Chapter 26

When I get out of the shower a long, contemplative time later and get myself into some leggings and a sweatshirt in which to spend the day, Anton shifts back into his boy form and comes to stand by me as I comb my wet hair at the vanity.

“So, I take it you’re going to go on your date tonight?” He raises an eyebrow at me, watching me closely in the mirror.

I just scowl. He grins. And then I grin too and look away.

“I mean, don’t you think I should?” I sigh, working the hairbrush all the way through to the ends of my hair. “I can get…answers and stuff.”

He smirks. “And your desire to go has nothing to do with wanting to spend time with a super-hot spooky Prince of the Underworld who wants to wine and dine you?”

I go still and look at his reflection in the mirror. “What, are you into him now? Jealous, Anton, that he didn’t ask you?”

“I mean, I’m tied to you, Junie,” he says, leaning down to meet my eyes more directly in the mirror. “Maybe you’re the third wheel. Maybe his true motive for all of this is to get to spend more time with me because I am so charming. And cute.”

I burst out laughing at this and shake my head. “You can have the romance, Anton,” I sigh. “I’ll take the answers.”

“Ah, if only I weren’t so thoroughly straight,” he murmurs, shifting to lean against the wall. “Or else I’d take you up on that offer.”

I wonder, again, about Anton’s romantic past - if my grandmother has sent me someone with a great deal of experience or if he’s again just kidding. My wolf snaps her teeth inside me, suddenly impatient to know.

“Do you have a girlfriend, Anton?” I ask, tilting my head to the side as I spread some hair oil on my hands and begin to work it through my hair.

He grins at me. “No.”

“Did you, before you died?”

“No.” His grin deepens.

“Have you ever?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“Susie Bisque, in the seventh grade.”

“And then nobody since?” My eyebrows go up in surprise as my hands still.

“I didn’t say that,” he murmurs, his eyes shining. “Why are you asking, Juniper?”

“I’m just trying to figure out whether or not you’re qualified to be my coach,” I snap, narrowing my eyes at him.

“Oh, well, then trust me,” he murmurs, his eyes falling half-lidded in a sultry way that makes my wolf perk up her ears and tilt her head. “I am.”

A little snarl builds in me at how cagey he’s being, but I decline to play his game any further. “Fine!” I sigh, standing up quickly and sending my little stool skittering back an inch or two. Anton’s grin widens. “Coach me on how I’m supposed to comport myself tonight,” I command, moving over to my bed and flouncing down on it. “I need tips.”

“Before we get to that,” Anton murmurs, crossing slowly to me with his hands in his pockets, his eyes moving quietly over my face and form. “Let’s think about what you should wear.”

“Why?” I ask, frowning up at him as he comes close, looking down his long nose at me. “I’ll just conjure something up at the last minute so that it doesn’t get wrinkled.”

“Nah,” Anton says, shaking his head. “Men, they say, are very visual creatures – Alphas too. How you look when you show up tonight is going to send a message. Let’s…experiment.”

A little grin takes my mouth. “What, am I your little fashion dolly now, Anton?” I say, coyly leaning back on my hands and staring up at him. “You going to dress me up how you like me for my big date?”

“Oh, you bet,” he says, nodding slowly to me as he comes to stand so close that our knees would touch if he were corporeal. “Now conjure up some fashion magazines, little witch. Let’s get some ideas.”

I laugh and do as he says, calling up some recent magazines. Then Anton lays on his belly next to me on the bed and we flip through them, debating our choices.

The morning and the afternoon pass quickly then, with coffee and pastries and a magically appearing wardrobe that would even put my mother’s generous collection to shame. What’s better, though, is that we discover that I can make the outfits appear directly on my body, perfectly trimmed and tailored, without having to go through the drag of getting changed in and out of each one.

“What do you think of this?” I ask, standing in front of the mirror and sweeping a hand down over the little black circle skirt that falls to my knees. I’ve paired it with a crisp white top and finished the whole look off with a black velvet bow instead of a tie. I grin as I look at myself in the mirror, taking in the black stockings and the cute, prim little oxford shoes. “I think it’s adorable.”

“I think you look like a schoolgirl,” Anton murmurs, lounging on the bed amongst about fifty other rejected outfits. “Which isn’t bad, just…” he shrugs. “I mean, if you want him to bend you over his knee the moment you get there and tell you your history homework is late…”

I laugh as I blush and turn to glare at him. “Why do you say things like that?”

