Page 66 of Tear of Destiny

I nod. “It’ll be fine,” I say confidently, although I’m anything but sure.

We walk together to Alessandro’s house. Noah waits for me in the narrow alley along the right side of the building. There are a few windows there on the ground level, and I hope to be able to open one of them for him. They might be secured with hexes, or a conventional alarm system. But I’m hoping the family is so confident in their power and status that they’d never expect to be the victims of a break-in. After all, every inhabitant and every staff member has a key spirit.

I kiss Noah again and go around to the front. Before I ring the bell, I glance down at myself. I decided on a pair of dark pants, which are hopefully festive enough but allow me some freedom of movement in case I need it. I’m also wearing a red blouse, and my hair is tied back.

I ring the bell and one of the service staff opens the door. I tell him my name, and he leads me through to a different hall from last time. There are a few guests here already, and one glance is enough to tell me that I’m not underdressed, thankfully.

The other guests’ eyes wander in my direction, but when I just stand here and do nothing, they quickly lose interest.

Alessandro eventually notices me and cheerfully comes to greet me. “So nice to have you here. I’m glad you could make it. Now you’ll finally have a chance to get to know the younger generation. And believe me, tonight is going to be a lot of fun.”

“Thanks. This is really nice. I’m sure it’ll be a great party. Is Claire here?” I ask, glancing around the room.

“No, not yet. But that doesn’t surprise me. She’s not known for being punctual.” He walks with me to the buffet and hands me acola. “Help yourself to the food too.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Claire? I mean, it’s her party.”

But Alessandro waves it off. “You never know when she’s going to show up, and she doesn’t mind if the rest of us enjoy ourselves in the meantime.”

We walk across the room, and I scan my surroundings. There’s only one entrance. So if I want to abscond later, I have to use that. At least the hall is on the ground floor, so I won’t have to run through half the house to get to Noah.

“Ah, here she is,” says Alessandro, looking through the window beside him.

I follow his gaze, and my heart flutters. Claire’s not alone. She’s sitting on a motorcycle behind a young man. And although her escort is wearing a helmet, I recognize the machine immediately.

So Ayden’s coming too. I should have guessed. It’s Claire’s going away party after all, and they’re close friends. Ayden told me that they weren’t together, but it’s obvious that they like each other.

It’s not long before they both enter the room. Claire is soon surrounded by other guests, and several people tap Ayden warmly on the shoulder.

His gaze wanders around the room and eventually finds me. Surprise is written all over his face. He looks like he’s about to come to me, but then something stops him. It’s no wonder after our recent altercation.

Claire takes the time to greet her guests. Her laugh drifts across the room, and I wonder when I’ll finally be able get out of here.

Alessandro finally brings her to me, and I greet her.

“We’ve run into each other a couple of times but never really spoken,” I say, trying to hide my discomfort.

“You’re Teresa, right?” She glances at Ayden. What has he told her about me?

I try to keep my smile in place and focus on Claire’s dress, whichlooks fantastic on her. It’s dark blue and glitters like a waterfall in the light of the chandeliers. It shows off her long, slender legs, her narrow waist, and her generous cleavage. She stretches a little, as if posing for her guests, and shakes out her long hair.

“Anyway, thanks for coming. Alessandro invited you, right?”

I nod. “We met at the school.”

“Do you spend all your time there chatting up the students? You’re a hopeless case,” she accuses him with a laugh.

All the while, I feel Ayden’s eyes on me. They send fiery shivers down my spine, but I do my best to tear my eyes away from his and follow the conversation between Alessandro and Claire.

“You’re not really into parties?” she asks me after several minutes, in which I’ve said nothing and just wrestled internally with myself. “You were pretty quiet at the last party here too. You took off somewhere with Alessandro in the end, right?”

“I find it kind of exhausting,” I admit, shooting her an irritable glance. “But I guess that’s just how it is at a party like this where you don’t really know anyone.”

Ayden glances at me again, but only very briefly, then he turns to Claire and says, “Should we go check out the buffet?”

She nods. “I could definitely use a drink.”

Claire turns around, and out of the corner of my eye, I think I see Ayden glance at me again, but I can’t be sure. They leave me and Alessandro alone.

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