I wanted to step into Vox’s arms, hold him tightly and kiss the everloving shit out of him. “Are you doing okay?” I asked quietly instead. “I miss you.” My voice was barely a whisper, but I knew Vox would have created a sphere of silence around us.
“It’s been torture, watching Hayle get to kiss you and hold you, while I’m stuck over here with my hands in my pockets and the memory of your taste fading from my mind.” He said it all with complete neutrality. If you couldn’t hear us, we probably looked as if we were talking about the weather, or something equally as inane.
“We’ll be back at Boellium soon enough,” I promised him. “And then I’m not letting you out of my dorm room for days. We’ll see if Lierick really is as powerful as he says and can make a specter of us attending all our classes, so people don’t get suspicious.”
He laughed softly. “I can’t wait.”
Hayle reappeared, and his arm went back around my waist as he handed me what looked like some kind of punch. “Here we go. Also, I just saw Kian—he’s on his way over.”
As if Hayle had summoned him, my brother appeared. His eyes flickered between the three of us, like he was trying to figureout what was happening. The dynamic was odd, I guess, if all you had to go on was rumor and their behavior at the Conclaves.
But like the child of any abusive parent, Kian was very good at reading body language, and the air around a person. There was no animosity here.
He looked back at me, a frown on his face, but he still hadn’t said a word.
Sighing, I rolled my eyes at my older brother, then looked back at Vox. “You might want to airbubble him too for this next bit.” I felt his power stretch over the four of us. “I’m dating Vox Vylan. It’s a secret.”
Kian reared back, like I’d just told him that I was fucking a bridge troll. “I thought you were in love with Taeme?”
I grabbed Kian’s hand. “I am. I’m also in love with Vox.” I wanted to reach out and touch Vox too, but the privacy bubble only inhibited sound. “It’s possible to love more than one person. It isn’t a gift you can only give once.” Unlike my father, who hadn’t had love for anyone but my mother: not his children or his Barony, and never another woman. There was just him and his bitterness now.
Kian’s jaw worked. “I understand that, Avie, I do. But this”—his eyes flicked from me to Vox—“is a dangerous game. I can’t protect you from that.”
It clearly pained him to admit it, and I squeezed his hand tightly. “I don’t need your protection anymore, Kian.” I flickered my gaze around the room. There were too many people, too many ears, for the conversation we needed to have. “I have so much to tell you, but not here.”
Hayle’s palm tightening around mine was reassuring. “We’ll meet you in the back garden, just beyond the treeline, when the banquet ends.”
My brother looked at us all suspiciously, and I gave him my most confident smile. “It’s all okay, big brother. I promise. Goand enjoy yourself. Felix Mirchrin’s sister has been giving you kitten eyes for the last five minutes.”
He glanced over his shoulder, where Elise Mirchrin was indeed giving him come-hither eyes, though I imagined it had less to do with political bedmates and more for a quick romp in one of the Baron’s many rooms. My brothers were handsome in a way that wasn’t prevalent in the southern citizens of Ebrus; they were big and rough, like they’d been cut from the mountains themselves, but still handsome. Every single one of the maids back home had mooned after them.
I didn’t see it, though. They both looked like my father, and that wasn’t something I could ever find attractive.
Elise Mirchrin appeared beside us. “Heir Halhed, may I have the honor of a dance?” She was sweet, but was definitely throwing offfuck mevibes so thoroughly, it was a wonder she wasn’t panting.
Kian inclined his head, either oblivious to the knowledge that the girl wanted to get into his pants, or uncaring it was so. “Of course.” He led her away gently, while she looked up at him with big eyes.
Hayle laughed softly. “Mirchrin’s sister wants to climb your brother like a tree.”
I shuddered. “Ew.” I noticed there were now more and more people on the floor, and I looked up at Vox. “Would you do me the honor of a dance?”
Vox hesitated, but I could see the desire in his eyes. Finally, he sucked in a deep breath. “Of course. I just don’t know how I’m going to prevent everyone in the room from knowing that I want to fuck you against the closest wall.”
Hayle snorted, his grin wide, because he’d promised to do the same earlier. “Just imagine there’s a stick up your ass and do that expression.”
Raising a single eyebrow, he met Hayle’s gaze. “What if I’d like that?” he taunted back.
Wait. What?
Both of Hayle’s brows went up until they nearly touched his hairline. “I’m pretty sure that could be arranged.”
Wait, wait, wait. Are my boyfriends becoming… boyfriends?
“What am I witnessing right now?” I asked, my eyes bouncing between them. “Whatever it is, please note that I am one thousand percent on board.”
Rolling his eyes at me, Vox reached out and grabbed my elbow, directing me toward the dancefloor. “Nothing that can be sorted out right now. Let’s dance.”
I felt eyes watching me as he led me to the center of the dancefloor. The band was playing something soft but lively, and Vox held me tightly. Dancing wasn’t really in my repertoire, but I was going to give it a whirl and hope I was better than Bach. At least I’d been forced to learn.
