Chapter 58 Hell
Rafael offered me his hand and I could do nothing but stare at it.
“You expect me to dance… with you… in this tent that people call clothing?”
He smiled but did not retract his hand. “I can hardly walk, much less dance. Besides, I have no skill for dancing. I was not meant for this life.” He took my hand anyway.
“I will lead you. You do not have to worry about skill,” he promised.
“Though, I seem to remember from one moonlit waltz that you do have a talent. A small one, but good enough to keep you on your feet.”
I rolled my eyes at his jest. He swept me onto the floor, and we began a mechanical march to a sleepy-sounding song.
I watched in horror as Liv was led onto the floor by a man who could not be mistaken for anyone other than Stanhope.
Ezra grabbed the hand of a young noble lady and pulled her into a dance.
I tried to keep my eyes on them but lost them among the crowd of dancers.
Scanning the room, I counted six enforcers in total, each covering one of the exits.
It was slightly shocking that there were not more present, but I was sure they were hidden behind the walls and beneath the floor, waiting to burst forth the moment they were called for.
This was all planned by Stanhope, that was painfully clear.
If we had caught him by surprise, we would already be locked in battle.
There was one other thing that caught my attention and made me uneasy.
As I looked around the room, almost every pair of eyes stared back at me.
“They are all staring at us. Either I look absolutely ridiculous, or they are plotting an attack,” I whispered to Raf. I was close enough to feel the rumble of his chest as he chuckled.
“There is one possibility you have not yet explored.”
I looked up at him. “They are staring at you.”
I lifted my brow. “Hell, I do not know how you do not understand.”
He sighed. “You are the most devastatingly beautiful and terrifyingly strong woman in any room you enter. They stare because they are either terrified of you, jealous of you, or want to bed you.”
Heat crept from my neck into my cheeks and my heart hammered in my chest. “Well I would be glad for them to stop.”
He laughed, louder this time. “Let them stare,” Raf murmured. His gaze drifted briefly over my shoulder before returning to mine. “Though, I pity the man foolish enough to come near you.”
“Are you saying that you would fight for me, Blacksmith?” His eyes held mine with an intensity that had not been there a moment before.
“Fight for you?” He chuckled dryly. “I do not need to.” I tilted my head. His hand tightened almost imperceptibly at my waist. “I am saying that I would raze what little ash remains when you were done with them, My Inferno.”
My mouth suddenly felt too dry and my stomach annoyingly too tight. I tried frantically to look anywhere but at him. My eyes landed upon Ezra, waving subtly from the edge of the floor. When he realized he had my attention, he pointed nonchalantly toward the orangery, signaling for us to follow him.
“We need to go.” Raf blinked back at me, confused. “Now, Blacksmith.” I pushed him in the direction of the orangery. When we entered, Ezra stood alone beneath a tree. His jaw was set, and the veins in his hands had gone completely black.
“What is it? What happened?” I looked around the space. “Where in the seven hells is Liv?!”
“Quiet, Helena, please.” I nodded. “Liv is currently being forced into a dance with Stanhope. Now is our chance to find your brother, Raf.” I shook my head.
“Are you insane? Do you truly intend to leave her here with that madman while we traipse about this castle to search for a boy?” He looked completely taken aback.
“It is both somehow bold of you to assume I would ever leave her, and deeply offensive of you to assume that she would need me to watch her.”
I pressed my lips together in a tight line.
He was right. If there was anyone who could handle themselves in this rebellion, it was Liv.
But he would die before truly abandoning her.
Somewhere deep within me, in a place I would never reveal to another living soul, I longed for that kind of connection.
To be soul-bound was entirely different than just love.
“I will stay down here and make sure you are not followed, and make sure Liv does not need assistance. You two will need to follow the grand staircase to the third floor. That is where they keep rooms for the council and visiting lords. If Stanhope is keeping him here,
I would bet my life he will be in one of those rooms.”
He nodded sharply and left the room. I paused for a moment and then quickly smudged the lipstick Liv had put on me all over my mouth.
I held my hand to Rafael’s lips and smeared the remnants on them.
“What in the seven hells?” He tried to wipe the lipstick from his face with his coat sleeve.
“Now we have a completely reasonable excuse for seeking out rooms.”
He looked at me blankly. “Ugh, must I explain everything?”
He still looked confused. “We look as though we have just been caught in the throes of passion, Blacksmith. They will simply believe that we are seeking a room to be alone.”
I did not know it was possible to see a blush on a man with copper skin, but his cheeks were redder than the roses they used to decorate this place.
I took his hand and led him from the room and up the grand stairs.
We moved down the hall of the third floor from door to door.
Most of the rooms were empty, some were occupied by lords and their mistresses.
But when we opened the gold-lined door at the end of the hall, Raf froze.
“Brother!”