Page 73 of All Saints: Pledge

Augustine is trying to rein in the room. “I am sorry for the inconsiderate delay, but it appears we have made an error in tonight’s auction. If you’ll give us a moment, Ms. Fitzroy will also be joining us for the evening. Clara, if you’ll come over for a moment, we’ll split your auction items into two lots.”

There’s a murmur, but he holds up his hands, and continues. “We will have thirty minutes for you to inspect the items of your choice, and then you may submit your intention to bid with me. A bid can be written on your card and slipped to me at any point in the evening. Each card is linked with RFID to your identity, so no trying to re-create the fiasco of 1902. Rivalries stay firmly outside the ballroom, at least until after drinks.”

I don’t understand the chuckle that ripples around the room, but I gather that taming a group of wealthy elite can be hard.

“Thank you also to our scholarship recipients here tonight. We wouldn’t be here without you.”

The applause is stronger this time. Augustine cues the orchestra, and they start playing louder. I crane my neck around, counting the couples. And if I’m honest, looking for the one person I feel is waiting to jump out at me. I haven’t seen Kendall anywhere all night.

I glance down the line of party guests, all of them dressed to the nines, gathered in small groups. No Kendall. And then, myeyes are drawn across the room to the line of initiates. Kendall is directly across from me.

He’s one of the initiates, a gorgeous black woman in a sleek black jump suit on his arm.

His gaze has been wandering down the line of initiates on my side of the room, just the same as I’ve been doing. I can’t help feeling like it looks like he’s categorizing competitors in a game. Looking for weaknesses. His eyes skate over me, and I brace for some sort of glaring, glowing look. Some sort of death stare at Teague. But there’s…nothing. Not even a snub. He doesn’t skip looking at me. He looks at me with the same amount of interest that he uses on everyone else. It’s like I don’t exist.

His gaze continues on, scanning the room casually.

I blink.

“Stop staring,” Teague warns through gritted teeth.

I whip my head forward, cheeks reddening. “He’s already fucking with my head,” I say back through the smile that has become painful to hold, I’m gritting my teeth so hard. “He’s ignoring me. Doing that whole hot/cold thing.”

“Then let him. Fuck with his head right back. Ignorehim.”

It was a solid plan. Scrap that, it was theonlyplan, so I went with it. I ignored the shit out of Kendall as Teague and I worked our way slowly around the room clockwise. We’d stop and let the various groups of people examine my necklace. I’d turn around with a cheeky peek over my shoulder and shimmy a little, making the pendulum sway. I captivated them. I told them I appreciated their support of the charities. I asked them who in their families needed such a lovely piece for Christmas.

And yet. I never lost track of Kendall. And every time I’d peer at him out of the corner of my eye, I swear he’d just be turning his head resolutely away from me. We play this game of cat and mouse all night, even as Teague steers me from group to group.

And Kendall is doing his own version of charming. It’s a Kendall I’ve never really seen before. He leans in to talk to the groups, eyes sparkling. His body language is not the guarded jackass I know. He’s showing off a watch that must be his “jewelry” to sell. Flashing teeth. Honestly, I’m half-mesmerized by this versions even in snippets of visions from halfway across the room. He’s flirting with the women, honestly, he’s flirting with the men too, and then I realize.

I realize that thisishis game. He’s trying to outdo everyone. He’s trying tooutdo me. Because if I don’t make the most money, if I’m not on the rank somewhere then he gets his wish. I get kicked out, and he…well, I don’t really want to go down that path.

So I double my efforts. I stop trying to look at him out of the corner of my eye. I double my efforts and playful and witty banter. I take this little necklace and Iworkit.

And by the time Teague leads me back out of the room, I amexhausted. I cling to Teague’s arm as he walks me back out of the ballroom. This time we’re behind Clara and her escort. She turns slightly and peers at me over her shoulder.

I do what I can to offer her a bolstering smile. I’m sure she did wonderfully. I’d have bought anything she was wearing, she looks like Grace Kelley come back to life in her tiara. She’s missing her bracelets, having given those to Beatrice as her auction item.

The chaperones peel off into different wings of the house as we exit the foyer. Irina, Clara, and I all march dutifully up the stairs. I don’t even turn around to see where Kendall is going. I hope he notices just how little I am noticinghim. Serves him right for ignoring me tonight.

The hallway to our room is dark and quiet, and the further we press on toward the door, the more exhaustion hangs on me light a millstone around my neck. Teague gives my arm asqueeze as we stop outside the doorway. “I have to come in and take possession of the jewelry, and then you get some sleep, okay?”

I nod as I turn the knob and let us into my room. Like a dream, the bed is turned down and there’s an honest to God fire in the fireplace.

Despite my excitement, I groan. “Am I going to have to wait for this to burn down to go to bed?” I donotwant to ask Aoife or Edmund for any additional help tonight. I want to crawl in bed and sleep like the dead.

“Most of them are natural gas now, pretty safe to have on,” Teague answers as if he knows everything about fireplaces.

“Oh, well,pretty safesounds almost good.”

“Youarecheeky,” he says with a wry quirk of his mouth. Despite the dark in the room, he crosses quickly over to the far wall and flips a switch on the wall I didn’t even know was there. “The other good thing about gas fireplaces is that they’re really easy to turn off and on.”

“Now you’re the one being cheeky,” I say, rubbing my hands over my face. I’m sure I’m smearing my makeup but I don’t care. “Do you think we did okay?”

Teague has crossed back to me, and stands unsettlingly close. The fire is back on, bathing us in a pleasant orange glow. “I think,” he says, reaching out and running his finger under the diamond collar on my neck, “thatyoudid wonderfully tonight. A performance anyone would be proud of.”

I swallow. He drops his hand and crosses behind me. I know he’s just doing this to take the necklace off, but suddenly I’m jittery. Nerves jangle in my body. “Thanks,” I say, just to say something.

---