Chapter 42 Kai
DANCING WITH CORNELIUS CLOVER PALED in comparison to dancing with Basil Brysden.
There might have been a time when Kai would have loved nothing more than to receive such attentions from someone like Clover, all suave and confident and intoxicating.
But his mind now was full of Baz. The way everything and everyone had seemed to fade around them until it was only the two of them, slow dancing in an empty room, so close it would have been the easiest, most natural thing to lean in for a kiss.
It’d been impossible not to think of it, not when Baz had looked at him the way he had. Like he was finally realizing what Kai had been waiting so long for him to grasp.
But then Baz seemed to second-guess the whole thing and retreated into himself again.
Moment ended. Illusion shattered.
Kai thought dancing with Clover might make Baz jealous. But his heart wasn’t in it. And when he could no longer spot Baz in the crowd, he just felt angry at himself for driving him away.
Just friends. What a fucking lie.
But maybe that was all Baz would ever want them to be.
Kai hovered at the edge of a group of students sitting enraptured as they listened to Clover speak.
They hung on his every word, making Kai wonder if it was just Clover’s natural charisma or his use of Glamour magic.
Kai was barely paying attention to what was being said, silent and sullen as he nursed his glass of absinthe.
When Baz finally reappeared, their eyes met from across the room.
Time seemed to stop, the world narrowing to just the two of them again, until a pair of students accosted Baz, no doubt to praise him for his stunt with the wards.
Baz looked uncomfortable at the attention, fiddling with his silk tie like it was hindering his breathing.
At last, he managed to slip away and join Kai.
“Where were you off to?” Kai asked, trying very hard to keep his voice casual. Like he wasn’t completely unmoored without him.
“With Cordie. She got sick, so I offered to bring her back to her room.” Baz’s eyes cut to him. “Did you and Clover have fun?” There was something prying in his words, underscored by what sounded like accusation. Or something else. “He seemed quite, uh, taken with you.”
“You jealous, Brysden?”
“What if I am?”
Kai nearly choked on his own saliva, so taken aback was he by Baz’s honesty—the brazenness of this simple admission.
Kai prided himself on not being surprised by much.
People were predictable, for better or worse.
And though Baz’s timidity and inability to gauge some of Kai’s cues sometimes—okay, most of the time—frustrated him, Kai had grown to find it endearing.
But this… this, he did not expect.
He found himself searching Baz’s gaze, feeling completely disarmed.
Kai realized how close they stood. That if he reached out a hand, they could be in each other’s space again, like when they’d been dancing, or when Kai had fixed Baz’s tie.
But for the life of him, he couldn’t tell if that’s what Baz wanted.
“There he is, the man of the hour!”
Clover’s exclamation had them both pulling apart. Clover dragged Baz away from Kai and into the middle of the crowd. He swept a hand to the gathered students. “Your admirers would love for you to regale us with the details of how you saved Ms. Arnavois here from the wards.”
The girl in question batted her lashes at Baz. “I can’t thank you enough, truly.”
“How does it feel to reverse time like that?” another girl asked, twirling a curl around her finger.
Kai resisted the urge to roll his eyes. What was it with these girls fawning over Baz in this time?
“Tell us how you did it!” another student demanded.
A flush crept over Baz’s neck. “Oh, well. It all happened so fast…”
“But such quick thinking on your part.”
“It was nothing, really.”
Clover put a hand on Baz’s shoulder. “You’re far too modest. Everyone who was there saw how brilliant you were.”
To everyone’s delight, Clover recounted how Baz had saved the girl from the wards. He painted a glorious picture, his voice rich with the cadence of a storyteller. Even Baz clung to his every word.
But Kai saw through him, right down to the truth of what Clover was.
He was a collector. He surrounded himself with individuals he deemed interesting. Rarities and oddities he acquired like an antiquarian collected invaluable artifacts. And then he threw these parties to revel in his collection.
It was why he didn’t care much for Kai; he already had a Fear Eater in his entourage and didn’t need a second. But Baz…
Timespinners were about as rare as Tidecallers, and so of course Clover had to add him to his collection. And look how much clout and glory this newest addition was bringing him.
Kai noticed Thames at the edge of the crowd, staring at Clover and Baz with something like longing or jealousy. Kai felt for him. It was clear that Thames craved Clover’s affection, and if he had to constantly see Clover chasing after the next rarity…
He wondered if the Fear Eater grew tired of only ever being loved in the shadows.