Broken (47 page)

Alec helped me over an especially daunting
rock and then nodded. "And nothing has changed. She's been telling
me for years now that I have the potential to develop a fairly
spectacular gift, one that should it choose to manifest in a useful
form, could be more than a match for Brandon's strength. Apparently
I'm still right on the point of developing said gift, only our time
has run out. I fight Brandon tonight. Besides, even if I were to
develop a gift this instant, most of them require practice to
master, and I'm not going to have a chance to do any of that."

"I'm sorry. It's my fault that this all
happened."

Alec stopped and tugged me around to face
him. "Don't be sorry. I wish this had happened a long time ago. We
kept stalling, kept waiting for me to develop the ability to stand
Brandon off, and it was the wrong thing to do. I should have
challenged him when Simon and Nathanial killed the tourists, should
have slapped Vincent down the day he almost killed Ben, should have
done something a thousand times over, but I just kept waiting.
Well, I'm finally done waiting, and it's a relief. I'll fight
Brandon tonight, and one way or another things will finally be
resolved."

I shook my head in denial, almost unable to
contemplate the horror of what he was discussing, but he gently
stopped me before I could complete the motion.

"This isn't your fault. Even if it was, it
wouldn't matter because spending the last two weeks with you
would've been more than worth the price."

Chapter 29

The dress hadn't entirely been real inside my
mind. Even after Rachel finally admitted she'd purchased the dress
from our Vegas trip, and had it sent here, it'd been hard to
believe I was really going to be wearing it at the dance. It was
hard to still be disbelieving when it was hanging from the door
just a few feet from me, but I was giving the effort my best shot.
Its green, silky beauty seemed to be mocking me. There was no way I
was going to be able to pull off a dress like that. Even assuming
it didn't fall off of me, I was still going to look like a
walrus.

"Stop fidgeting, Adri. It's just a dance, not
a funeral, and if you don't hold still your makeup isn't going to
turn out."

Rachel poked me in the ribs, and then went
back to work on the last few details of my 'new and improved' look.
I'd actually been trying to sneak a look in the mirror to find out
how everything was shaping up, but it wasn't worth trying to
explain. With the pall that'd descended over the pack once we'd
made it back, it was almost certain she wouldn't believe me. Nobody
even knew where we'd gone, but they'd keyed off of our mood faster
than I would've believed possible. The results hadn't been
good.

Jasmin stepped back around behind Dominic as
I was watching, and for the first time I got a good idea of how the
massively-piled style Jasmine had been working on for the last half
hour was going to turn out.

Dominic frowned at my gasp. "Oh no, I really
look that horrid?"

"No, you're gorgeous. All of you are
amazingly gorgeous. I suddenly feel uglier than normal."

I wasn't sure my reassurance had been prompt
enough, but Jasmin jumped in with a self-satisfied smile. "She's
right, about how beautiful you look, Dom, if not about how pretty
she is. James is going to pant when he sees you."

Rachel had started prepping for the dance
early, doing first her own makeup, and then Jasmin's while I was
still gone with Alec. By the time I'd returned, Rachel's youthful
features had taken on a mature cast that'd make all kinds of boys
wish they'd taken a risk and asked Alec's little sister out.

Jasmin had about the least reason out of any
girl alive to be an expert hair dresser since her naturally wavy
hair could just air dry and still look like she'd spent hours
working on it, but an expert she was. The results of her efforts on
Rachel's behalf were nothing less than spectacular, and the
casual-looking knot of curls and twists was wispy in all the right
places.

Even with Rachel currently an order of
magnitude hotter than normal, Jasmin still captured the prize.
Rachel's work on her behalf had resulted in a makeup job that was
so incredibly understated, even us girls had a hard time detecting
it. Her wavy brunette hair had been straightened and pulled back in
what looked like an attempt to let some other girls shine for a
change, but it just made her look like a goddess who'd decided to
spend the night slumming.

