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“Deals and alliances,” she continued. “He wants to strengthen his ties with the Infernal Court, so he’ll need to entice their prince.”
Sweat slicked my hands, and I resisted the urge to wipe them on the beautiful gown. I felt sick. I had to get out of the Otherworld. There was no time to waste. I forced myself to laugh, trying to sound nonplussed. “I doubt he’d force me to attend this party with him if he planned to give me away.”
She paused and studied me for a moment in a way that told me she was assessing not her work but me. “Gages don’t marry for anything but power or status. You should remember that.”
It wasn’t what I expected her to say. I blinked, puzzling out what she meant before shock dropped my jaw. She assumed I meant he wouldn’t trade me because he was attached to me. “I’m not interested in Gage, and he’s not interested in me.”
She let out a slight hmph that only made new questions form in my mind but changed the subject. “You were stupid to make a bargain with him.”
I gritted my teeth. It wasn’t like I needed the reminder, but I wasn’t about to argue that I hadn’t actually intended to make a deal with him. I doubted she would be sympathetic to my cause, especially since she clearly disliked me. “I don’t know. That bathtub is pretty spectacular.”
This time, she actually smiled. “Enjoy it while you can.”
That sounded like a threat if I’d ever heard one. I tried not to let fear take hold, but its oily tendrils snaked through me, and I forced myself to turn around and look in the mirror—to do anything but meet her cold eyes. But what I found was nothing like I could have imagined.
The delicate dress clung to my curves, its pale color bringing out the warm hue of my skin. My usually unruly hair was up in a pile of curls, tendrils spiraling around my face, which was bright with highlighted cheeks and red lips. My lashes, thick and fluttery, framed my eyes so that they seemed larger and brighter than normal. I wouldn’t have been able to make myself look like this with hours of trying, and she had done it in minutes.
“How?” I breathed.
“I said it would take magic. It’s a light glamour.”
“Glamour?”
“Think of it like a veil. It can hide or disguise, but in this case, it just accentuated what was already there.”
“Like magical makeup?” It had to be what made Gage and the others look like humans in the real world.
“But better for the skin. It will fade overnight, so don’t stay out too late,” she warned me. “It’s simple magic that can be done when you wish. You just have to ask.”
I was slightly relieved that I wasn’t expected to look like this all the time. I couldn’t imagine going to work looking like a TikTok filter. “Thank you,” I said, actually meaning it. If I had to get close to Gage tonight, I needed every advantage I could get.
“Any servant can help you. I’m not around the court much. I’m only here for the Equinox.”
I might have been disappointed if I planned to stick around.
“Your escort is here,” she announced, drawing me from my doomed thoughts. How she knew, I didn’t ask. Maybe those fae ears, so different from my own, heard things I couldn’t.
I braced myself for Gage, for enduring his insufferable presence, but another woman waited at the door. Unlike my annoyed attendant, she squealed when she saw me.
“I could not believe it when I heard my brother had a date!” She threw her arms around my shoulders, dragging me into a suffocating hug that was nearly as shocking as her words. I knew the Gage family by their names only. That meant she was either Ciara or Fiona. She pulled back, a dazzling smile on her face. She was a delicate version of her brother, all curves and softness swathed in a sheer lace gown. Her hair was pinned half up to cascade over her bare shoulder, a few glossy black curls escaping to frame her heart-shaped face. But it was her eyes that she shared with her brother—brilliant, glittering green that glinted with secrets like the facets of cut emeralds.
“Ciara.” My attendant said the name with disapproval. “You’ll fuck up her glamour.”
Ciara released me with an apologetic grin, but it soured as she looked at her.
“Fiona,” she said coolly. “Why are you here?”
No. It couldn’t be. Not some random fae sent to assist me with my hair. His sister. My head started to swim.
“I volunteered. The servants were busy with the party, and if I have to spend one more minute with Oberon and his sanctimonious bullshit, I’m going to murder him. I figured I’d find something more constructive to do before I got marked by the Wild Hunt. Getting to meet Lach’s new pet was just a bonus.”
I blinked. That was way too much information to unpack. Half of it might as well have been in another language. Probably the one scrawled across Gage’s skin.
Ciara’s eyes narrowed. “And what lies have you told her?”
She laughed. “I didn’t need to tell her anything. She reeks of fear. Good luck with that one.”
“You aren’t a servant,” I accused.