasure. “I’m so glad you could come!”

She shocked me by throwing her arms around me and giving me an exuberant hug. The Fae were known for their quiet reserve, but obviously Kimber didn’t care to conform to the stereotype. I wasn’t the most touchy-feely person myself, but I hugged her back.

“This is such a nice surprise,” she said as she pulled away. “I thought you couldn’t come.”

I dropped my voice, not sure if the bouncers would kick me out if they heard me. “Yeah, well, we sort of snuck out.”

Kimber blinked and seemed to notice Keane for the first time. “Oh!” She had a very expressive face, and I could tell immediately that she liked what she saw. “You must be Keane,” she said. “Dana’s told me a lot about you.”

Her eyes twinkled with mischief as I gave her a dirty look. Most of the times I’d talked to her about Keane, it was to complain about him and his annoying—and often painful—training techniques. I was probably blushing, but the hallway wasn’t brightly lit, so I hoped no one could tell.

“Look, can we go inside now?” I said. “Before Finn catches up with us?”

“Of course! Come on, follow me.”

I noticed several things at once as Kimber led Keane and me into the club. First was that the music was so loud I felt like my eardrums might explode. Second was that it was absolutely packed with people, not all that many of whom looked like teens. Third was that the place positively reeked of roses.

To the Fae, the red rose indicates an affiliation with the Unseelie Court, and the white rose indicates an affiliation with the Seelie Court. Apparently, this was an integrated party, because red and white roses were arranged everywhere. There were huge centerpieces on the tables. There were garlands. There were potted roses lined up against each wall. There were even streamers of them hanging down from the ceiling.

I shot a questioning look at Kimber. She shrugged and looked unhappy.

“Three guesses who chose the decorations,” she shouted over the music.

But of course, one guess was plenty. It made me mad that Alistair was ruining Kimber’s party by making it into a political statement. It also made me realize that my dad might have been right to believe my appearance here could have political implications.

God, I hated politics! I wanted nothing whatsoever to do with all the crap that went on as the Fae candidates jockeyed for position, but being the daughter of one of those candidates dragged me into the thick of things anyway.

“Come on,” Kimber yelled, taking me by the hand and towing me through the crowd. “Let’s get you guys something to drink.”

I checked over my shoulder to make sure Keane was following. He was, but the look on his face said he already didn’t like this party. He wasn’t quite sneering, but it was close. Looking around at the partiers, I could see why.

Almost everyone was dressed in their semiformal best, and even in my quick glance around, I could tell this was a highbrow party. There were way more adults than you’d expect at a teen’s party, and most of them carried themselves with the snobby arrogance of the filthy rich. The teens in the crowd looked just as snooty, like they’d fit right in at some exclusive British boarding school. I knew Ethan and Kimber were far from poor, but neither of them put out the kind of “I’m too good for you” vibe most of these people did.

It was definitely not Keane’s crowd. Although Knights are members of the Sidhe—the aristocracy of Faerie—the rest of the Sidhe treat them like glorified servants, and I presumed that held true for sons of Knights, like Keane. The Sidhe, especially the ones who were born in Faerie, still thought racism and classism were socially acceptable. I wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t feeling entirely comfortable here.

To tell you the truth, it didn’t seem much like my crowd, either. I couldn’t help noticing that no one stopped Kimber to talk as she led us to the bar, and I wondered how many of them even knew—or cared—that she was the birthday girl.

I’d found out from my dad that the official drinking age in Avalon was eighteen, but that the law was rarely enforced. The bar at The Deep was ample proof. I spotted a girl sitting at one end of the bar who couldn’t have been more than fourteen or fifteen, drinking a bottle of beer right under the bartender’s nose.