Torn (32 page)

"Master Alec,
you'll be late! Go now and shower. I'll clean up your brushes and
ensure that the piece is set out in the grotto, safely protected from
the elements."

I nodded, handing him
my brush and palette as I left the room without looking back. I'd
failed. Only a pale sliver of her perfection had been captured, but
it was the best of which I was capable and there was no time to dwell
on the failure.

Donovan was right
concerning the lateness of the hour. I showered and dressed with as
much speed as I was able. The tux went on, feeling only slightly too
snug, and the next thing I knew I was folding the green pocket square
that Rachel promised exactly matched Adri's dress. I was ready.

Before I left I
reached deep into the back of my closet and pulled out three shoe
boxes, two brand new, one battered with more than seventeen years of
age. The new shoes were there as nothing more than insurance despite
being incredibly expensive, custom pieces. If the fates smiled down
on us, Adri would perfectly fit the originals that the newer pairs
had been so carefully designed to reproduce.

Donovan was waiting
impatiently outside of the South Receiving Room. As soon as I came
around the corner, still hidden from view of those inside, he strode
out into the room and cleared his throat with a slight half-bow.

"The gentlemen
have at long last arrived."

Isaac followed on
Donovan's heels, obviously concerned about Jessica. I caught only
the barest flash of a black tux with understated silver threads
worked throughout before he disappeared into the room.

James had been pacing
back and forth. He'd probably much rather have been out tuning up
his car, or possibly watching re-runs on the TV, but in an effort not
to disappoint Dom he'd donned a tux as well. It was the kind of edgy
thing Rachel never managed to get anyone else into, but James already
felt like a laughingstock, so once he was finally convinced that
dressing up was called for he usually let Rachel cram him into
whatever she wanted.

The number of times
that had happened were incredibly few and always corresponded to
something particularly important to Dom. Whatever else might be said
about James, he was very careful to keep Dom happy, which said more
about his character than almost anything else.

I took a deep breath,
set the newer boxes down on a nearby table, and followed James out
into the receiving room. The girls were all even prettier than
normal. A small corner of my attention checked to make sure Rachel
had picked something suitably modest, which her mauve formal was, but
mostly I just stared at Adri.

She was dressed in a
strapless green dress that perfectly matched the accessories Rachel
had selected for me. It was simple, while still managing to appear
frothy and delicate, and I felt my pulse speed up as I took in the
perfectly proportioned body it displayed to incredible advantage.

Jessica, in a silver
sleeveless dress, and Dom in a form-fitting red gown both turned away
from their dates for just a moment to watch as Adri smiled at my
appearance, and then I'd crossed the distance between us

Adri looked
wonderfully dazed for just a moment as I took her hand and brushed my
lips across the back of it. It took her several seconds to focus
down on the opened box I'd brought with me.

"Rachel said you
needed some shoes."

I went down to one
knee and pulled the left shoe out, carefully slipping it onto Adri's
foot while she was still contemplating the way the light played off
of the nearly transparent surface. She absently shifted her weight
over and let me slide the other shoe onto her right foot, and then
looked down at me with bright eyes.

"They're
perfect. Thank you."

Before I could respond
Rachel hurried over and smiled at the sight of Adri in mom's shoes.
She leaned in and whispered despite the fact that everyone in the
room would still be able to hear her.

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

Adri pulled back as if
to protest but I refused to relinquish my grasp on her hand.

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

I offered Adri my arm
as she nodded in acquiescence, and followed Jasmin out to the limo.
As always she cut a beautiful figure, this time in a blue-streaked
backless black dress with matching gloves. She and Rachel were the
only ones without escorts, so I was relieved to see her smile at Adri
before exiting the room.

The car was waiting
for us. Donovan had spared no expense, importing an SUV based
stretch-limo from Vegas. I helped Adri up into the car and then
everyone else piled in behind us.

Rachel of course was
excited about the wet-bar, but she knew better than to argue when I
shook my head at her. Once she was old enough to legally drink she
could make that decision, but until then it was off limits,
especially in public.

She got her parting
jab in though by leaning into Adri and stage whispering.

"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."

Jasmin rolled her eyes
at Rachel as she fidgeted with the shoulder-length gloves. I had
just a moment to wonder why she was wearing the gloves when she so
obviously didn't like them, and then we were pulling up to the city
park.

The dance committee
had done a good job with the donation Donovan had arranged. The
central, covered pavilion had been transformed into something that
belonged in another world.

Hundreds of soft
lights and dozens of candles, moving only slightly in the still
night air, cast a multi-pointed glow over the area. Liberal bolts of
silk had been hung from nearly every surface, turning the diffuse
light into a sourceless glow that seemed to come from everywhere.

Well off to the west,
only just audible over the hum of conversations, I could hear the
burble of the town's one and only free flowing stream.

Conversations died
away as the rest of the town turned to watch our party disembark from
the limo, but each member of the pack was more than used to being
stared at. The humans never really understood why they felt slightly
different around us, but nearly all of them responded to their
instincts, and almost unconsciously excluded us on a day to day
basis. This was just that exclusion written large for the evening.

Adri clutched at my
arm in nervousness but I placed my left hand over hers and let the
calming influence of the Ja'tell bond begin to work on her as we
walked up to the greeters.

I handed the aged
couple at the 'door' tickets for the entire party, and then we were
inside and the illusion was complete. Adri gasped slightly, and then
pulled at my arm until I'd bent close enough for her to whisper.

"That was you,
wasn't it?"

"What if it
was?"

"It's too much.
I mean it's really nice, incredibly gorgeous in fact, but it must
have cost you a fortune."

