Rom drops a kiss on my temple and nods toTully, his gaze as steely as she deserves from her tea trick. He strides off, and I face Tully.
“What do you want?”
“Still angry?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t see how since you just had alone time with that specimen.” Her gaze slides to Rom’s back as he disappears into the crowd. His horns reflect the moonlight and the glow of the lanterns above the dancing rings of townsfolk.
A flush crawls up my neck and spreads hotly over my cheeks. I leave her, tired of her teasing. Trailing the path Rom took, I join the dancers. A reel I haven’t danced in years starts up, and I stumble a bit, attempting to recall the steps. Grumlin takes one of my hands, and Plum claims the other. Laughing, I let them all but drag me around the dancing area. The banners and their faces blur as I spin.
“I’m amazed I’m clearheaded enough to spin right now,” I say in Plum’s ear.
She grins. “Why?”
“Well,” I say, taking on a conspirator’s tone, “Rom and I ran into some moonpetals in the forest. Of course, things got a little out of hand.”
Her eyebrows lift, and we step side-to-side asthe music rises with the piper trilling the crescendo of the song.
“What are moonpetals?” Plum asks.
I frown, thinking everyone knew about them, as Tully said. “Their pollen is magical. It acts like a love potion.”
“Huh. Interesting. I’m glad you had some fun.” Her grin and eyes are full of mischievous delight. She spins, and I echo the movement.
“Eh, Delixian?” Plum calls across our ring of dancers to the one beside us. Delixian is the town healer.
The blue male pixie lifts his head. “Aye?”
“You heard of moonpetals?” Plum asks.
My face is bright red by now, I’m sure of it.
“Nope,” he replies with a shrug. “Maybe Tully has?”
My lips part as I figure it out. “That nasty little witch. She lied.”
Plum kicks her right foot and then her left. “What did Tully do?”
“It’s becoming quite a list of foul activities, but this time, she merely lied to me.”
“She’s the one who told you about the moonpetals that maybe don’t exist?”
“Exactly.”
“Why?”
“I have no idea.”
Tully is suddenly beside me doing a turn. “Don’t you?”
I focus on Grumlin as he and Plum cross the line of dancers.“I don’t want to talk to you right now, Tully.” I’m offbeat and out of position now, so I try to tune her out and speed up my feet.
“Because of my little tiny fib, you and Rom had a lovely time in the forest, didn’t you? And this time, I didn’t have to dose you with anything,” she says.
Grumlin and Plum trade a curious look. I can’t believe I wasn’t under the influence of anything out there. I’d let Rom do pretty much anything, and we were only a stone’s throw from all these people! I press my eyes shut and try to think of what to say. I stammer and begin to change the subject to talk about Spark, but Rom pushes into the crowd.
“You all right? I think Rustion is on his way down. He was up at the main house checking for an update on our new hire. Everything is fine at the tower and in the skies.”
