Jenna Black - Shadowspell

We took another couple of turns, and I started to slow down, running out of gas. Keane grabbed my arm and pulled me along.

“Keep moving,” he urged me. “If my dad guesses right and stays on our tail, he’ll catch up to us in no time.”

I didn’t have the breath to argue, so I forced my legs to keep moving. Our footsteps sounded frighteningly loud as we ran, but the stone walls of the tunnels bounced the sound around so much I knew it would be hard to judge which direction it came from.

My safe house is pretty deep in the mountain, far off the beaten path—the better to defend it, naturally. I wasn’t sure how we managed to get electricity and running water down there—the tunnels themselves weren’t lighted this deep in the mountain—but I’d never wondered enough to ask. Well-defended it might be, but it also made it quite a hike to get to the surface.

The Deep is relatively close to the surface, in an underground commercial district that was usually packed on a Friday night. The presence of the Wild Hunt had inspired a lot of people to stay home behind locked doors. You could definitely tell there was a pall on the city, and the news was full of reports about tourists cutting their visits short and fleeing to the relative safety of England.

Keane and I slowed to a casual walk as soon as we stepped into the first lighted tunnel. As usual, he looked fresh and ready to run some wind sprints, while I was gasping for breath and dripping with sweat, my muscles burning with the exertion. I really hoped Kimber would appreciate the effort it took for me to show up tonight.

We stopped briefly at a little tea shop, where I ducked into the restroom to change into my dress and wash the sweat from my face. I’d never heard of a teen’s birthday party where you had to wear a dress, but Kimber had been adamant: her party, her rules. (Never mind that her dad had kinda usurped her party by inviting bunches of people she didn’t know.)

The dress I wore was one Kimber and I had picked out together. It was a gorgeous deep blue silk that brought out the color of my eyes, and I instantly felt older and more sophisticated when I pulled it on over my head. The neckline was low enough to be sexy on a girl who actually had anything up top. On me, it looked a little more like wishful thinking.

I finished the outfit off with dangly earrings and thick, rhinestone-studded flip-flops. I’d let Kimber talk me into wearing a dress for this thing, but no way was I wearing heels!

I felt surprisingly self-conscious and shy when I stepped out of the bathroom. Keane had never seen me dressed in anything but workout clothes, and though it had never occurred to me that I’d care what he thought, I found myself holding my breath as he turned away from sniffing a cannister of loose tea and caught sight of me.

His eyes widened just a bit, and I watched him give me the once-over. Then he nodded at me. “You clean up nice.”

I remembered to breathe and resisted the urge to wipe my sweaty palms on my fancy silk dress. I guessed that was as much of a compliment as I was going to get out of Keane. I was unpleasantly surprised to find I wanted more. Could I be any more pathetically in search of approval?

“That makes one of us,” I muttered, and Keane laughed. He hadn’t bothered to change out of his sparring clothes, but since he didn’t exactly have to work up a sweat to beat me, he was at least presentable.

Okay, he was more than presentable. Those emerald green eyes of his could take the breath right out of my lungs no matter how he was dressed, especially with that one lock of jet-black hair that curled right over his eyebrow. And let’s not even talk about his body, which he liked to show off beneath tight jeans and even tighter T-shirts. I doubted very much that Kimber would mind his failure to dress up.

Keane held out his elbow to me. “Ready?”

I raised my eyebrows. What, was he going to escort me in like some matron at a wedding? The gesture seemed quaintly old-fashioned, especially on a self-proclaimed bad boy like Keane.

I found myself snaking my hand through the crook of his elbow without having consciously decided to do so. Blood warmed my cheeks as he led me out of the tea shop toward the stairway that led down into The Deep.

Despite my dad’s fear that the party would represent a “security risk,” Keane and I were stopped by a couple of bouncers demanding to see my invitation before we even got to the doorway at the club. I was glad I’d brought it with me, but even when I produced it—for Dana Hathaway “and guest”—the bouncers wouldn’t let us through because I wasn’t on “the list.”

I let out a little groan of frustration. I guess when I’d told Kimber I wouldn’t be able to make it, my name had gotten crossed off the list. Luckily, the bouncers weren’t total assholes. One of them stayed out in the hall with Keane and me, while the other ducked into the club with my invitation in hand to check with Kimber.

I chewed my lip while we waited. There was no way Finn wouldn’t guess where we were headed, which meant it wouldn’t be long before he showed up here himself. If we were inside the club, he might have a bit of a hassle getting through the bouncers, and then he’d actually have to find us before he could drag us back. But if we were just standing around in the hall like this …

“Are you going to get in trouble with your dad because of this?” I asked Keane while I tried not to fidget.

“I’m an adult,” he said with a cocky grin. “It’s not like he can send me to my room without my supper.”

He had a point, at least technically. Though I’d never been there, I knew Keane had his own apartment—or flat, as they called them here—and he actually supported himself as a self-defense instructor. But despite all that, and despite his attempts to make me respect him as a teacher, I often found myself thinking of him as a slightly older kid rather than as an adult.

Just as I was beginning to think there was no chance we were getting into the party before Finn intercepted us, the door to the club burst open and Kimber practically danced out into the hallway.

“Dana!” she cried, her face lighting up with pleasure. “I’m so glad you could come!”

She shocked me by throwing her arms around me and giving me an exuberant hug. The Fae were known for their quiet reserve, but obviously Kimber didn’t care to conform to the stereotype. I wasn’t the most touchy-feely person myself, but I hugged her back.

“This is such a nice surprise,” she said as she pulled away. “I thought you couldn’t come.”

I dropped my voice, not sure if the bouncers would kick me out if they heard me. “Yeah, well, we sort of snuck out.”

Kimber blinked and seemed to notice Keane for the first time. “Oh!” She had a very expressive face, and I could tell immediately that she liked what she saw. “You must be Keane,” she said. “Dana’s told me a lot about you.”

Her eyes twinkled with mischief as I gave her a dirty look. Most of the times I’d talked to her about Keane, it was to complain about him and his annoying—and often painful—training techniques. I was probably blushing, but the hallway wasn’t brightly lit, so I hoped no one could tell.

“Look, can we go inside now?” I said. “Before Finn catches up with us?”

“Of course! Come on, follow me.”

I noticed several things at once as Kimber led Keane and me into the club. First was that the music was so loud I felt like my eardrums might explode. Second was that it was absolutely packed with people, not all that many of whom looked like teens. Third was that the place positively reeked of roses.

To the Fae, the red rose indicates an affiliation with the Unseelie Court, and the white rose indicates an affiliation with the Seelie Court. Apparently, this was an integrated party, because red and white roses were arranged everywhere . There were huge centerpieces on the tables. There were garlands. There were potted roses lined up against each wall. There were even streamers of them hanging down from the ceiling.