Chapter 28 Lindsay
TWENTY-EIGHT
LINDSAY
Auron’s hand rests lightly against my waist, his other clasping mine as we move across the open dance floor. He’s confident. Every step precise. Every turn smooth. Like he’s done this a thousand times and never doubted he’d lead.
I let him. Let the music carry us to the middle of the grass clearing the dance floor makes up.
Let the gathered crowd pretend we’re carved from the same marble. Regal. Impossibly matched. As if just days ago they all weren't whispering behind their hands about me or sneering down their noses at me because I'm not like them, because I'm human. Or I thought I was.
But the longer I dance, the heavier I feel.
His fingers tighten just slightly when I glance away—toward the edge of the courtyard. Toward Nolan. I'd rather be dancing with him.
He’s standing beside Tamsin, a drink in one hand, shadows in his eyes. He’s trying to play it cool, but I know him too well. I know that quiet intensity, the way his shoulders hunch when he’s trying not to feel something too hard.
I feel it, too.
Auron shifts closer. “You dance well.”
I glance up. “You sound surprised.”
“I’m not.” His gaze dips to my lips. “I’m rarely surprised when it comes to you.”
I force a breath. Force a smile.
From the outside, we probably look like a fairytale. But inside? I feel like I’m performing someone else’s part.
“Thank you for the dance,” I say as the music slows. I step back before he can draw me closer again. “It was…elegant.”
He arches a brow, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Just elegant?”
“Don’t push your luck.”
He chuckles. “One day, you’ll let me show you what else we could be.”
I don’t answer.
Because I’m already turning, walking toward the edge of the dance floor. Toward the boy who never demands anything. Who danced like I was fragile and important and real. And has never treated me like I was less than him.
He doesn’t say anything when I reach him. Doesn’t ask if I’m okay. He just hands me his drink. I take it without thinking.
And suddenly, I can breathe again.
“Please tell me he at least stepped on your toes,” Tamsin says, and I laugh, releasing more of the tension.
“No, he didn't.” I glance at Auron, and he tilts his head as if he knows he's the topic of conversation between me and my friends. Probably not in the way he'd hope for though. “He was a perfect gentleman actually.”
She rolls her eyes. “Pretty lies, I'm sure. Too bad you didn't curse him. Turn him into a frog or something.”
A snort from Nolan surprises me, and I glance at him. “You'd enjoy that, huh?”
“I’m not jealous.” Nolan flushes, immediately realizing how that sounded. “I mean—not jealous-jealous. Just…maybe a little bitter that the frog plan wasn’t put into action.”
I take a slow sip from the drink he handed me. “Right. Just bitter. Not at all imagining him in a terrarium somewhere with a tiny crown on his slimy head.”
Tamsin hums. “Can frogs even pull off royal accessories?”
“Oh, Auron would find a way,” I say, grinning. “He’d demand the enchanted version. Polished lily pad throne and all.”
Nolan bites back a smile, but it slips through anyway. “Would he still flirt while ribbiting?”
“He’d find a way,” I say again, mock-serious. “His ego would transcend species.”
That earns a laugh from both of them, warm and unfiltered, and I lean into it—into them. Into this moment that doesn’t demand anything but my presence.
Which, of course, means it doesn’t last.
“Mind if I claim that dance now?” comes a voice from behind me—low, velvet-smooth, and unmistakably Raiden.
I turn, finding him standing with a playful smile and a hand extended like we’re on the edge of some ancient fae ball instead of a student revel. His amber eyes glint under the fae-light.
“Depends,” I say. “You planning to spin me around until I’m dizzy or sweep me off my feet entirely?”
“Both, if I’m doing it right,” he replies, eyes sparkling. “But only with your permission, of course.”
I glance back at Nolan, who gives a half-shrug, half-smile. “Go,” he says. “Just don’t let him drop you.”
“Don’t let me drop her?” Raiden puts a hand to his chest in mock offense. “I’m a kitsune. Graceful is in my DNA.”
Tamsin snorts. “Right.”
Raiden ignores her entirely, gaze locked on me. “What do you say, flame girl? One dance?”
I hesitate, but not because I don’t want to. Because I do, maybe a little too much.
I hand Nolan back his drink and place my hand into Raiden’s. “Just one.”
And as the music shifts to something faster and brighter, his hands catch my waist, and we’re moving before I can change my mind.
His hand fits against the small of my back and the other finds mine, fingers lacing easily through mine as he pulls me into the rhythm.
He grins down at me. “You’re a good liar, you know.”
I blink. “Excuse me?”
“This whole ‘just one dance’ thing.” He spins me fast, and I laugh despite myself. “You don’t want just one.”
