Nada's Escape: Fighters' lies

30.1 Misplaced

Darcell is behind the bar, measuring from a bottle wrapped in a giant label.

"Wow. I didn't know you were here." I say, breaking into his eye line. He flips the measuring cup into a champagne glass and smiles.

"I'm not really. Just topping up." I lean against the makeshift bar, feeling a measure of relief at finding another friendly face in the crowd. I take in his forest green jacket and frilled white shirt.

"Sure. Not like you dressed up or anything."

He grins, reaching under the bar to replace the small bottle. "Unlike you. You look great by the way."

I roll my eyes. "Not what I'm here for."

"Oh sorry. What can I get you? The limes are definitely all gone." He points at a bowl of discarded green quarters.

I shrug. "Anything."

"Anything?"

I nod. "Though you're going to have to move over. I need to keep an eye out."

I push my skirts in behind the bar. He starts gathering a bottle here, chunks of ice there. I survey the closest wall of bodies. I can't see Finley, thankfully. But Josef's still over there by the doors. I guess I can't leave now, even if he wasn't between me and the exit. I can't see Amy or the girls though, which sends a stab of disappointment through me.

"Here we go." Darcell slides a glass along the bar to me. I pick it up, gazing with trepidation at the brown mixture.

"It's nothing crazy. Mostly cola. Same as this actually." He holds up his own flute.

I shrug and take a sip. Its sweet and cool, coloured by something darker and more complex. I watch him take his own sip, feyfly light turning his hair golden like always. He's watching me under the glass too, measuring. No doubt distracted by the worm clothes.

"You heading back into the fray, or?" He asks.

I look at the crush across the bar, contemplating finding Amy again. But pushing through the mass of Huntsmen for the fifth time feels too hard. I've learnt to handle them in small doses, but this is Huntsmen overload. I shoot another glare at Josef.

"Or...?" I ask, turning back to Darcell hopefully.

"We could ditch. The balconies are fun if you can find a free one."

"There's a balcony?" I whirl and sure enough behind me, between each pair of pillars is a small balcony, a whole storey above the ball room floor. Each is made of swirling gold paint, winking at me from beneath feyfly lanterns.

Darcell squeezes into the space of my skirts for a second, trying to pass out from behind the bar. I sense the closeness as much as feel it, a shiver of tension running up my back. I step back against the wall; away from that closeness. An awkward dance of distance.

But he leaves the orbit of my skirts and leads the way out into the throng. I back off the wall just as a bunch of rowdy wardens catapults into us and I narrowly avoid being elbowed in the face. My drink fizzes over onto the floor as Darcell pulls me out of the way.

I shake off the near miss and continue after Darcell towards the corner of the room. Who knew a ballroom was more dangerous than scaling a tree? In the corner, behind a giant vase I finally spot a tiny secret stair, curling around the pillar. My skirts crinkle against the sides of the stairway, accompanying the staccato of Darcell's footsteps.

I step up into a shadowy corridor, sliced by light from each balcony. We creep past several empty balconies and one full of a couple taking advantage of the privacy. I cringe internally, but try to play it cool as we slip into a balcony near the end, above the dance floor.