“Probably.” I trailed my hands down the lace sleeves. They’d drape dramatically over my fingertips, and the built-in bodice would show off my waist. I’d never go to another function where I could wear anything so elegant, but just having it would be nice. It was slit up the side but cut so that it wouldn’t give anything except brief glimpses.

“The bitch hasn’t decided which dress yet,” I said sourly. “If she picks the other, I’m going to double my fee. Call it hazard pay. Look at it.” I gestured disparagingly at the lace-hemmed collar that dipped so low it would make my small chest look nonexistent. “There are no curves at all. Just a straight tube all the way from my shoulders to the floor. I won’t be able to run if I need to, much less dance unless I hike the thing up past my knees. And the lace?” I touched the outer covering, trying to hide the ugly color of pea soup as if in shame, feeling the rough edges of the second-grade lace catch on my fingers. “It’s going to catch on everything. I’ll look like a freaking sea cucumber.”

That didn’t get the expected smile, and when I met Jenks’s eyes, he glanced at Ceri’s softly creased brow and shrugged. Rex sat at her feet as though she might get some attention if she stared hard enough. “He’s marrying a Were woman?” Ceri said, her voice unusually soft.

“No. I was being rude.” I shoved the green dress away, not wanting to talk about it.

Jenks moved to the closet’s shelf. “I’ve never met Ellasbeth, but she sounds more prickly than a porcupine’s scab.”

Though icky, it was a pretty good description. “Nice visual, Jenks,” I muttered.

Ceri’s thin fingers were tracing the tiny stitches on the black sleeve. I don’t think she had even heard me, so enamored of the dress was she. “This one would be a pleasure to dance in. If she chooses the other, she is either an idiot or a sadist.”

“Sadist,” Jenks said, his feet swinging. “I wish they made cameras I could carry. I know the Hollows Observer would pay good money for a shot of Rachel and Trent dancing.”

“Ha!” I barked, gently taking the pretty dress and putting it in my closet, newly organized thanks to Newt. “That will be the day.”

“You have to,” Jenks said, the sparkles sifting from him turning silver. “It’s the rules.”