Chapter 37
The skittering pressure of the room’s attention reminds me of ants crawling over my skin.
I yearn to scratch the itch, to scowl to discourage their unwanted stares, but Rian’s swirling silver irises hold me hostage. There’s no escape as he leads me across the dance floor.
My fight against the lust licking my veins falters. Desire soars to new heights in his arms. The taut string between us is so visceral, so natural. So unlike the manufactured sensations the pink drink made me feel with Leto.
An ominous, prickly sensation originates from the direction of the dais. I’d bet all the medicines in my healer’s satchel that it comes from Iris.
A tendril of shadow encircles the base of Rian’s exposed throat. I follow its smooth movement with my eyes. Tingles gather in my fingertips where my skin touches his.
Rian and I are something.
What? I’m not sure.
It could be as Rian claims. The pull linking me to the Shadow Prince could be nothing more than latent Fae instinct.
And if it is, what does it matter?
That does not make the feelings any less potent. Any less real.
No matter how much I try to convince myself otherwise.
The shadow around his throat flickers out of sight, then reappears and dances down his corded forearm before weaving itself around our joined hands.
I swallow the lump in my throat. “How are you doing that?”
A glance confirms that the crowd is a pale, sweaty, trembling mess. No one sees his shadows.
“Doing what?” Rian’s gravelly voice travels over me, sending a tremor down my spine.
Without warning, he spins me out of his arms. When he draws me in, my back is pressed to his front.
Heat crawls up my neck when evidence of his arousal presses against me.
He dips his head so his lips brush against my ear. “Do you feel that, Elara? Do you feel what you do to me?”
What is happening?!
My wild eyes sweep the room. Dancing couples, lost in the joy of their manufactured ecstasy, dominate my vision before Hali glides into view. She’s dancing with a new partner, a man I don’t recognize. But I do recognize the pretty headpiece adorning her lush brown hair. It was Daphne’s.
I recall Augustus saying her name.
Did she win the contest?
Is the accessory Hali’s prize?
What favor will she ask for?
A low laugh flows into my ear. “Are you ignoring me?”
I suppress a shiver. “I’m trying to.”
Rian’s lips curl against my hair. “Really? I can scent your arousal. I feel the way your body responds to me.”
He drops his head and nips at my shoulder with a pointed fang.
A gasp breaks free from my lips.
His mouth slides back up to my ear. “Why resist me?”
Gods know I don’t want to.
“Because we’ve been here before,” I pant, unable to catch my breath with him so close. “And this is nothing but a game to you.”
A game I refuse to lose again.
A growl vibrates in his chest.
Rian’s hand slides up my front and wraps around my throat in a loose hold. His forefinger hooks around my jaw, and he pushes up, forcing me to meet his stormy gaze.
“Trust me, Elara. This is far from a game to me.”
The magic in my veins titters, and the marks on my arms draw tight.
The urge to lean in, to close this distance between us and capture his lips with mine, consumes me.
His touch slides up my face. The manacles clamped to his wrist press against the exposed skin around my clavicle. The cool metal bites. I suck in a breath.
The haze of desire clears for a brief moment, and a question I’ve been putting off bubbles to my lips. “What is Fae Fire?”
Rian’s fingertips press gently against my jaw before falling away. “It’s exactly what it sounds like.”
He takes my hand and gives me another spin. When I stop, I’m back in his hold, facing him. He steps back, grip firm, and I’m forced to follow his lead.
More shadows glide over my skin, around his arms. They weave between us, as if they are active partners in this dance.
I glance at the dais. “Can anyone hear us?”
Helen and Augustus are seated back in their throne-like chairs. Jason and Daphne are nowhere to be seen, but Iris hovers behind her parents.
If she were a water wielder, I have no doubt her icy glare would freeze me where I stand.
“No,” Rian answers.
I meet his gaze. “You’re sure?”
An arrogant smirk tugs the corner of his lips. “I’m sure.”
A pulse of shadow darkens around us before fading from sight.
My lips part. He’s erected a barrier, similar to the one Helen used on the maze platform.
Rian’s smirk grows. “You were saying?”
He guides me into a quick spin. I grip his hands tightly. My hair and skirts flare out behind me.
I stumble to a stop. “What?”
“About Fae Fire?”
Oh…right.
A truth I’d been suppressing rises to the surface, no longer content to be ignored.
“Ferria created those manacles.” I frown at the offending dark metal wrapped around his wrists. “Didn’t she?”
The fingers holding my own flex. “Unknowingly, yes. It appears she did.”
A heavy breath blows past my lips. “By the Gods…”
It is one thing to learn that my twin and I are part Fae…
Add that I possess allegedly extinct light magic while my sister has the ability to create weapons to negate a Fae’s power, and I see nothing but trouble on the horizon for us both.
“Do not worry,” Rian murmurs.
I look up, and my heart squeezes at the gentleness etched into his handsome face.
“How can I not?”
His thumb brushes the back of my hand. “Ferria’s secret is safe. Anton believes she has her power under control. He never even sensed her imbuing her Fire into metal while she forged.”
As if that makes it better.
“Why was Anton in Verdanthia in the first place?”
It’s a question I should have asked a long time ago. There are a lot of things I should’ve asked about.
I blame my silence on the shock of what happened in Verdanthia.
