Chapter 13 #2
In a panic, I remembered all the times I’d appreciated his muscles during these very training sessions, all the mornings I’d noticed how his tee shirts rode up a little higher when he stretched, the evenings when I’d encountered him in the hall after he’d showered and his hair was wet, water dripping into his radiant green eyes.
My cheeks burned at the realization that he’d heard my thoughts the whole time and he’d said nothing.
My eyes grew wider as I realized he was hearing me now.
His lips spread into a wicked grin again.
Every word, Adrian, he whispered against my subconscious.
Jaw clenched, I lunged for him again. He slid deftly to the side, his low chuckle in my ear as he struck again.
How do I do it? How do I block you out?
Feel the bond between us and push it down.
Push it down?
Bury it down deep. Somewhere you can find it again when you need it but deep enough that your surface thoughts, any fleeting ideas that come to you throughout the day, aren’t sent directly over to me.
I nodded, focusing on doing just that. I could visualize our connection in my mind’s eye well enough. It had become more obvious, more present, in the last few months. But I would need more concentration than I could currently allow given our sparring.
I slashed out at him again, but he met my blade with his own, metal singing.
“Enough,” Myrine snapped.
Dante and I stepped away from each other, lowering our rapiers to our sides, panting heavily.
Myrine looked between us and gave me a curt nod.
“Very well,” she said.
Her tone was light, casual, but I couldn’t help the way the corners of my lips lifted into a satisfied smile at the hint of her praise.
“Cosmo is hosting a dinner this evening to celebrate your success,” she told us. “Many prominent members of the major houses will be there. I assume I don’t have to state aloud that we expect you to be on your best behavior.”
She narrowed her eyes at me specifically.
“Adrian, appropriate attire has been left in your closet. Dante, take her to the Mitte.” Myrine turned on her heel and left us standing in the courtyard.
Dante wasted no time; he snatched my rapier and placed it gently on the outdoor weapon’s rack before striding off toward the Mitte, expecting me to follow.
I knew where we were going. I knew exactly what sort of training awaited me at the Mitte, and I shuddered.
It had been three weeks since we’d emerged victorious from the third Trial and Dante had begun teaching me how to swim.
That first day, he simply shoved me into the water, shouting at me to learn the proper motions or drown.
When I didn’t sink to a watery grave, he cocked his head to the side, gave a brief nod which rivaled his mother’s, and claimed he could work with me.
Two days ago, I’d managed to paddle around the pool on all fours like some sort of creature.
He’d said it was an improvement but, judging by the way Sita and Sajan, the children in the class I’d been assigned to with Bria, and other cousins of Dante’s, were swimming circles around me, I doubted that.
Today, we were going to work on treading water. He planned to time me to see how long I could remain with my head above water before my muscles gave way.
“But don’t worry,” he continued as an afterthought. “I won’t let you drown or anything.”
I repressed the urge to roll my eyes. His tone didn’t inspire much confidence.
By some grace of the gods, Olympia was not there to taunt me, and I was actually able to concentrate on my swimming.
I no longer looked like a fish out of water in the pool.
My body was starting to memorize the movements, my muscles expanding and contracting in their learned behaviors to keep me afloat.
By the end of my lesson, Dante actually smiled.
“Not bad, Third Ringer,” he told me, and I grinned back.
***
“I look ridiculous,” I said to the reflection of myself in the mirror.
They’d dressed me in a gown of emerald silk.
It was cut low, exposing the curves of my breasts, and cinched at the waist to accentuate my figure.
There was a slit all the way up the left thigh, exposing my newly tanned legs and the strappy heels they’d left to match.
The dress somehow flowed in soft, ethereal waves to the ground while also being incredibly tight.
I lifted the green silk, running the smooth material through my fingers, and frowned. Bria had explained that it was customary for the guests of such dinner parties to wear the color of the house they belonged to. I’d chosen to swallow my comment about what house I belonged to.
“You look beautiful,” Bria breathed as she fixed the straps at my shoulders, correcting the way they crisscrossed behind me, revealing my entire back down to the curve of my rear. “Are you ready?”
