Page 40 of Queen of Wrath

“I think it’s reversed,” he chuckled, hiding a slight blush as he shrugged off the compliment. “Why are you here so late, anyway? Everyone else has already gone home to get ready for the festival tonight.” Kiyan changed the subject at the drop of a hat. It was probably for the best.

“I just had some stuff to finish up here. I was going to head home in a bit.” I glanced over his shoulder at the janitorial closet at the end of the hallway.

I guess I'll have to sabotage the potions another day. I can't do anything with Kiyan here.

“Home? Why does it sound like you're not going to the festival?” He gathered my attention with his deeply green and innocent eyes.

“Oh, uh—I wasn’t planning on it. As you can imagine, I'm not exactly in a partying kind of mood.” I tried to wriggle my way out of it, but I could tell by the look on his face he wasn't about to let me off the hook so easily.

“You can't not go to the Lunair Goddess Festival. What kind of werewolf are you?” He seemed to enter a state of panic at the thought of me not going. “Come on, you have to go. It'll be fun. We can hang out and eat a ton of food and pray together. Perhaps, if we're lucky, we'll even get an appearance from Lunaira herself.” Kiyan was practically jumping out of his skin trying to convince me to go.

I took in a deep breath and held it. There was no point in disappointing him. It wasn't like I had anything important going on tonight. “Fine, I'll make an appearance.”

He fist-pumped the air and let out a whoop. “Now the festival will be a lot more fun with you there!”

“Why would you want to hang out with an old lady like me at a festival, anyway?” I poked fun at myself.

“I've never felt like I related to anyone in my life before, but you’re always so kind to me. And sometimes, I even feel like you're more like family than my actual ones are…” His eyes dropped to the floor as we reached the front doors of the building.

But as I looked up, I realized that he hadn’t been kidding earlier when he’d said there wasn’t anyone in the building anymore.

Even the lobby looked like a desolate island.

“I'm sure that's not true, Kiyan. It's difficult at your age to be close to your parents, but I'm sure they love you very much.” I attempted to reassure him, but it seemed to only make him feel more isolated. “I'm very flattered that you see me in such a light. If I could choose my family, I would have loved for you to be a part of it, too.”

His eyes lighted up as he gave me a soft smile. “Thank you for that, Emma.”

Iwent home and changed into my festival clothing, which consisted of a long, bright red and flowy robe made entirely out of silk.

The color and luxurious fabric were far more eye-catching than I liked.

I had gotten so used to blending into the background, that I’d forgotten what it was like to stand out. I turned around, looking at the outfit in the mirror.

I feel…beautiful.

As soon as I was ready, I left my apartment and found Kiyan waiting outside for me, wearing different clothes now, too. “Did you rush home, change, and come back here to wait for me?” I couldn't help but laugh at him. “It would’ve been much easier if you’d just gone on ahead to the festival and let us meet up there again.”

“I wanted to make sure you got there safely.” He gave me a pouty look before rolling his eyes.

“No need to get upset, I'm sorry for teasing you.” I held up my hands with my palms facing him. “Let's go. I don't want you to miss out on anything.”

He slowly inched out of his pouty demeanor as we made our way to the festival, and chatted away. In no time at all, we reached the entrance.

Woah, I've never seen such extravagance before!

The front gates were decorated with thousands of night flowers and Lunair bell vines.

The air smelled sickly sweet from the flowers and slightly bitter from the vines. Beyond that, a thick appetizing scent masked everything else.

Even from here, I could smell what each stand was cooking, and my stomach was rumbling to try them all.

It wouldn't hurt anyone to actually enjoy myself for a night!

People were filing in, but it was still too early to be crowded.

If I was looking for anyone of note, now would be the time to find them, but who would I be looking for? Perhaps Zane, but he would be with his family. It would be best not to interfere with his life more than I already had.

I doubt Mairy would like very much that a woman she didn't know was conversing with her husband. Mair… I wish I could talk to her as well. I miss our long conversations. I wonder how she would react if she knew I was still alive.

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