Page 71 of Ruby & Onyx

“I hadn’t heard.” I try to mask the hurt in my voice, but the softening in Viola’s eyes tells me that I failed.

“I’ll go get you that bottle now, huh?” She flashes me a sympathetic smile that meets the broken part of me like a hug.

“Thank you,” I tell her, nodding. It makes me sad to know that we’re deceiving her, or at least excluding her. She does nothing but help, time and time again. But it’s for her safety. I can’t forget that. Gemma and I are heading down a dangerous path and bringing her with us would be selfish.

Of course, involving Gemma was pretty selfish, too.

Gods, that void inside me is growing deeper by the minute.

Once the door shuts behind Viola, I quickly scan the room for any sign of the invisibles. Fortunately, they appear to be absent. I wait a minute to ensure our privacy before turning to Gemma. “Guylita will be here tonight, right?”

“That is the plan, yes.” Her wings start to flutter. Is she as nervous as I am?

“Great.” I try to inhale, but the movement causes the corset to jab my ribs. I wince and, for a moment, worry that I might faint.

“Are you familiar with the tripudio?”

“The what?”

“It’s a traditional dance. The king and queen will give a speech to thank everyone for coming and then the tripudio will begin.” I raise my eyebrow in question, so she continues, “It’s a traditional dance that forces partners to change every ten seconds. It’s fast-paced and continues until only one couple remains. It’s an absolute frenzy, but it will allow you to slip away and meet with Guylita while the dance serves as a distraction. Just be quick about it.”

“What if they don’t begin the dance right after the speech? How will I know when it’s time?” How am I to know the difference between a regular dance and a tripudio?

“Trust me, you’ll know,” she assures me.

“And how will I recognize Guylita?” Surely there will be hundreds of people in attendance tonight. How do you recognize a stranger in a sea of masked bodies?

“She might… stick out. Guylita isn’t one for grand occasions, but I gave her a doll’s mask to wear tonight.” The space between us closes as she holds my hand, squeezing it with gentle reassurance. “You will get the answers you need, and it will all go just swimmingly.”

“Thank you. I couldn’t have done this without –”

The door creaks open as Viola returns with a bottle in one hand and three glasses carefully held in the other. “Snagged this off a servant headed to the ball.” She freezes when she sees us holding hands, and her eyes flit between us. The tension blooms so thick that it’s palpable. “What’s going on?”

“I’m nervous about tonight.” The lie floats off my tongue a little too naturally, but I can feel the tug of appreciation from Gemma. “Shall we drink?”

Viola skeptically smiles but shakes it off to turn her efforts toward the bottle, concentrating hard. “Alright, here we go.” She slips a knife out of her pocket and positions it to the side of the bottle. As if she were preparing for a fight, she shifts her weight from foot to foot, fixating on the cork. Then in one swift motion, she slices the knife upward. The cork shoots across the room and slams into the wall. Bubbling liquid explodes over the side like a festive fount.

“I’ve always wanted to do that!” Viola bounces up and down cheerily before pouring the liquid into glasses.

“Masterful! Genius! You’re a bottle-opening prodigy!” Gemma claps while nearly doubling over with laughter.

Viola curtsies and takes a sip with her pinky in the air.

“Should we toast?” The thought strikes me that I’ve never had anyone to toast with. Sure, Oren and I drank together, but there was always a somber air to our nights together. Those nights provided a temporary patch to the dark hole inside of me, but we never laughed like this. Sitting here with Gemma and Viola, laughing over a bottle of bubbly, makes me feel at home.

“Yes, let’s!” Gemma raises her glass and clears her throat. “Let us toast to new friends and dancing until our feet fall off. Cheers!”

“Not fair! If your feet get tired, you have your wings to lift you!”

But that single word – friends – strikes a chord in me.

We clink our glasses together, and I find myself smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. Who knew that such a tiny word, a simple gesture, could make me feel so much less alone?

Maybe I could accept the arrangement to stay with them?

As we continue to laugh and play together, a heavy knock sounds at the door like metal tapping on wood. Had I not known that Olly was at the border, I would have expected it to be him standing on the other side of the door. Instead, it is Liliana who greets us. A silver cane with intricately carved snakes winding up the length of it rests under her gloved right hand, bearing a portion of her weight.

“Am I too early?” She asks, grinning widely beneath a black feathered mask.

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