Page 20 of Stolen Oath
“Nice to see you again.” Forcing a smile, I stabbed my hand at her for a handshake.
After staring at my hand as if it was a snake and would bite her, Angela took my fingers in hers with a bruising grip and yanked me close enough that her ponytail tickled my nose. “Why are you here?” She hissed in my ear.
“I’m wondering that myself at the moment.” I muttered under my breath and with a firm tug extracted my hand from her hold. “Nice party.” My drawl earned me another narrowed eyed glare.
“What is the meaning of this, Dimitri?” Pushing all pretenses aside she turned to her male. The anger disappeared and she almost appeared tired. “We had a deal.”
“We need to talk.” Watching her steadily, the alpha didn’t blink an eye at the drastic change in behavior.
Char and I glanced at each other in confusion.
“You have bad timing.” Angela collected herself faster than I could blink and smiled seductively at her fiancée. “Right this way.” The silky fabric of her silver dress swished around her knees as she spun in place and swaying her hips walked away from us. The crowd parted like the Red Sea in front of her, many eyeing her hungrily.
“Don’t go too far.” Dimitri told us as he hurried to follow behind her.
“What just happened?” Anger was beginning to churn in my gut at the whole absurdity of the situation when I asked Char through clenched teeth.
“They need to talk,” she told me, cool as a cucumber, plucking two flutes of champagne from a passing tray. “We need to snoop.” Handing me one of the delicate glasses she sipped gently from hers. “Come, stop acting like some uncivilized beast. We’ve been invited to enough parties to know how to act in polite society.”
“Right.” Making sure no eyes were on me I gulped half of the bubbly beverage. “Because it’s much smarter to be here when someone is sending assassins to end you, instead of running for your life.”
“Exactly.” Char threaded arms with mine and guided me through the open double doors further into the mansion. “Everyone would expect us to hide. A party is the last place anyone would look for us.”
I wanted to argue but I kept my mouth shut. She had a very good point. No one in their right mind would be going to parties if a life was on the line. But apparently my friend was not done with her perception on our situation.
“Plus, I really wanted to see if any of the you know who would be here.” She breathed the sentence from the corner of her mouth before beaming brightly at a shifter who was eyeing her like he would want nothing more but to howl above her instead of at the full moon. “It all started with that job, so I have this nagging feeling that somehow all of it is connected.”
Since it took me a moment to understand who she was referring to, I kept sipping from my glass, hiding my frown, while she was making googly eyes at the guy. We parked ourselves at the edge of the overflowing room where we could watch the interactions of everyone for the most part.
I caught myself a few times glancing in the direction Dimitri and Angela went much to my disappointment. It was none of my business what the two of them did. I had other things to worry about. Like the witches that Char was referring to and to see if maybe they were indeed invited to this party as she suspected. Maybe they were connected to both packs.
At that point anything was possible.
Straining to eavesdrop on conversations, I perused the smiling faces, occasionally reaching to snatch finger food from passing trays. To give credit where credit was due, Angela’s parents outdid themselves from decorations to the catering. Everything was tasteful and delicious. It could’ve been the fact that the clock was ticking on my life which made me appreciate the little things but for just a second, I did stop thinking and just enjoyed the moment.
“I’d like to think the expression of pure bliss you have is a result of my wife’s excellent taste in wine.” A deep voice full of humor had me snapping my eyes open. I had no idea I closed them.
No one had to interduce the older man standing next to me, his tux stretched over wide shoulders big enough to toss a grown male as if he weighed nothing. The light, almost white, blond hair and bright blue eyes were so much like Angela’s it was unnerving. The only differences between him and his daughter were, his nose which was a little wider and he had thinner lips.
“It’s delicious.” I stuttered caught off guard. “Everything is, not just the wine.”
The older man smiled brightly at me. Who knew I could be charming.
Not me, that’s for sure.
“I think my nephew would agree with that statement when it comes to your friend.” He chuckled, pointing with his chin toward the shifter who was striding across the vast room straight for Char.
“You are too kind.” My friend giggled like a schoolgirl, batting her eyelashes and dialing up her charm to a thousand.
A sense of urgency rippled through me with such a foreboding feeling I shivered visibly and my heart galloped wildly in my chest. Cold sweat washed over me numbing my entire body. Angela’s father noticed and a line formed between his brows as he opened his mouth to, I’m guessing, ask if I was okay.
“Excuse me, I’ll be right back. I think I might’ve had one too many drinks”. I rushed to say before he could utter a word and with a tight smile hurried away from him and Char.
Thankfully, my friend recovered quickly and started talking to the older man to divert his attention from me just as the young shifter reached our side of the room. She might be upset that I left her to deal with them on her own and I’d probably hear a lot about it but I had to get away from the crowd before I fainted. With one last glance I darted into the hallway and away from them in search of a bathroom. I needed a place to breathe for a second before I turned myself invisible.
Something was not right inside Angela’s home, and I needed to find out what hopefully before it was too late.
CHAPTER11