Given who she'd spent the last hour being
surrounded by, it was no wonder Dominic was worried she was the
ugly step sister. She needn't have worried. Her features were even
more exotic than Jasmin's, and Rachel had chosen bright colors that
made her stand out much more than usual. James' macho cool really
was going to finally crack tonight.

Maybe I could pull the dress off after all.
Everyone would be so busy looking at the other three girls that
they wouldn't even notice me. It wasn't ideal, but it was better
than nothing.

A quiet knock brought us all around to find
Jessica waiting at the door, her makeup and hair partway done, a
dress bag slung over her arm. "Can I join you guys?"

Her voice was scratchy, and her eyes were red
from crying, but she was putting on a brave face, and Rachel didn't
even hesitate.

"Of course, Jess. We figured you wanted some
privacy with Isaac, or we would've dragged you over here hours
ago."

The rest of us were quick to pipe in, but at
least on my side, the sentiment was a little half-hearted. Unlike
Jasmin, Jessica never had come around, never made her peace with
the fact that because of me things were going to go downhill in a
hurry after tonight. I'd tried to get both Rachel and Dominic to
explain why she hated me so much, but neither would give me a real
explanation. Rachel would always just get mad and say there was no
excuse for how Jess was acting. Dominic always refused to say
anything other than that Jessica had been through her own set of
struggles, and had her reasons for her behavior.

"I'll be done with Dom in just a moment,
Jess, then I'll fix your hair while Rachel finishes up with
Adri."

The nickname should have hurt, but somehow it
wasn't as bad when the pack used it. It was almost like having a
new family, one without all of the grief-poisoned memories that
popped up every time I really thought about Dad or Cindi.

Faster than I would've believed possible, we
were all in our dresses, and waiting in the living room for the
boys to make their appearance. Jasmin and Rachel had worked what I
was pretty sure was actual magic. Even Jessica was nothing less
than stunning, and I didn't look as bad as normal.

Jasmin's backless black dress and
shoulder-length gloves had streaks of blue that brought out her
eyes, while Dominic's tight, red gown seemed to give her the
confidence and poise you'd expect from someone so gorgeous, and
utterly exotic.

Jess had opted for a sleeveless silver number
that flared out at the bottom so much I wasn't sure how Isaac would
be able to walk next to her without stepping on the shimmery
material. Rachel's mauve dress was probably the most conservative
of all, neither over-snug, nor especially low-cut. It had seemed
entirely out of character considering what she'd purchased for the
rest of us, but when I'd asked, she'd just grimaced and said Alec
would've made her stay home if she'd chosen anything more
daring.

None of which helped me feel any more
comfortable in the tight, strapless wonder Rachel had been so
excited to give me. Even with all of the weight I'd lost since the
accident, it still felt like the material was fighting a losing
battle to stretch itself over my frame.

I'd been hoping to be able to put off
actually putting the dress on for at least another half hour, but
when my makeup had finally been pronounced satisfactory, Jasmin had
studied me for a few minutes, pulled my hair back, secured it with
a pair of silver combs I was worried might actually contain genuine
diamonds, and then helped Rachel cram me in the dress.

If Jessica hadn't grudgingly complimented me
on just how good my hair looked, I might have suspected Jasmin was
trying to purposefully make me look worse than the other girls.
Dominic and Rachel had to tell me I looked good, that was an
unwritten girl-rule regardless of what species you were. Jessica
had no such imperative, so I was forced to conclude Jasmin had done
the best she could considering what she had to work with, and
resigned myself to being the homely one in the group.

Still, seeing all of the other girls in one
place, fully decked out in the kind of shoes I'd always wanted to
wear, but never been able to pull off, was even more intimidating.
I was once again psyching myself up to be seen in public, when
Donovan limped into the room and cleared his throat.

"The gentlemen have at long last
arrived."

Isaac was the first one through the door,
looking particularly double-oh seven in a tux that amazingly enough
had the occasional silver thread that matched perfectly with
Jessica's dress. I looked up from his outfit just in time to see a
flash of concern melt away into relief.

