Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
He squinted one eye as he took me in again, and then a grimace pulled at his lips.
“Ah,” he said, and the grimace turned into a smile. “Well…she did look really good heading into that ball. What shoes do you have?”
I lifted the hem to reveal the white satin ballerina shoes, flexible but durable, with thick rubber soles.
“They aren’t very glamorous.” I dropped the dress again. “They’ll be good if I need to run or shift, though, I guess. And like…” I ran my gloved hand over the pocket watch hanging from the sewn-on loop, running down a brief length before it nestled into the sewn-in pocket. I didn’t have a pocket on the other side. The whole setup was specifically for the pocket watch they’d randomly found in Ivy House, a story the house told me after the dress had turned up here.
“Can I see the watch?”
I daintily pulled it out because I knew it must be valuable, if not a freaking relic. No one had said. I probably shouldn’t be wearing it, or maybe even touching it. There was no telling what part of history it had originated from, like most of the other stuff in the house. It was too detailed, old-looking, and expensive-looking to be something mundane.
Tristan handled it gently, bending over to get a closer glance. He whistled softly. “This thing is pretty cool.” He opened it as though handling something priceless before softly clicking it shut again. “You shouldn’t keep something like that contained within a pocket.”
“I know, but why would I take it out?”
“Appearances, I’d imagine.” He backed off a bit until he was leaning against the wall like last time. “They must have had a reason for these choices.” He shrugged. “Although it could very well be a joke. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but Sebastian and Nessa sent outfits or instructions for everyone. They put Edgar in that suit from when we headed to Kingsley’s. Remember? The one that matched Niamh’s but was too small in the…dick area.”
I blurted out a laugh. “Nice phrasing. Very subtle.” I took a step back, giving him a hard look. “You think they’re setting us up as a joke?”
“I think…they are operating in ways…they think they have to.”
“What does that mean? Is that something you guys talked about in the brief meeting earlier?”
Tristan, Niamh, and Austin had gotten together to discuss some of the networking items Tristan and Niamh were up to. I’d sat in with them to hear about the revenant, but then left them to the more complex details of their efforts. Austin, knowing more about the magical world and political maneuvering, was better at strategy. I could never bring anything to the table until it was time to put plans into action.
“If this is a joke,” Tristan said, “I truly believe they are doing it to benefit you, Jessie. They need you—our convocation—as an ally to reach their goals. They wouldn’t want to ridicule you and kill any chance you have at making connections. Connections they need us to make.”
I slipped the watch back into my pocket. He did have a point.
“Think of it like this—power is like money in the Dick world, right?” Tristan said. “If you have a ton of it, people shrug off idiosyncrasies as eccentric. The more you have, the more leeway your idiosyncrasies get. You’re basically rolling in there saying you are the most powerful person they are liable to see for a while, maybe ever, and you don’t care that they know it.”
I shook my head, looking at myself in the mirror again. “All my adult life I’ve been ridiculed for not dressing the part. Now, when I have the money and help to fit in, I’m intentionally coming off as an outsider.”
His eyes softened. “Well, there you go—you’re at least prepared for this sort of thing. Just think, if you’d always fit in and suddenly you weren’t supposed to? You wouldn’t know what to do with yourself. You’d have no confidence in being weird.”
I chuckled and put out my hands for a hug. My heart was ragged after yesterday. I still felt guilty and raw after discovering what Matt had been up to with my son, bribing him for his court-ordered allowance. Jimmy hadn’t said much on the topic, but I could tell he wasn’t pleased with how his dad had acted to Austin and me. Heading into a situation where I’d really like to finally impress someone, but would instead look like Cinderella after being dressed by a drunk fairy godmother, wasn’t great for the ol’ confidence. All this over the holidays where I’d hoped to relax, rejuvenate, look successful to the people of my past, and generally kick ass. Nothing was going according to plan.
“Well, for good or bad, this is what I’m wearing.” I pulled away. “I’ve put my trust in Sebastian and Nessa. This is apparently what it gets me.” I went to the jewelry box to grab some earrings. I felt Austin downstairs, heading toward the front of the house. It must be about time to go.