He smirks. “To make you do that,” he says, gesturing towards my cheeks. “All of these clothes are black and grey and hunter green, June. It’s nice to see some color on you. Pink suits you more than you think it does.”

I glare at him and spin away back to the mirror. “I think this outfit is cute.”

“It is cute,” he sighs, sitting up. “Do you want to be cute tonight?”

I shrug. “Don’t I?”

He shrugs. “Think about it strategically. If you’re cute and innocent, that opens the door for him to be in charge. Which can be useful if you’re trying to lure him into a sense of comfort so he opens up and tells you his secrets.”

I go a bit still. “I didn’t think of it that way.”

“You know, you’re very confusing to me, Sinclair,” Anton murmurs, tilting his head to the side. “In moments like this, when we’re just prepping, you’re all self-doubt and ignorance. But when you’re pressed to the point you perform beautifully, like you’ve got every move planned.”

I blush further at the compliment, shrugging. “I don’t know,” I murmur. “I just get…pissed off. And then I say whatever falls out of my mouth and deal with the consequences as they come.”

“You want me to piss you off in these strategy sessions?” Anton asks, smiling at me slowly like he might enjoy that. “Think it might do some good?”

I wave a hand, dismissing the point, not able to think – just now – about how much I might enjoy that too. “No, I spend enough of my time pissed off. I like you nice. Anyway,” I sigh, turning back to the mirror, needing the distraction, “if you don’t think I should look cute, how do you think I should look?”

He inhales deeply through his nose, thinking about it. “I think you should play to your strengths. We know you’re good at being mean, we know Orion likes it when you’re like that. So?” He shrugs. “Dress like the badass dark Princess we know you to be.”

I hum consideringly and then conjure up another black dress, sleeveless and silky, that flows all the way to the ground and pools at my feet. On my head appears another rose-gold crown – more ornate this time – and my makeup appears as well, smoky and stark, my lips black.

“There she is,” Anton murmurs, pointing at me and giving me a wink. “Terrifying. I love it.”

I laugh a little, spinning around so he can see the effect of the dress. He laughs too, complimenting me profusely.

Of course, all of the compliments end the moment Nic appears unannounced and Anton shifts into his wolf form. Nic frowns for a moment over at the ghost wolf laying prim and proper on the bed amongst the piles of clothes, but then he turns that frown onto me.

“What the hell is this?” he asks, gesturing towards me.

“What?” I ask, frowning at him. “You don’t like my dress?”

“Juniper,” Nic sighs, dipping a hand beneath his hood to either cover his eyes or cradle his forehead. “It’s a date, not a gala.”

“Well, what the hell does that mean!?”

“It means you're overdressed!” he snaps. “Just – put on something you can wear to sit in a garden! At night! When it’s chilly!”

I gasp, looking down at myself, realizing that he’s totally right. “Okay, go away!”

“What!?” Nic sputters, dropping his hand. “Juniper, there’s no time – just call up something else to wear –“

“Go!” I growl, giving Nic a shove. “Fifteen seconds! Just go!”

He groans but then does as I say, vanishing.

Anton shifts as he dashes to my side. “Miniskirt, black top –“

“Tights or knee socks!?”

“Tights, black boots,” he snaps, nodding once. He gestures towards his neck. “And that little choker, with the heart?”

“Got it,” I say, nodding once and dashing out a hand to give Anton a little shove as I look down at myself and concentrate on the outfit in my mind. I remember it, of course – it’s a casual one Anton picked out from a magazine earlier, one he particularly liked. I conjure it immediately onto my body as Anton shifts again into his wolf.

When Nic appears again exactly fifteen seconds after he left, his eyes flick over me and the calm ghost wolf at my side. He nods once before his eyes move to my head. “You’re keeping the crown?”

I look down at Anton, who dips his wolf nose once in confirmation. Then I grin and look up at Nic. “Wolf says yes. So it stays.”

Nic sighs and just takes my arm.

“Aren’t you going to tell me I look pretty!?” I ask, laughing.

“You’ll do,” Nic murmurs, shaking his head at me. “Now let’s go.”

I grin at Nic and then Anton as we’re vanished away into the dark.