My cheeks heat. “Oh, is that so?”
“It is.” He dips me low, just enough to feel the rush of air and his breath against my neck. “Because I don’t want just one either.”
The flush in my cheeks travels lower, blooming down my chest and across my skin in a way that has nothing to do with the chill in the evening air.
“You’re awfully confident for someone who tripped over a practice dummy two days ago.”
He groans dramatically and pulls me upright again. “You’re never letting that go, are you?”
“Not a chance.”
“I told you I was avoiding your magic.”
I snort. “Likely story.”
“Well,” he says, twirling me again, this time slower—more intimate, like the Revel around us has faded into background noise. “I suppose if I’m going down in flames, I’d prefer it be your fire.”
“Flirt,” I accuse, but it comes out breathless.
He leans in, not close enough to kiss, but close enough that I feel the words more than hear them. “You love it.”
Unfortunately, I kind of do.
I try to find my footing, to snark back, but then he does this thing with his hands, guiding me through the next beat of the dance like we’ve done this a hundred times before, like my body already knows how to follow his.
Like I trust him.
I don’t know when that happened. But it did. Somewhere between sparring matches and early morning jokes, between near-kisses and our bond we never talk about…it happened.
“I’m not going to make this easy on you, you know,” I murmur, just loud enough for him to hear.
Raiden’s eyes gleam. “Good. I like a challenge.”
And with one final flourish, he spins me out and pulls me back in—so close that for a heartbeat, I forget how to breathe.
“You’re not so bad at this,” I whisper.
His smile is all teeth and heat. “Wait ‘til I really try.”
I roll my eyes at him, a smile pulling at my lips. Looks like it’s not just Nolan I might be falling for. Because Raiden is not who I thought he was at first.
Raiden’s hand tightens slightly at my waist as we move, his smile easy and confident, but I feel the shift in him before he speaks.
“Looks like we’ve got company,” he says lightly, like it’s a joke.
But I already sensed it—that invisible pull, the feeling of being seen. Not in a flattering way, but in a way that leaves nowhere to hide. I glance in the direction of the feeling, and just like that, I’m caught.
Kael stands at the edge of the courtyard, half in shadow, half in the soft golden light cast by the fae lamps strung overhead. His eyes are locked on me. Not angry or cold, just really intense. I shiver, and Raiden runs his hand down my back, waiting for my response.
I swallow and look back at him, forcing a smile. “No. I’m dancing with you right now.”
His brow lifts slightly. “Sure. But you know the guy who got you this dress is probably going to expect at least one dance.”
Those words shouldn’t hit me so hard because I already suspected it was Kael. Of course I did, even if I didn’t say it out loud. Who else would’ve had access to a gown woven with shadow and silk and magic I can feel on my skin?
But hearing it from someone else, said out loud like it’s obvious, makes something twist in my chest. I glance over at him again.
Kael hasn’t moved. Not yet. But his gaze hasn’t shifted, either. It’s like the rest of the dance doesn’t exist for him.
I drag my attention back to Raiden. “Maybe I should’ve stayed in my combat clothing.”
“Tempting, and you look amazing in that, too,” he says with a grin, “but less dramatic on the dance floor.”
As if Kael was waiting for the perfect lull in the music, he moves toward us. One second, he’s on the very edge of the courtyard, the next, he’s stepping forward, people unconsciously shifting around him, parting without being asked. Shadows clinging to him as he moves.
He stops beside us, expression unreadable. “Mind if I cut in?”
Raiden gives me a questioning glance, but doesn’t let go. Not yet.
I tilt my head, meeting Kael’s gaze with a sweet and sarcastic smile. “Wow. Look who decided to rejoin the land of the visible.”
The faintest twitch pulls at his mouth—half smirk, half threat. “You say that like you missed me.”
“I didn’t say that,” I murmur, chin tilting up.
“No,” he says, low and amused. “But you were thinking it.”
He flashes a grin then—quick and wicked—and for the first time, I catch the edge of something sharp behind it. Fangs. Not long or monstrous, just…there. I’ve never noticed them before.
I blink, but don’t flinch. “You always smile like a predator?”
“Only when I want something.”
Raiden snorts softly beside me, still holding my hand. “Careful, flame girl. Sounds like you’ve got options.”
I glance between them; one warm and golden and steady, the other carved from midnight and secrets and temptation. Then I do what I probably shouldn’t.
I place my free hand in Kael’s. “Just one dance.”
His fingers curl around mine, cool and sure. “That’s all I need.”
And as he pulls me gently from Raiden’s hold, the air between us stretches tight, electric with things we haven’t said. I don’t know what Kael wants. But tonight, I might be reckless enough to find out.