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This is the new reality. Leo over there. Me over here. The Grand Canyon between us.
I grab a glass of champagne off the closest table and gulp it down, trying to convince myself that I’m having fun. I agree to dance with Dean, and I let him waltz me around the floor, forcing myself not to look to see whether Leo is still watching.
Dean smells clean and fresh like always, and he moves with smooth confidence. His hand is strong on the small of my back.
I drink more champagne, then a glass of wine. Dean offers to get me a plate from the buffet, but I shake my head. My stomach is churning too much to eat.
Chay is dancing with Thomas York. He looks dumbfounded, like he can’t believe his luck. She’s danced with half the boys at the party and shows no signs of slowing down.
Zoe hasn’t danced with anyone.
“I’ll probably head back soon,” she says, stifling a yawn behind her hand.
She stiffens as Rocco Prince approaches, his slicked-back hair giving his face a hollow, cadaverous look. His lips are liverish in the dim light.
Zoe stands up to meet him—not out of excitement, I don’t think. More likely because she doesn’t want to be in a vulnerable seated position.
“I didn’t know you were coming,” she says nervously.
“Didn’t know, or hoped I wasn’t?” Rocco says in his low, soft voice. There’s an uncomfortable hissing sound in the way he forms his “s.”
Zoe stays silent, too honest to lie.
“Come.” Rocco takes Zoe’s arm. It isn’t a request—he steers her onto the dance floor, his hand tightly pinching her bicep. Then he forces her through the steps like he’s a puppeteer and she’s the marionette.
“He disgusts me,” I say to Dean, watching them.
“You shouldn’t say that so loud,” Dean replies. “The Princes are powerful. It’s a good match for her.”
“You can practically see her skin crawling.”
Dean shrugs. “Not every alliance is a love match.”
I narrow my eyes at him, annoyed by his complacency. “Your mom was a nurse, not a mafiosi. Your dad married her because he loved her.”
“That’s right,” Dean says coldly. “And look where that got them.”
I take another glass of champagne and swallow it down.
As the night wears on, the music becomes less formal. The playlist shifts from classical to pop, and students crowd onto the makeshift dance floor as waltzing turns into grinding.
Even some of the professors are dancing. I see Professor Thorn looking much less buttoned-up than usual, dressed in a glittering black gown with her dark hair down from its tight bun. She’s being spun around by Professor Howell—no mean feat considering she’s a head taller than him.
Professor Bruce looks like he wants to dance, but Professor Graves is talking away in his ear, his face flushed from what must be his third or fourth glass of wine. I check the breast pocket of Graves’s jacket and can’t help giggling to myself when I see only a sad-looking Bic poking out.
Even Chancellor Luther Hugo makes a brief appearance, sitting down briefly with the ghoulish Professor Penmark, who teaches Torture Techniques, drinking a single glass of port in the overstuffed chairs set in front of the roaring fire, before sweeping out of the room again as quickly as he came.
I rarely see the Chancellor on campus. I don’t even know if he stays at Kingmakers full-time. It’s possible he avoids us students to maintain his aura of authority and danger. Or, alternatively, he might simply be busy with administrative tasks.
The only staff member I don’t see is Miss Robin. That doesn’t surprise me—she’s painfully shy, and a party is the last place I’d expect her to be. She rarely even eats in the dining hall, though plenty of the other professors take their meals along with the students.
I wish she had come. Even though she’s not actually a teacher, she’s my favorite staff member. I bet she’d look pretty all dressed up.
The music switches to a remix of “Candy Shop,” an old favorite that Miles, Leo, and I used to play.
Unable to help myself, I look for Leo again, thinking he won’t miss a chance to dance.
Everyone in our family loves dancing. Miles is right in the thick of it, with a small halo of space around him because he’s really fucking talented and plenty of people just want to watch him.
