Damsel Under Stress (Enchanted, Inc. 3)

“Thank you. I think.” I didn’t dare look at him because I was sure I was turning redder than my dress. I couldn’t help but wonder what he meant about my she-devil persona being fun. We got down to the sidewalk, and before we joined the others, I glanced at him. “When you said you ordered a car…” The look on his face said it all. “Oh, no, you didn’t.”

But the squealing tires of the car that came to a stop with one of its front wheels on the curb said it all. Instead of the two goofy gargoyles, though, one man got out of the driver’s seat. He had bulging eyes and Rocky’s long, thin face, but his legs were short and stocky. Owen and I sat in the front seat, with me in the middle next to the driver(s), and the others got in the backseat. “And, we’re off!” Rocky’s voice said as we shot out into traffic. My friends didn’t seem to notice anything strange about the driving, but I clutched Owen’s hand and squeezed my eyes shut during most of the trip.

The party turned out to be in a spacious SoHo loft with large arched windows overlooking the street many floors below and cast-iron columns throughout the room. Rod greeted us as we entered. He wore a purple frock coat that reminded me of the Gene Wilder version of Willy Wonka. “You remember my roommates Gemma and Marcia?” I said. “And this is Philip, Gemma’s boyfriend.”

Rod kissed the girls and me on the cheek and shook Philip’s hand. Then he turned to Owen, who was back in full Phantom regalia, and did a mock double take. “And who are you, stranger?”

“Not Robin Hood this time,” Owen said. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, there are some shadows I need to haunt on the other side of the room.” He swept me away with an arm around my waist.

“Don’t get too deep into character,” I teased him. “I mean, unless you really want to drag me off into the basement away from all these people.” We were fairly early, but the place was already packed. With the costumes, it was hard to tell who was who. I’d left Owen’s necklace at home, assuming the place would be full of magic, so I couldn’t even tell how many people were wearing illusions instead of real costumes.

“The basement idea is tempting, but we should probably save it for later,” he said, scanning the room. “Do you want something to drink?”

“Sure. Whatever you can get to easily.”

He took off into the crowd, and while I waited for him, Gemma and Philip joined me. “I think that costume went to Marcia’s head,” Gemma said. “She’s back there flirting with your friend.” I glanced across the room to see Marcia doing the Marilyn over the subway grate pose in front of Rod.

“Isn’t that the idea of a costume party? To leave yourself behind and have fun?” I asked.

“I just hope she doesn’t regret this later.”

While Gemma glared in Marcia’s direction, Philip sidled up to my other side. I still had to fight off a fit of the giggles when I saw his frog mask. “I must thank you for your referral to the attorney,” he said.

“You’re welcome. And how are things going?”

“Ethan and I have a meeting with them to raise the issue after the holiday.”

“Good luck with that.”

A masked pirate with Tinkerbell at his side then joined us. I recognized the fairy as Trix, which meant the pirate had to be Ethan. He wore leather pants and a shirt open almost to his waist, and I didn’t think the hoop earring he wore in one ear was a clip-on. When he decided to explore the wilder side of life, he didn’t do things halfway.

“Katie? Is that you?” Trix asked, then gave a tinkling fairy laugh.

“Yeah, I’m expressing my inner self.” I gave my pointy tail a swish for punctuation.

“You couldn’t be evil if you tried,” Ethan said.

Philip perked up when he heard Ethan’s voice. “Mr. Wainwright?” The two of them then recognized each other and were soon lost in legal conversation.

“What’s up with them?” Gemma asked.

“They’re working together on some business thing. It’s a very small world.” And even smaller when you factored in magic. Then I remembered that Trix was still there, left stranded while her date talked shop. Ethan might have been interested in exploring the wilder side of life, but he was still a lawyer, first and foremost. “Gemma, you remember Trix, don’t you?”

“Oh yeah. Hi. I almost didn’t recognize you with the wings. Great costume!”

Owen showed up then with drinks. I couldn’t see his face well behind the mask, but I could tell he was flustered. “You would not believe the wait at the bar,” he said as he handed me a drink. “I’m not even sure what this is. I just grabbed what I could get my hands on.”

“If it’s wet, I’m happy.”

Gemma slunk over to Philip and whispered in his ear. I wasn’t sure what she said, but soon she was leading him to the dance floor. Trix and Ethan weren’t far behind. “Do you want to dance?” Owen asked, with a tone to his voice that told me he’d love me forever if I said no.

“The only time I can remember dancing in public was when I was under a spell, and I don’t intend to change that anytime soon.”

“Thank you,” he said. “It’s actually more fun to watch everyone else make fools of themselves. Gloria taught me to waltz and foxtrot, of course, but I don’t think you can do that to this music.”

Philip certainly seemed to be trying. He had Gemma in a proper ballroom dance hold and moved her smoothly around the floor to the beat of the thumping house music. It worked better than I would have thought.

“What I’d really like to find is a place to sit down,” I said, trying to wriggle my toes within my shoes. “These shoes aren’t made for standing around for long periods of time.” I was already losing feeling in my middle toes.