I grumbled but nodded as I turned to face her. She held out an arm, and I took it with one final deep breath. We headed out of my room for the stairwell at the end of the hall.
Please tell me you’re nearly ready, Dante’s voice brushed against my mind, pleading. I’m uncertain how much more of the force of my grandfather’s full attention I can bear.
I smirked and allowed Bria to lead me along.
We emerged downstairs to find clumps of people in varying shades of green, blue, and red all milling about, the blinding white of the acolyte robes interspersed among the crowd as well.
Bria patted me kindly on the arm and strode off to greet a few women her age near the base of the stairs.
I stood, awkwardly, at the bottom, clearing my throat and running my sweaty palms against the skirt of my gown to press it flat.
I wasn’t used to anything so revealing. It took everything I had not to keep adjusting the plunging bodice every few seconds.
“I wondered when you might be making your grand appearance,” a familiar voice sneered.
I closed my eyes and sighed before turning to Olympia as she approached me from behind.
Clad in a gauzy blue gown that did nothing to hide her broad shoulders and overly muscular legs, Olympia’s eyes glittered with malice and poorly disguised hatred as she approached me, similarly dressed goons on either side of her.
“Dante has been waiting for you.” Her tone oozed with displeasure. “But I suppose you were busy with his cousin.”
Her gaze flicked over my shoulder to where Bria stood across the room.
“Dante is my partner,” I replied, narrowing my eyes to show my annoyance, hoping that would be enough to convince her to leave me alone. “Bria is my friend.”
“Of course she would be the one to befriend the barbaric Third Ringer.”
“Watch it, Olympia,” I growled, fists clenching at my sides.
“She’s always been a fool,” she snapped, refusing to heed my warning. “Prone to taking on all manner of lost causes. I suppose that’s why they saw fit to stuff her into those religious robes rather than allow her to embarrass the family with her shot at the Trials.”
I took a step forward, fists clenched against the smooth silk.
“Adrian,” a deep, low growl emanated from behind me. I turned. Dante smiled at me so hard, it looked as though his jaw might break. He held out a hand, reaching toward me. “Come.”
“Run along,” Olympia breathed, leaning in so that only I could hear. The corner of her lip tugged up in a satisfied grin as she and her goons strolled away.
I watched them go, glaring, then followed Dante back to his grandfather’s side.
Cosmo immediately began introducing me to the woman he was speaking with. Some older member of House Lynx, I supposed. I wasn’t truly listening.
You need to focus, Dante hissed inside my mind. Part of being on your best behavior means remembering the people my grandfather introduces you to.
I don’t care about any of these people.
You should. The Trials aren’t the only dangerous games in Sanctuary, Adrian.
My eyes snapped to him, but Dante hadn’t taken his own off the conversation unfolding in front of us.
He held his flute of champagne in one hand, smiling and nodding, even laughing as the occasion warranted.
How could he do that? How could he maintain such focus on a conversation he cared nothing about while communicating with me nonverbally at the same time?
Perhaps Dahlia was right. I was concentrating too hard when we spoke.
I wasn’t good at this yet. But somehow, Dante was.
As I watched him, my eyes dipped lower. He wore a suit of green so deep it was almost black.
It probably wasn’t a color his grandfather preferred.
Cosmo was all vibrant emerald and piercing jade but Dante’s look had always been much more subdued, and darker.
It suited him. The dark material clung to his body like a second skin and I realized my outfit wasn’t the only scandalous one here.
My mouth watered involuntarily as I wondered if I could actually count each of his abdominal muscles through the fibers.
Someone choked.
My eyes flicked up to find Dante raising his forearm to his mouth to block the exit of the champagne he’d been drinking. Cosmo turned to him, brow raised, as the woman from House Lynx reached for him.
“Oh, dear,” she cooed, using the moment as an excuse to lean in close and press her sharp maroon nails against his chest. “Are you alright?”
“Fine,” Dante coughed. “I’m fine, thank you, Lenore. I just need a moment with my partner.”