I had just a moment to wonder at the novelty
of Isaac showing that much emotion all at one time, and then James
stalked through the door in a tux that was so cutting edge, that I
wasn't sure if there was anything else like it anywhere in the
states. The shimmery nature of the fabric combined with an
unusually angular, sharp cut to make it different than anything
else I'd ever seen. I worked my way up from the blindingly-polished
black shoes, up to the splash of deep red peeking out of his chest
pocket, and somewhere along the way decided I loved the tux.

As amazing as James' and Isaac's tuxes were,
I was already looking past them, craning my neck to see down the
hall in a vain effort to catch a glimpse of Alec. There was no
reason for my heart to be pounding away so furiously in my chest,
but unlikely or not, my body at least seemed convinced he was going
to change his mind and leave me standing here by myself.

Rachel looked up from her conversation with
Jasmin, just long enough to give me a reassuring smile, and then I
heard the barest whisper of sound. I spun around with a speed that
gave lie to all of my pathetic attempts to pretend like I hadn't
been worried.

Alec was standing in the doorway, somehow
having crossed the distance down the hall faster than I would've
believed possible, appearing almost as if by sorcery.

His shoes were every bit as shiny as James',
leading up to slacks that could've been mistaken for shiny, but
were actually something else, something with more depth than
anything I'd seen before. The coat was made out of the same
material, tailored tightly enough it managed to emphasize rather
than conceal his massive shoulders and chest.

His pocket square matched his bow-tie, both
of which were the exact shade of green used on my dress. It wasn't
a masculine color by almost any standard, but he made it his, and
there wasn't anything about him that could be described as anything
other than manly.

Having stalled as long as I could, I finally
looked up past his perfect lips and met his twinkling eyes. A smile
tugged at the corner of his mouth as he walked towards me, and it
wasn't until he stopped and held out his hand that I realized it
hadn't been empty this whole time.

"Rachel said you needed some shoes."

While I was still struggling to get thoughts
to coalesce into words, Alec smoothly went down onto one knee, and
picked up my left foot. The work of art he slipped onto my foot was
so beautiful I felt bad letting it touch the ground. I held it up
for a second, admiring the way the lights played off its gentle
curves while I convinced myself nobody was going to throw me into
jail for defiling it by using it for its intended function.

Glass, or possibly something else perfectly
transparent. It was hard to tell for sure what it was from so far
away, but it wasn't plastic. The cool ovals where the sole had been
cut away to reveal the material underneath told me that much.
Whatever it was, it'd been created in layers. The outermost
material was achingly clear, while the inner layers seemed
increasingly less so.

Alec waited, another smile playing about his
lips, while I came to terms with the shoes. He then deftly slipped
the other shoe onto my right foot, and steadied me as I tried to
adjust to suddenly being almost six inches taller.

"They're perfect. Thank you."

Rachel ducked around her brother so she could
see the shoes and then smiled before leaning in to whisper.

"Mom wore those to the Ashure day dance, the
one where she fell in love with Dad."

I pulled back in protest, but Alec's grasp on
my hand tightened just enough to stop me.

"She wanted you to wear them. They were meant
to be worn again tonight."

My head was still spinning as Alec offered me
his arm and led me out of the room. There was a limo, easily the
largest vehicle I'd ever seen, waiting for us outside. We piled
into it with plenty of room to spare. The bar was fully stocked,
but Alec shook his head at Rachel when she made as if to reach for
a drink. Nobody else seemed even the slightest bit interested in
the prospect of alcohol.

Rachel sat back with a pout and then turned
and whispered in my ear. "Stupid shape shifters. None of them can
get drunk, so they deprive the rest of us of the best parts of
being young and stupid."

Once we arrived at the park, I did my best to
pretend obliviousness to all of the gasps and stares as we trickled
out of the limo. It was a good thing Alec had such a steady arm, it
was all I could do not to stumble as I took in the transformation
that'd taken place. Our group seemed to glide up to the covered
pavilion, surrounded in a pocket of silence as the rest of the
crowd turned to see who'd just arrived. Alec produced tickets for
all of us from a pocket somewhere while I was still taking in the
sheer number of lights that'd been assembled for the occasion.