Switched (32 page)

Garrett managed to steal a dance with me, and that was a relief. He complimented me, but not in a creepy perv way everyone else seemed to be going for. I had been dancing nonstop for an hour because everyone kept cutting in. Every now and then, I would catch Elora spinning around on the floor, or Willa would sneak me a smile as she twirled around with some foxy 234

young guy. It was unfair that she got pick who she danced with, but I was stuck with every stranger that asked.

“You’re probably the most ravishing Princess we’ve ever had,”

Chancellor Antonsson told me after he cut in a dance. His pudgy cheeks were red from exertion, and I wanted to suggest that he sit down and take a break, but I thought Elora would disapprove. He was holding me far closer than was necessary, but his hand was like a massive ham on my back, pressing me to him.

I couldn’t pull away without making a scene, so I just tried to force a smile.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” I demurred. He was sweating so badly, it had to be bleeding onto my dress. The beautiful white fabric would be covered in yellow stains after tonight.

“No, you really are.” His eyes were wide with some kind of weird pleasure, and I wished someone would hurry up and cut in. We had just started dancing, but I couldn’t take much more of this. “In fact, I’ve never seen anyone more ravishing than you.”

“Now that, I’m certain, cannot be true.” I glanced around, hoping to spot Willa somewhere so I could try and pawn him off on her.

“I know that you’ll be expected to start courting soon, and I’d just like you to know that I have a lot of things going for me,” the Chancellor went on.

“I’m very wealthy, very secure, and my bloodline is immaculate. Your mother would approve of this arrangement.”

“I haven’t made any arrangements yet…” I trailed off.

I craned my neck around, knowing that if Elora saw me, she would accuse me of being rude. But I didn’t know how else to react. This blubbery sweaty man was grabbing my ass during what appeared to be some kind of marriage proposal. I had to get out of there.

“I’ve been told I’m an excellent lover, as well,” the Chancellor lowered his voice. “I’m sure that you don’t have any experience but I could definitely teach you.” He actually had a hungry look, and his eyes had dropped lower than my face. It was taking all my restraint not to push him off of me, and in my head I was screaming to get away from him.

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“May I cut in?” Tove suddenly appeared at my side, out of nowhere.

The Chancellor looked disappointed at the sight of him, but before he could say anything, Tove had put his hand on his shoulder and taken my hand, pulling me away from him

“Thank you,” I breathed gratefully as we waltzed away from a very confused looking Chancellor.

“I heard you calling for help,” Tove smiled at me. “You seem to be using your persuasion more than you think.” In my mind, I had been begging for a way out of that, but I hadn’t uttered an actual word.

“You heard me?” I gasped, feeling pale. “How many other people heard me?”

“Probably just me. Don’t worry. Hardly anybody can sense anything anymore,” Tove explained. “The Chancellor probably would’ve noticed if he hadn’t been too busy staring at your chest, or if you were more skilled at it.

You’ll get the hang of it.”

“I don’t really care if I get the hang of it. I just wanted to get rid of him,” I muttered. “I’m sorry if I’m wet. I’m probably covered in his sweat.”

“No, you’re fine,” Tove assured me.

We were dancing the appropriate width apart, so he probably couldn’t feel my dress to tell if it was soaked or not, but there was something relaxing about dancing with him. My feet killed from being on them for over an hour straight, but for once, I didn’t have to say anything or worry about getting felt up or stared at. He barely looked at me and said nothing else at all.

Elora finally interrupted the festivities. The christening ceremony would be happening in twenty minutes, and she noted that I needed a break from all the dancing. The dance floor emptied and everyone took seats at the tables on the sides, or milled around the refreshments table. I knew that I should sit down while I had the chance, but I was desperate to have a moment to breathe, so I went to a corner hidden behind extra chairs and tables and leaned against the wall.

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“Who are you hiding from?” Rhys teased, finding me in the corner.

Dressed in a flashy tux, he looked amazing as he sauntered over to me, grinning.

“Everyone,” I smiled at him. “You look really good.”

“Funny, I was just gonna tell you same thing.” Rhys stood next me, putting his hands in his pockets, and smiling even wider at me. “Although,

‘good’ doesn’t even begin to you justice. You look… otherworldly. Like nothing else here can even compare to you.”

