A Curse Of Goodness

The Gift

        The busy night carried on with dancing, laughter, and lots of kind conversations. Many people wanted to know where I had been, and if I really was abducted by a coven of evil vampires, as the raging rumors had claimed.

Eventually a few faces that I recognized approached, waving at me happily. Anthony released me to go mingle with his own pals. Mia appeared and instantly took his place, hooking our arms together. I noticed Adam lingering in the back, keeping his protective eyes on his sister and mate.

Like the others, the girls who approached us wanted to hear about the rumors. However the rumor that they heard, claimed I scandalously ran off to elope with a female pixie.

        Mia slapped a hand over her mouth, holding in a laugh next to me.

But with Ny-ell's charm, I couldn't tell the curious ears very much about my adventures. They frowned at all of my vague replies. But despite my lack of a real answer, my friends and I still had a good time, giggling and dancing.

         However, I couldn't shake off the unsettled feeling in the bottom of my gut.

        I somehow felt suspicious of the Alpha King. I still pondered Ny-ell's sinister story of him, and was confused as to why he had thrown me such a grand party. Was it just out of kindness?

For some reason I doubted the possibility.

Perhaps I was being paranoid about all of it.

        Maybe I'm simply still shaken up about the whole Otherland ordeal. Maybe that's why I'm overthinking all of this.

         After an hour or two of mingling and dancing, I broke away from my group. Adam eyed me with a raised brow from across the ballroom. The purpose of his stare was clear. It said 'And where are you going?'

         I rolled my eyes at him and mouthed the words back, 'Restroom!'

          He nodded his head in understanding, still scowling in my direction. As soon as he looked away from me, his eyes caught onto something and softened. I didn't need to follow his gentle gaze to know it was Mia.

           I rolled my eyes at my lovesick brother and laughed. I hurriedly left the ballroom, anxious to find a quiet restroom. Having a moment of stillness sounded ideal.

           I exited the grand ballroom and looked around the halls. Despite being here before, I couldn't recall where the restrooms where exactly. So I happily took my time in wandering around for a bit.

          I ventured further away from the noise of the party, and the hallways began to grow slightly dimmer as I went. Finally, I found a restroom and took my time inside, appreciating the lovely silence around me.

          After stalling my return for awhile longer, I sighed quietly to myself. "I should get back...."

          I left the small room and began to make my down the hall once again.

           "There's the guest of honor." A deep voice spoke loudly behind me.

          My eyes widened and I froze. Despite only hearing the voice a few times, I recognized it immediately.