I felt a smile tug at
my lips as I shrugged in supposed indifference. Despite knowing we
had amazingly keen hearing, she continued to treat me like a normal
person. It was illusion, but a welcome one. Being able to
communicate with the rest of the pack while the humans around us
remained unaware was too valuable of a tool to pass up, but for a
moment I wondered if things would have been different if we'd kept up
the illusion between ourselves instead of just for our neighbors.

Adri was still looking
up at me, and half a dozen responses warred for prominence. The
donation had been but a small part of the effort that went into the
night, but that wasn't what I found myself saying.

"A paltry sum if
it helps ensure a perfect night for you."

"You've done so
much. I mean the dress, the shoes, and now this. Thank you, but you
really shouldn't have."

How many girls would
have remained grounded enough to say that? Dom certainly, Rachel,
Jasmin, but not Jess, and no more than a couple of others I could
think of in the entire school. Definitely not a Cassie or a Britney.

I smiled once again
and bent down to whisper into her ear.

"I'm glad you
like it. The fact that everyone else gets to participate is nice,
but really it's all for you. Of course I did make a couple of
stipulations."

The commencement of
the music simplified the explanation of what those stipulations were,
and I gently brought her into my arms and began the waltz-like dance
that had been part of Ashure Day for more centuries than humanity had
possessed written language.

It was enough
different from a normal waltz that most girls couldn't have kept up,
but Adri just relaxed in my arms and let me spin her around the room
in a blur of green perfection. The rest of the pack fell in around
us, James and Dom, Jess and Isaac, while Jasmin danced with Rachel.

Jas looked
surprisingly disappointed. I knew it wasn't because of Adri, she'd
demonstrated that earlier. I was missing something there. I filed
the thought away as Adri became comfortable enough with the steps to
talk.

"You're all such
good dancers. How did that happen?"

I looked around at the
rest of the pack and then spun her out and back in.

"Donovan has
very inflexible standards when it comes to some things. Dancing
happens to be one of them. In fact, I don't think I'll ever forget
the expression on Jasmin's face when he told her she could go
clubbing all she wanted
after
he judged her suitably
proficient in real dancing. He said he wouldn't have her 'seduced by
throbbing beats and soulless contact' before he'd at least exposed
her to proper dance steps."

Adri cut off a giggle
before it could truly escape and then shook her head in wonder.

"That's amazing.
My dad thought knowing how to dance would make my first dance
easier. It turned out to be a complete waste of time. Nobody asked
me to dance and his lessons wouldn't have helped even if they had.
Still, now I wish I'd done a better job of learning."

There it was. We'd
tip-toed around the subject of her father for days, but the sickly,
desperate scent she'd assumed each time he was mentioned had largely
subsided. It was foolish to worry about helping her come to terms
with her loss when we only had a few more hours together, but I found
myself trying regardless.

"I don't suppose
either of us talk about our dads much. I'm not pushing, but if you
ever need to talk about him, about what happened, I'll listen. I'll
even try to suppress the natural male instinct to present advice or
solutions."

She instantly turned
to wood in my arms. I had to pull her closer to prevent her from
falling as we completed the last few seconds of the dance. She
seemed to relax slightly into me as the music stopped, but it was
obvious I'd made a mistake.

I cast about for
something safe to say as the music changed to something Donovan
wouldn't have approved of.

"Sorry, the
stipulation was two decent songs, and then the DJ could play three of
whatever he was in the mood for."

"It's ok; I
actually need to sit down for a minute."

Completely at a loss
for what else to do, I led her over to where Jasmin and Rachel had
staked out a number of seats. Rachel looked up with a sigh of
frustration as we approached.

"Big brother,
will you please take Jasmin out on the dance floor so she can get
some practice following. I tried to lead last time and she kept
tripping me."

Jasmin was my oldest
friend, but the last thing I wanted to do was leave Adri if she was
on the point of a panic attack. I sampled her scent at the same time
I listened for the telltale signs in her pulse and breathing.

Adri looked up to meet
my gaze, and flashed a nearly-convincing smile as she waved me off,
so I nodded and offered Jasmin my arm. As we walked out to the dance
floor, I could hear Rachel and Adri conversing.

"I swear she's
going to explode..."

Whatever else Rachel
said was drown out as Jasmin cocked her head at me.

"You don't have
to do this you know. I'm fine."

Her voice was wrong,
too loud, and rushed slightly, but she met my questioning gaze with a
truculent set to her chin.

"I really will
be fine. Rachel's great company and it isn't fair for me to steal
you away from Adri."

I shook my head as we
picked up the timing of the music and launched into the East Coast
routine that we'd learned back when it'd been a minor form of
rebellion against Donovan.

"I don't mean to
neglect you Jas. You, Rachel, me. We've been the odd ones out ever
since Dom showed up and paired off with James. I shouldn't let what
I feel about Adri get in the way of my friendship with you. It's not
fair to leave you and Rachel alone all of the time."

I'd spoken nothing
more than the obvious truth, but hadn't expected the strength of
Jasmin's reaction. She missed the timing on her spin out, and
suddenly looked as though she wanted to run back to the seats.

The music sped up
slightly and I led her through the next few movements of our routine
before she got herself back under control. Almost anyone else
wouldn't have realized anything was wrong, but I'd known Jasmin her
entire life. I'd been the one she'd run to when her dad had gotten
high and turned into a monster.

I'd been the one to
tell Donovan about the bruises and scrapes, and ultimately it'd been
me that'd taken responsibility for her once she was orphaned and
homeless. You couldn't spend that many years with someone, even just
as friends without coming to know them on levels that nobody else
did.