“It’s the dress.” I looked down, hoping to keep my cheeks from blushing. “That Frederique is amazing.”

“The dress is nice, but trust me,
you
make the dress,” Rhys insisted. I felt his blue eyes searching over me again, and gently, he reached over and fixed a strand of my hair back that fallen out of place. He let his hand linger there a minute, looking me in the eyes, then he just grinned and dropped his hand. “So, having fun yet?”

“A blast,” I smirked. “What about you?”

“I can’t dance with the Princess, so I’m a little bitter,” he said with a sad smile.

“Why can’t you dance with me?” I asked. I would’ve loved to dance with him. In all honesty, a dance with Rhys would’ve been the highlight of my night.

“Mänks,” he pointed his thumbs at himself. “I’m lucky I’m even allowed in.”

“Oh.” I looked down at the floor, thinking about what he’d just said.

“Not to sound rude or anything, because I’m glad you’re here but… why are you here? Why aren’t you banned or something equally ridiculous?”

“Didn’t you know?” Rhys asked with a cocky grin. “I am the highest mänks in the land.”

“And why is that?” I couldn’t tell if he was teasing me or not, so I tilted my head, watching him as his expression got more serious.

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“Because I’m yours,” he replied softly. He was invited because he was my mänsklig, my opposite, but when he answered, that’s not what he meant at all. Something in his eyes made me blush for real this time, and I smiled sadly at him.

One of Elora’s aides burst into the corner, ruining what was left of the moment, and demanding that I take my seat at the head table with the Queen.

The christening ceremony was about to start, and a knot formed in my stomach. I hadn’t heard what my name was to be, and I was depressed about the idea of changing it. Besides, the break had been far too short.

“Duty calls,” I smiled apologetically at Rhys and started to walk past him.

“Hey.” Rhys grabbed my hand to stop me, and I turned to look at him.

“You’re gonna be great. Everyone’s raving about you.”

“Thanks.” I squeezed his hand gratefully.

A cracking echoed through the room, followed by a tinkling that I didn’t understand. The sound was coming from everywhere so it was hard to place right away. But then it looked like the ceiling was raining glitter, and the skylights were crashing to the ground. Rhys realized what was happening before I did, and still holding my hand, he yanked me behind him to protect me. We were in the corner, so we were out of the way of the most of the glass, but from the painful screams, I gathered that everyone else wasn’t so lucky.

Belatedly, I saw the reason for broken skylights. People were falling through the glass, landing on the floor with surprising grace. Before I recognized them, I remembered the uniform. Long black trench coats and black apparel. The word seemed to well through the room without anybody saying anything:
Vittra
. There were about fifteen of them, and the guards were circling them. Blood and broken glass layered the floor. In the very center, I saw Jen, the tracker that had been so fond of hitting me before, and his eyes were scanning the crowd, so I hid behind Rhys as much as I could.

“You are not invited. Please leave.” Elora’s voice boomed above everything else.

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“You know what we want, and we’re not leaving until we get it,” the tracker, Kyra, replied, stepping out from the crowd and walking towards Elora.

She was walking on glass in bare feet but didn’t seem to notice. “She’s got to be here. Where are you hiding her?”

Staring over Rhys’s shoulder, Jen suddenly turned towards me, and his black eyes met mine. He grinned wickedly. Rhys instantly realized we were in trouble and tried to push me towards the door, but we never stood a chance.

Jen bolted towards us, and everyone burst into life. The Vittra scrambled, going after the guards and other Trylle to throw them off. I saw Tove bound over the table he was sitting at, using his powers to send Vittra flying without even touching them. Elora was glaring at Kyra, who suddenly collapsed on the ground, writhing with pain.

That was all I saw because then Jen was in front of us, blocking out the chaos that was going on around him. I heard people screaming and felt a strong wind running through the room, attributing it to Willa’s attempts at helping.

Rhys stood his ground, trying to defend me, but Jen sent him flying across the floor with one hefty punch.

“Oh, silly Princess,” Jen smiled menacingly at me. “You should’ve known you couldn’t get away from me.”

“Leave her alone!” Rhys had already jumped back to his feet, blood streaming down his face from a cut above his eye. He made it a step towards us when Jen punched him again, but much harder this time

“Rhys!” I wailed, reaching out for him, but Jen grabbed me around my waist, stopping me.

