Page 46 of Dark Night Golden Dawn
Larkin was busy helping everyone put the finishing touches on their ensembles for the evening, but she was wearing her favorite sweats, her dark hair in a messy bun. She was fresh-faced and happy, nothing like the anxious mess she usually was before an event. Her eyes met Harlow’s and her smile radiated happiness and ease.
“I think she’s better than she’s ever been. Did she talk with you about the feelings she’s been having about relationships?”
Enzo smiled. “Yes, she came over early and we spent the afternoon talking. I’m going to introduce her to Avery Hargrove. Do you remember Avery?”
Harlow did remember Avery from university, a sorcière with a gift for sculpture, who was never linked to anyone romantically. “I do. How is Avery doing these days?”
“She’s great. Her sculptures are doing well in Nea Sterlis and she’s touring again this winter. I think she and Larkin will have a lot to talk about. They have a call set up for next week.”
Relief flooded Harlow’s chest. She’d been worried that her talk with Larkin hadn’t been good enough, that the fact she hadn’t known the right words to say would hurt, rather than help. She knew if Larkin was able to talk with someone who felt similarly that she might understand herself better.
“I just want her to do better than I did. To understand herself better… not to suffer so much, you know?”
Enzo nodded, popping a tiny canape into her mouth. It was divine and Harlow desperately needed a snack. “Give me another.”
He obliged and then it was her turn with Thea. She replaced Riley in one of the upholstered blue chairs at Enzo’s table. Thea was already dressed, her slim figure clad in a simple velvet gown that fit close to her body, with long sleeves that fell off her shoulders. A tiara, sparkling with black diamonds, shimmered in her hair.
“I haven’t seen that before,” Harlow said as Thea sipped her mimosa.
“It was a gift from Alaric.”
Harlow raised her eyebrows. “It looks expensive.”
Thea pursed her lips disapprovingly. “I’m sure it was. Now, what are we doing with your face and hair.”
“Something that looks like I just rolled out of bed, but elegant.”
Thea shook her head. She, of course, was elegantandpolished, her face painted in understated, classic lines, her nails pale pink ovals, every hair perfectly placed.
“I want to look a little mussed.”
Thea nodded, pulling strands of magic so quickly that Harlow barely saw her fingers move. When Thea held up a mirror for her to look in, she grinned. Her eyes were subtly smoky, and her lashes elongated past what she could hope to achieve with products, but not so dramatically that she looked overly made up. Everything else looked like her skin, with a slight glow.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I look beautiful.”
Thea smiled. “You always do, Harlow. But yes, this is some of my best work.”
Enzo clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “The maters are on their way. It’s time to head to the Metro.”
ChapterTwenty-Two
The Metropolitan Archive of Fine Arts’ marble columns were lit sparingly, but dark lanterns scattered the steps, giving the entrance to the grand old building a feeling of mystery. Photographers from every major publication and the gossips were only allowed on the sidewalk, so after walking past the column of flashing lights and shouts to turn this way and that, Harlow was free to enjoy her walk up the MAFA steps.
She’d always loved the old building, and all the art it held within, as it was one of the few places in Nytra that didn’t discriminate between Orders and humans. If the art was good enough, it was here, regardless of mortality. The curatorial staff and board of directors had even shifted in recent years to employ more humans. It was slow progress, but it wassomeprogress.
As Harlow walked through the arched doorway to the museum with her family, anticipation filled her. While the Solstice Gala was the apex of the season, the Solon Mai ball was considered a pivotal moment in the journey for most pairings. Typically, this was the night when the season’s most prominent couples emerged and the race to the Solstice began for anyone not already matched. She’d purposely avoided making any kind of elaborate plan with Finn. Indigo and Meline cautioned her repeatedly that the best lies were told with as many grains of truth as possible, and so she’d decided to allow things to play out as naturally as she could.
Harlow was acutely aware of the way her heels clicked against the marble floors of the Metro hallways, which had been transformed to look like an enchanted forest, the boughs of the trees parting overhead to reveal a sparkling night sky. Everywhere, flowering branches wound around columns and hung from ceilings, as though an enormous blooming thicket had taken over the Metro. Tiny golden witchlights floated in and out of the dark branches, blinking slowly in and out like fireflies on an early summer evening, hinting at what was to come on the Solstice.
Interspersed between the columns of branches, hundreds of glass lanterns of different shapes and sizes glowed on the ground. It gave the dark entrance to the museum dozens of secluded nooks that many couples were already taking advantage of. Music drifted seductively out from the ballroom at the end of the hall.
From somewhere in the expertly contrived dark forest, Harlow felt eyes watching her. She stopped to look around, her dress swishing around her ankles as she stepped towards the prickling sensation of being seen by someone she could not perceive. Someone took hold of her arm and she spun to find Thea.
“Coming?” her sister asked.
Harlow nodded, following slowly as Thea led her to the ballroom, where their family was waiting. Very quickly, the twins were asked to dance; Enzo and Riley followed, as well as the maters, leaving Thea and Harlow alone to watch the dancers together. Here, the darkness of the entry hall gave way to the lush greens of ferns and branches of fragrant wisteria, dripping with blossoms. The ground around the edges of the dance floor was dotted with thick moss and lichen that led into yet another corridor of dark trees that encircled the ballroom. The same tiny golden witchlights from the hall flickered between frond and bough. At the center of the room, couples danced, surrounded by groups of people in conversation.
“There’s Alaric,” Thea murmured, as a raven-haired head swiveled their way.
