Page 56 of Expose Me

“Where is it, Sky?” Zey asked, ignoring him.

“It’s around the neck of a mermaid who’s currently dancing with someone. It looks exactly like this.” I held the necklace up. “It was right here. Someone must’ve ...”

“Someone stole it before we could.” Zey finished the thought for me.

“Someone with access to the very secure third-floor rooms,” Abraxos pointed out. “And they took the trouble of replacing it with a good decoy.”

The three of us shared a loaded look. Whoever had done this had to have been a member of Sea and Serpentineandhad access to one of those water keysandknew exactly what they were after so they could bring the fake.

This was not good.

* * *

Getting down the stairs was much easier than going up. We breezed past the guard on the third floor, then past another one on the second—who knew where he’d been when we were going up.Naughty, naughty.

Back in the ballroom, we nibbled on finger food and scanned the dance floor over flutes of champagne. Abraxos was sticking to us like a barnacle. I was starting to get the sense that he was enjoying this almost as much as he was determined to get the Orb of Sinne. It was all a big game to him.

I let my ability do the work for us and followed the ribbons to what I was looking for. The woman had left the dance floor and was hovering near the bar with a few others. She wore a dress with a high neckline and exposed back, no jewelry in sight. But I was certain that necklace was tucked under her dress.

“Over by the bar,” I mumbled, leaning into Zey like I was tipsy. “In the pink dress.”

Abraxos shuffled in closer to my back, his hand caressing my waist. Zey and I both stiffened. Plenty of people were getting amorous with more than one person, but neither of us liked Abraxos being so damn close and personal.

“Jadika? Why would she steal from her own House?” he whispered, his mouth far too close to my neck.

“That’s not Jadika,” Zey said. “That’s a Vuulectian. And I can feel the Onuei on her. It’s obvious now that I’m looking for it.”

“Sneaky little shape-shifters.” Abraxos chuckled before dragging his nose up my neck.

I went to elbow him in the stomach, but he disappeared before I could move.

He wove through the crowd, spinning dancers and sipping drinks, then discarding them almost full as he went.

I swore under my breath as he went right up to the Vuulectian disguised as Jadika the mermaid.

“What the fuck does he think he’s doing?” Zey gritted out.

“I’m sure he thinks he’s helping.” I sighed. “Come on.”

I tugged him closer, and we mingled in the crowd, dodging Vuulectians and acquaintances while pretending to enjoy the party.

Annoying as he was, I could see what Abraxos was doing. If the Lineg Legion wanted to get away unnoticed, they had to be careful. The one pretending to be Jadika couldn’t exactly ignore a member of the House of Sea and Serpentine without drawing attention.

It was not like we could come up with another plan anyway, so we may as well help with this one.

When Abraxos started leading Jadika towards the foyer, Zey and I headed in the same direction.

“He’s trying to get her alone,” I murmured.

“The others will follow,” Zey said. There was no way they’d leave the Onuei unprotected.

There were more people mingling in the foyer now, some leaving, others just taking a breather from the increasingly rowdy party.

I giggled and took Zey’s hand, pulling him towards the back of the building. He played along, jogging to catch up and tickle me. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Abraxos was following, and he caught my eye for the briefest moment as he led Jadika out of the main ball room.

Rounding a corner, I opened the first door I found. It was a service corridor, staff rushing up and down, the kitchen just visible at the other end.

It was too busy, so I shut the door and moved on.

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