“That’s what you have protecting you now?” Jen laughed. Rhys appeared to be unconscious, and I prayed he wasn’t dead. “Did we scare Finn off?”

“Let go of me!” I screamed. I kicked at him and tried to pry his arm off of me.

Suddenly, he went flying into the wall, taking me with him. When he slammed into it, his arm loosened enough where I could scramble away from 239

him. Tove was standing on the other side of the table across from us, holding his hand palm out at Jen, so I assumed that he had been the reason that we had just went into a wall.

Somehow, the fifteen or so Vittra had the upper hand in the room.

Other than Tove, Willa, and Elora, none of the Trylle really seemed to have abilities, or at least they weren’t using them. The room was total pandemonium, and then I realized that there were even more Vittra streaming in through the ceiling. There was no way we could beat them. I don’t even know why I said

“we.” I had done nothing but scream in the corner. When I had become so useless?

“This is why you need to work on your persuasion,” Tove pointed out.

“Watch out!” I yelled as another Vittra came towards his back.

Tove turned, throwing his hand back and tossing the would-be-attacker across the room. Kyra was trying to get to my mother, and someone on the other side of the room had started using fire. I looked around to grab a weapon that I could use when I felt Jen’s arms around my waist again. I yelped and flailed mercilessly in his arms. Tove turned his attention back to me, but there were two other Vittra chasing after him, so he only had a moment to send Jen flying back into the wall again. It was even harder this time, and it jostled me painfully, but Jen let go.

“You’ve got to be more careful, Tove!” Someone was shouting. My head throbbed dully from hitting the wall, and I blinked to clear it. A hand was taking mine, helping me to my feet, and I wasn’t even sure if I should be accepting it, but I did anyway.

“I was just trying to get her free!” Tove snapped, and another Vittra yelled as he sent them flying into a table across the room. “And I’m busy here!”

I turned back to see who had helped me and all the air went out of my lungs. Wearing a black hoodie under a black jacket, Finn was surveying the mess around me. He had never looked more attractive to me than he did then.

He was actually standing right next to me, holding my hand, and I couldn’t think or move. It seemed totally unreal. I must’ve hit my head too hard.

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“Finn!” I gasped, and he finally looked at me, his dark eyes a mixture of relief and panic.

“This is fucking Bedlam!” Tove growled angrily. A turned over table was between him and us, and he easily sent it sailing into a couple Vittra attacking the Chancellor, and then he walked over. All the Vittra were otherwise engaged so he had a moment to catch his breath.

“It’s worse than I thought,” Finn pursed his lips.

“We’ve gotta protect the Princess,” Tove insisted emphatically, looking at Finn intensely. I squeezed Finn’s hand and watched the two of them, trying to understand what they were talking about. Jen started to get up, so Tove slammed him back into the wall.

“I’ll get her out of here,” Finn nodded. “Can you handle it down here?”

“I don’t have a choice.” Tove barely had time to answer when Willa started screaming bloody murder across the room. I couldn’t see her, and that scared me all the more.

“Willa!” I yelled and tried to run to see what was happening. Finn wrapped his arms around me, pulling me back, and Tove took a step in the direction of Willa screaming.

“Get her out of here!” Tove commanded, and then dove into the fray.

Finn started dragging me out of the ballroom while I strained to see what was going on. Tove had disappeared, and I couldn’t see Elora or Willa. As he was pulling me, my feet hit Rhys’ leg, and I suddenly remembered that he was laying unconscious, bleeding on the ground. I struggled against Finn’s arms, trying to reach Rhys.

“He’s fine! They won’t touch him!” Finn tried to reassure me. He still had one arm around my waist, and he was much stronger than me, so I didn’t really stand a chance fighting against him. “You’ve got to get out of here!”

“But Rhys!” I pleaded.

“He’d want you to be safe!” Finn insisted and finally managed to drag me to the ballroom doors.

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I paused, looking up from Rhys to see the chaos of the room. All the chandeliers suddenly crashed to the ground, and the only light was coming from someone who controlled a fire ability and the things they had lit on fire. People were screaming and yelling, and it was echoing off of everything.