The torture.
The betrayal.
Being torn from my sister and the only home I’d ever known.
Resisting the feelings that try to bind me to the formidable male in front of me.
It’s all kept me distracted.
That ends now.
“Anton was helping me.” Rian’s fingers trail down my arms.
“For how long?”
His eyes track over the goose bumps peppering my skin. “From the beginning.”
The confirmation stings.
Part of me hoped Anton was manipulated into helping the Shadow Prince after he moved to Verdanthia.
That everything about him and his relationship with me and my sister wasn’t a calculated deception.
I swallow down the hurt. “Is Anton a member of your cadre?”
“Not quite.”
I wait for him to say more.
Rian’s strong arms keep me close as we move through the dance’s methodical steps. Shadows caress my wrists.
He remains silent.
“How could Anton help you in Verdanthia?” I press. “What was he doing for you so far south?”
Softness flees from his expression. The stoic mask, the one I’ve come to realize the Shadow Prince wears more often than his real face, falls into place.
“That is none of your business.”
“Excuse me?” My temper flares in a way it only ever seems to do around this Shadow Fae. “You don’t think a glamoured Shadow Fae infiltrating my town, befriending me and my sister for years, is not my business?”
A cloud of darkness rises off his shoulders. “Anton stumbling upon two untrained part Fae was not part of the plan, if that’s what concerns you.”
Not part of the plan?
The words echo through my skull.
Anton didn’t come to Verdanthia because of me.
Or Ferria.
“Then why was he there?” I ask. “What did he want? Was it the astlerium?”
I can think of no other reason the Shadow Prince would send a spy into my town under the guise of being a Kinless orphan.
A muscle in Rian’s cheek twitches.
“It was!” I yank my hand free of his and point at his face. “You came for astlerium!”
In a blur, Rian recaptures my hand.
“Careful, Elara,” he drawls out in a low, throaty voice. “I enjoy your tenacity, but there are great forces at work, and their importance outweighs your flighty curiosity.”
“Flighty?” I try to tug to free myself from his hold again, but his grip tightens.
“Yes, flighty.” His lips twist into an unamused grin.
He leans close. My breath catches in my throat.
“One minute, you are studious and determined to unravel the secrets of your magic and cure Darius. You even asked me for help.”
My eyes narrow. “Yes, but then you betrayed—”
“And now.” He turns us in a wide circle, moving us to the edge of the dance floor. “After you learn the truth of where that magic comes from…of your birthright…you have not stopped to ask how it affects your future. What being Light Fae means.”
My stomach twists. “It means nothing. It affects nothing.”
I will cure Darius, and then I will find Ferria.
My future lies with her. We will live our lives in freedom.
Being part Light Fae changes nothing.
Rian draws back and levels me with a pitying look that cuts sharper than a scalpel. “I never took you for a fool, but perhaps I was wrong.”
My jaw drops.
Asshole.
I snap my lips closed and growl, “You don’t know anything about me.”
“We both know that’s not true.” Rian leans forward again.
This time, he rests his nose against my temple.
I stiffen as he inhales deeply.
A growl rumbles in his chest. “The fire wielder was right. You smell divine.”
My pulse quickens. “I don’t understand you.”
The shadow coiling around my wrist weaves through the pearl bracelets stacked on my arm.
“Not many do.” He adjusts his grip on my hand then spins me outward.
I stumble at the sudden move. The straps wrapped around my calves press into my flesh as I shift and right myself.
My sandaled feet steady underneath me just before Rian reels me back in. My back crashes into his chest with force, but he doesn’t budge an inch.
My arms are crossed at my chest and stomach, trapped as he holds each hand in his strong grip.
He ducks his head, so close his breath ghosts over my cheeks. “But one day, I think you might understand me better than most.”
My heart flips.
What in the hells is that supposed to mean?
Rian and I stand at the edge of the ballroom. I hadn’t realized how far he’d guided me.
The dance floor is a sea of inebriated couples. The dais sits empty. No one looks in our direction.
Is it Rian’s glamour or his shadows that conceal us?
Are they separate abilities?
Or one and the same?
My breasts rise and fall with ragged breaths.
Desire trickles to the front of my mind the longer I remain pressed against the formidable male behind me, overwhelming my resistance.
“I have so many questions,” I murmur so quietly that the words are almost lost in the boisterous crowd and music.
Rian’s lips curve against the side of my face. “I’m sure you do.”
He releases one hand and tugs on the other. I spin in place, and I’m once again locked in his arms.
I stare up at the Shadow Prince. A devastating grin tugs his sensuous lips.
My soul burns.
I search his silver eyes, then my own mind. Indecision wars within me. My power billows, and the marks on my arms skitter.
I should fear Rian.
I should despise him.
But I don’t.
Not even a little bit.
I bite my lip.
Rian’s eyes flare bright.
Hali’s plan flashes through my mind. The children. The ship Anders promised to secure.
Leaving the ballroom with Rian could complicate everything.
Could ruin everything.
But staying here while desire and magic wage war around us is its own kind of disaster waiting to happen.
I make a choice and pray to Olyra that it isn’t a mistake.
“Take me away from here,” I demand, breathless.
Rian’s grin turns feral. “Sunshine…I thought you’d never ask.”