Without another word, he grabbed my arm in his vice-like grip and towed me from the room. I sputtered indignantly against being manhandled but fell silent when I realized what had just occurred. He could hear my every thought…
He released me once we’d made it to a hallway on the opposite side of the room. It was dark and abandoned and so far away from the party I could hardly hear the revelry at all. He turned away from me, running a hand through his dark hair and sighing, long and laborious.
“I like your suit,” I commented.
Obviously, he answered in my mind to drive the point home that he’d clearly heard me before.
My cheeks tinged pink but I refused to admit to my embarrassment. So I crossed my arms and raised my chin in defiance of my own mortification.
“Am I supposed to ignore—“ I started.
“You’re supposed to learn how to keep your thoughts to yourself, Adrian,” he snapped, whirling to face me. In this dim light, his green eyes seemed even more vibrant. I blinked and pulled my gaze away from them. It took more effort than I wished.
“I’m trying! But your instructions were so vague. I don’t know how to bury who I am in my own mind, Dante. I’ve never had anyone occupying the space with me before!”
“Fine. You’re right,” he said and my mouth fell open at the fact that he was actually agreeing with me for maybe the first time ever.
But then he approached me, so quickly I didn’t have time to escape, and pressed me up against the dark wall at my back.
His body caged me in, one arm above my head, hand against the wall by the sconce that lit us, knee grazing my bare thigh on the other side.
His green eyes darkened, gaze falling hooded, as he maintained eye contact that was so intense I probably should’ve turned away.
I didn’t. “But if you’re going to think about me that way, you better do something about it.
Because if you don’t, it’s torture. Cruel and unusual punishment. ”
I watched him for a moment, my chest rising and falling with quick breaths. My lips parted and his gaze darted to them. My heart rate skyrocketed.
“You’re-you don’t mean that,” I whispered because this moment felt fragile. Despite the blazing heat in his eyes, this felt like something that could be broken if the wrong words were said. “You don’t want me.”
He blinked, some of that heat fizzling out, but enough of it remained to confuse me.
“Do you actually believe that?” He stepped away, genuinely bewildered.
I didn’t get the chance to answer.
Someone rang a bell, and everyone in the foyer filed through into the dining room.
After a moment of hesitation, Dante and I followed.
I couldn’t help but feel a minuscule amount of relief at the interruption.
I hadn’t had an answer, not really. Did I actually believe he didn’t want me?
Of course I did. His kind had never wanted to even be around mine.
The Upper Ringers treated those of us below as if being poor was contagious.
The only emotion I’d ever drawn from someone above me in the social hierarchy was disgust. So, of course, it was hard to believe a man from the First Ring would feel anything close to desire for me.
Even though Dante was my partner. Even though we’d been through all we already had together.
Even though we’d flirted and joked and literally spoke to one another in our minds.
It had never been real. Had it? I couldn’t deny the part of me that had wanted that moment in the hall to linger, had wanted to explore the possibilities dancing in his heady green eyes.
But that part of me scared me. Because I was sure I’d never felt anything like it before.
Pushing thoughts of the Viper heir from my mind, I followed the crowd to find the long dining table laid out with more place settings than I’d ever seen.
Each one had a small folded sign with the name of its intended occupant.
Silently grateful that my own name was the first thing Bria had taught me to read, I didn’t pay any attention to the others as I searched for my own.
Finding it toward the center, I pulled out my chair and sat right as Olympia pulled out hers directly across from me, and Dante beside her.
Her eyes met mine, and we both frowned. I restrained the urge to curse as I sat, avoiding Dante’s darkened gaze as well.
I really could’ve used a break from both of them but tried not to think as much so my partner wouldn’t sense it.
From the head of the table, Cosmo watched us, lips quirked into a knowing smile as he took a sip of his champagne.
I sighed.
Ever since I’d called him out in front of his family, he seemed to be making a hobby of creating awkward situations for me to see if I would erupt and show my true class.
But I wouldn’t take the bait.
I merely sat down, placing my napkin upon my lap as Bria had instructed, and waited for the first course to begin.