As the band members came into the room, one by one, the entire party converged. People huddled together, vying for attention and time to talk with them. I tried not to look at the girls surrounding Kaidan, asking him to sign their cleavage and thighs with permanent markers.

“Come,” Kopano said to me, standing. I followed without question. We went into the kitchen, finding an unoccupied corner, and I checked out the beverage selection.

I reached for a Coca-Cola.

“Want some?” I asked.

“I do not drink caffeine,” he said.

“Wow, you make me look like a bad girl; that’s hard to do.”

He cracked a big smile for the first time I’d seen, and a huge dimple appeared in his right cheek. A butterfly wing flapped in my stomach. I turned my attention back to the drinks, fumbling a little for a cup.

“Don’t let me pressure you,” I said. “I was only kidding. We don’t need you all hyped up on caffeine. How about ginger ale instead?”

“Is that drink not only for upset stomachs?”

“Nope. It’s pretty good.” I poured a tiny bit into a cup and held it out. “Here, take a sip.”

He took the cup and drank. “Reminds me of champagne,” he said.

“You’ve had champagne?”

“When I was younger, before I changed my life.”

I took the cup from him and filled it three-quarters full of ginger ale, then handed it back.

“What made you decide to change?”

He held his cup, speaking in serene remembrance. “When I was fifteen, I went with my two brothers to a revival camp in a nearby town set up by missionaries from Wales. Our intentions were to make trouble and rouse their anger. When we arrived they were praying. I’d never seen anyone in prayer, and I felt... strange. For the first time in my life I experienced hope. I returned home and told my father I would work no more. I thought at the very least he would disown me, but he reacted with silence. He pretended not to hear what I said. In all of the years since, he has spoken only a handful of sentences to me, but never tried to make me work. When I came of age, I applied to college and left home.”

My respect for him was huge. I wondered why he wasn’t the one to inherit the mysterious Sword of Righteousness. If he was scared of anything, he didn’t show it.

As the party grew, more people shifted into the kitchen, pushing us closer to each other. I saw Kaidan on the other side of the room, leaning against the counter while the girl next to him talked, swishing her white-platinum blond hair. My stomach tightened. I hadn’t seen him come in. The girl poured a shot of something golden and handed it to Kaidan. He tipped back the shot glass and glanced my way, unsmiling, as he set it down. I put my back to him and sipped my drink.

The crowd’s aura tonight was a mix of vivid, positive colors with a handful of fuzzy grays sprinkled throughout. As drinks were consumed with speed, colors began to fade and voices grew louder.

Marna and Jay squeezed through and stood with Kopano and me. Ginger and Blake were not far behind. Two minutes later Kaidan materialized through the crowd with the bottle of liquor, shot glasses, and slices of lime. He had somehow managed to rid himself of the girl.

“Tequila, anyone?” he asked our group, but his eyes were on me.

“Hell, yeah, K, break it out,” Blake said.

I tried to take a step back, but I couldn’t go far.

Kaidan poured the drinks, handing one to each twin and Blake.

“Jay?” he asked.

“Nah, dude. I gotta drive.”

“Kope? Anna?”

We both stared at him, not answering.

“Oh, that’s right, I nearly forgot,” Kaidan said with smooth indifference. “The prince and princess would never stoop so low. Well, bottoms up to us peasants.”

What was up with that? The group shared a round of uneasy glances. Jay’s mouth was set in firm disapproval as he stared at Kaidan, who wouldn’t meet Jay’s eye.

The four of them raised their glasses, taking the shots and chasing them with bites of lime.

I got a strong whiff of the pungent, salty tequila and gripped the counter with one hand.

“How’s your soda, princess?” Though Kaidan spoke with a calm air, there was underlying menace that pained me to hear.

“You don’t need to be hateful,” I whispered.

“If you ask me, I’d say the princess prefers a dark knight.” Ginger smirked and took a long drink of her beer.

“She only thinks she does,” Kaidan said to her.

I opened and closed my hands at my sides. After all we’d been through, how could he stand there and have the audacity to throw temptations in my face and insult me? I wanted to say something to shut him up, but the more flustered I got, the more tongue-tied I became.

“Anna?” Jay asked. “You ready to bounce?”

There was no way Jay was ready to leave.

“No! Don’t go yet,” Marna begged. She yanked the front of Kaidan’s shirt. “You’re scaring everyone off, Kai! If you can’t be nice, then don’t get so pissed.”

“She means drunk,” Blake said to me in a stage whisper; then he added, “Brits,” with a roll of his eyes.

Blake’s attempt at comic relief didn’t lighten the mood much.

“My apologies,” Kaidan said to Marna. He slid the bottle away with the back of his hand, and Marna patted down the bit of shirt she’d crumpled. I stared at Kaidan, but he wouldn’t meet my eye.