Read Reflection Pond for Free Online Page B

Willow shared a look.
    “She says that now,” Ash said. “Dancing is like breathing around here. We dance for everything.”
    “Birth,” Willow said, “dance, death, dance, sunrise, dance, sunset, dance—”
    “She gets it,” Rowan interrupted.
    “The same rule applies to drinking,” Ash said. He pushed the bottom of Callie’s glass back to her lips. “Drink up, gorgeous.”
    Hazel found them before anyone managed to get Callie away from the wall. “I trust you are well?” she asked, inspecting Callie with open curiosity. There was something else in her gaze that turned Rowan’s insides to stone. Want.
    Rowan had a strong urge to step between them.
    Callie nodded, gaze going to Ash who’d stepped away slowly like a child trying to evade his parents. He disappeared into the churning swarm of people.
    Rowan frowned—of course they’d all abandon Callie if Hazel was involved. He moved closer to Callie and fixed his sour expression on Hazel, but she ignored him, gesturing to the mass of moving bodies.
    “It pleases Eirensae to have our children return home. We are glad to welcome you back.” Her eyes shifted to Rowan and her mouth furrowed as though she’d been sucking a lemon. “We’ll meet with the Elders to discuss your living arrangements in the morning. Be sure to keep her safe,” she said, turning back to Callie.
    Callie lifted her chin. “I think I should go home.”
    Hazel laughed. It was the sound of branches scraping across a frozen lake. “Child…you are home.” She brushed Callie’s cheek before disappearing into the throng.
    “You should mingle. Everyone’s here for you,” Rowan said after Hazel retreated.
    Callie gazed at the spot where Hazel had been, her expression a mixture of worry and curiosity. “I just keep thinking I’ll wake up,” she said, bringing a hand to her face where Hazel had touched her. “This doesn’t happen. There just…there isn’t—” she broke off and tossed Rowan a glance. Her cheeks turned red.
    “Welcome to the never-ending dream,” Rowan said bitterly. “Let’s dance.”
     
    ***
     
    Everything was surreal and cloudy. It felt good to let loose and move and embrace the blankness at the edges of her mind. Her limbs felt electric against Rowan’s, free . His body was fluid, his motions in perfect time with the music. Callie didn’t even have to think about what would come next, everything just flowed. It was as though they’d bottled the pure essence of life in the drinks they kept handing her. They pulsed in her veins and rippled in her mind. She was alive.
    Callie spun away from Rowan straight into Ash’s arms. She felt him laugh and then Ash dipped her until her hair swept the floor, dropping flowers all the way. Ash danced more carefully than Rowan, each step measured and planned, but dancing with Rowan was a lot like falling, and she thought that was the best part.
    “What’ll it be?” the bartender asked.
    Callie looked up, blinking to clear the dizziness. She didn’t remember walking to the bar. A giggle fell from her lips before she could stop it. The woman’s hair was blue, not the crayon blue that turned green when you washed it, but iridescent blue, as though the strands were made from tissue lamé. When she grinned, she revealed a mouth full of sharp teeth, pointed like a cat. The bartender’s eyes flashed from green to violet.
    Callie pressed her fingers into her eyes. They felt numb, much like her thoughts. There was something she was supposed to do, somewhere to be, but whenever she tried to pull up the thought, she had the strangest urge to dance. She giggled more.
    A man ste pped up to the bar. Green, spiky leaves grew from his head and hung down his shoulders like bizarre dreadlocks. He asked for a Poplar Pixie, which turned out to be a green drink with yellow chunks floating in it.
    Callie covered her eyes.
    “Are you okay?”
    She dropped her hands only to wish she hadn’t. Black antennae sprouted from a man’s