I didn’t even know this was possible.

A dive bar in the woods, for people who know aether, or root, or any of the other names for the magical resource that the Order has claimed for itself. If Nick hadn’t been taken and I hadn’t escaped the Regents, would I have ever known a place like this existed?

We make it to the table without issue and I get pressed into a chair against the wall before I can protest, with Alice to my left and Sel on my right, and William across.

The room was warm to begin with, but back deeper into the building it’s sticky and hot. Alice worms out of her black jacket and I do the same with the outer hooded coat I’d worn in. Now that we’re both down a layer, I can’t help but compare our outfits: She’s in a fringed, three-quarter-length black blouse that makes her look both badass and classy at once. I glance down at my own top, which looks expensive, but shows a bit more cleavage.

Damnit. I knew we should have coordinated fits.

I tug my shirt up, flushing. Alice notices and snorts. “Good luck hiding those,” she says.

“You coulda said something before we left,” I mutter back, hoping the music drowns out my voice.

“We didn’t get dressed together, or I would have.” She grins. “Besides, what am I supposed to say? ‘Hide yer tits, Crown Scion’?”

I softly thump her in the arm. She smiles and thumps back.

Out of the side of my eye, Sel’s head doesn’t move, but the minute shift of his fingers on the table tells me he heard us.

“Oh, are we talking about Bree’s outfit?” William leans forward, a wide smile on his face. “I didn’t say it before, but I like it. Those colors look incredible on you.”

“Right? Bree looks bangin’ in any variation of red and black, honestly. Or gold,” Alice says. A mischievous look crosses her face. “She looks great, doesn’t she, Sel?”

An embarrassment bomb starts ticking in my chest. My entire face might explode. Gonna go boom. Just like that, face gone. I can’t believe her.

Sel’s eyes drift over me so slowly I have to clench the muscles in my legs to stop from squirming. “Briana looks nice.” Then he looks away.

Alice’s jaw drops.