Page 58 of Potions & Prejudice
She snapped her book shut. “Elspeth, I’m reading.” Her gaze dipped meaningfully to her book.
“Right.” I sighed, afraid I was losing her. That we were all losing her as she shrank further into herself.
“Well, someone had a good night last night.” Auggie sat up, stretching her arms and yawning.
I gave her a pointed look. “I’m not the only one.”
“I’m not the one who got caught kissing Draven Darkstone. In a closet!”
Prue set down her book. “I’m sorry, what?”
I glared at Auggie, the memory of Draven’s mouth on mine making me burn. “Who told you that?”
She threw up her hands. “Everyone was talking about it.”
“Draven?” Prue asked. “But you hate him!”
“There’s a thin line between love and hate.” Auggie waggled her eyebrows.
“The kiss was a mistake,” I said, even as I could still taste his lips, taste the sweet berry wine on his tongue. His smell lingered on me: ale, cedarwood, and leather. He’d held me so close I could feel his heart beating against mine. And he’d kissed me back. He’d kissed me so thoroughly that the entire world had faded away until it was just me and him.
I hadn’t known men could kiss like that. Then again, I’d never met a man like Draven Darkstone.
“Why are you touching your lips like that?” Prue asked, a puzzled expression on her face.
I quickly dropped my fingers to my lap. “They’re chapped.”
“They don’t look chapped,” Auggie said. “They look swollen and satisfied.”
I grabbed the pillow from my bedroll and launched it at her. She squealed and ducked.
“Where’s Adelaide?” I asked, looking around the room for my eldest sister.
“You don’t remember?” Auggie said.
“Remember what?”
A smug look crossed her face. “She didn’t come home with us last night. She decided to stay with Elm at Draven’s manor.”
I touched my hand to my head. I must have drank more than I realized. The end of the night was such a blur.
“That means it worked.” I straightened. “My plan worked. Adelaide and Elm are... well, I don’t know what they are. But if she spent the night with him, then things must be on the mend.”
Prue twirled a finger in the air. “Yay.”
Auggie scoffed. “You’re just mad no one asked you to spend the night with them.”
Prue snapped her book shut and stood, her cheeks red. “Not everyone is like you, Auggie. We don’t all just jump from bed to bed, willing to sleep with any man who will have us.”
Auggie’s mouth dropped open, and Prue raised her chin and marched out of the room.
I pushed Auggie. “Go easy on her. I think something happened last night. Something that upset her.”
“Why are you always on her side?” Auggie asked. “I don’t just jump from bed to bed. And even if I did, why would that be a problem? Men do it all the time and no one bats an eye.”
“Auggie, no one’s judging you.”
She jumped up. “Everyone judges me. All the time. I’m too promiscuous. Too flirtatious. Too friendly. I’m just a pretty face with no other attributes. Well, I’m going to show everyone. I have opportunities, you know.” With that she stormed out of the room.
