Jill was absolutely blown away. How drunk exactly did Adrian need to stay in order to hide this from her? Because she hadn't seen it coming until Rose and Lissa insisted she put on her prettiest dress and come with them. It was her birthday so it could have been for a dinner or something but she had seen bits and pieces of Adrian's drunken thoughts as she scrambled to put on something at the last minute.
She had chosen something blue and gauzy that made her look like a fairy princess, instead of the vampire princess that she was. Her long wild hair was pulled back into a wide bun that was encircled with crystals. Her make up had all been burned into her memory from her brief chances to work with Lia. In this world Jill could actually pursue a modeling career, something she had badly wanted to do in Palm Springs but Sydney said was too dangerous.
There were so many people here. She recognized most of her friends in attendance. Even the mean girls from school had shown up and a ton of strangers that Jill had never even met before.
Adrian, she realized. Adrian had used compulsion on everybody and anybody to make them come to her birthday party. Adrian was exactly like a brother to Jill but he meant everything to her. Maybe it was because he brought her back to life or maybe it was because she could see into his mind all the time; but he was the most important person in her life. And she didn't see that changing any time soon.
Eddie was chatting up some blonde who wasn't Eve and Jill gave him a look but said nothing. She noticed Lissa and Rose who both looked stunning as usual. There was no Dimitri, which seemed weird but maybe he was up in a tower somewhere watching the party with binoculars. It seemed like something he might do. Dimitri always seemed larger than life to Jill.
Sydney walked in and Jill spent a second too long staring at how beautiful she looked in that red dress. It was amazing on her but Sydney only ever wore neutral boring tones. Seeing her in red was like Christmas in July. Jill couldn't stop staring. But the dress lost her attention and she still stared because sometimes she couldn't help seeing Adrian's women through his eyes. Like how sometimes she was just mad at Rose for no reason at all except that she hurt Adrian. It had nothing to do with Jill but she fully felt that hurt.
Then there was Mason. He was walking towards her wearing a suit and he looked so cute. Jill could barely keep herself together. It was no surprise that she was crushing on him considering he looked just like the boy at Amberwood she crushed on. But Mason wasn't Micah and she didn't have to be that careful around him. He knew her life.
"Hey," Jill greeted him with a big smile and a slight wave. She wanted to tell him that he looked really nice but she saw the way he was looking at her and it made her momentarily tongue twisted.