“I mean, what are yougoingto do?”
“I’mgoingto start stripping in five seconds, so unless you want an eyeful, then please leave.”
I step around him, continuing to the wardrobe.
“I was referring to Kylian.” Frustration seeps into his words as he comes up behind me. His breath tickles my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. I turn to face him. An electric charge passes between us as we stare each other down. He walks forward slowly, forcing me to step back until I’m met with the front of the wardrobe. He leans in, pressing his lips against my ear.
“Jace,” I warn, my eyes closing involuntarily.
“I didn’t like you talking to him,” he growls softly. I feel it in my knees.
“What a coincidence. That makes two of us.”
“And I really don’t like how he looks at you.” His arms cage me in.
“That shouldn’t matter to you.”
“And yet it does, little witch,” he whispers fervently, pulling back so that his golden eyes burn into mine.
I scoff.
“You don’t get to be possessive. You areengaged, Jace. It’s official. I am trying my best to let you go, to put my feelings aside, and here you are—doing whatever it is you’re doing. I won’t share you with someone else.” I close my eyes and swallow painfully. “You coming here, doing this—it’s cruel. It’s cruel to try to make me forget that you aren’t mine, only for reality to come crashing back in the moment we’re not alone. Do you know how cheap this makes me feel? When I know you have feelings for both of us?”
“My feelings for her are nothing like what I feel for you. I care about her, but not like that. I don’t love her, I love—” I press my fingers against his lips, silencing him.
“Do not finish that sentence. Please. I know you care about her. And it may not be love now, but that will easily change because you’re you, and she’s Sorscha. So, I can’t do this. I won’t.”
My hands gently push him back, and I turn to face the wardrobe, pressing my palms and forehead against it as I breathe.
He waits a long moment before striding to the door and leaving me alone.
I knock lightlyon Sorscha’s door before the service.
“Yes?” her soft voice calls.
I crack it open to find a slightly dimmed version of the dazzling princess seated at her vanity, head resting in her hands. She wears no makeup. Her eyes are slightly swollen and red, her lips less rosy than usual. It's not exactly the state I would expect to find a recently engaged princess in, but then again, her best friend was just killed.
“Oh, cousin,” she breathes, turning in her seat. “Come in.”
She tightens the tie of her silk robe as I take a seat across from her. Her disorientation is evident. Vacant amber eyes peer out from her heavy lashes, looking through me instead of at me. She must be in shock.
“I guess we aren’t really cousins after all,” she muses quietly. “It’s too bad. I so enjoyed having a cousin. I never had a sister...” She trails off, her voice light and airy.
Remorse tightens my throat as I swallow. She’s been more of a sister to me in the past few months than my actual sister ever was.
I repaid her with deceit.
“I’m sorry I had to keep it from you,” I say with sincerity. “It was for everyone’s protection. But you have to know that I care for you. For all of you.”
She nods, barely managing a slight smile.
“How are you holding up?” I ask gingerly. She shakes her head.
“I don’t quite believe it, even though I saw her with my own eyes,” she recalls, her voice fully devoid of emotion.
Definite shock.
“Jace and I had just gotten to the dance floor when it happened. She just fell from the ceiling. Dropped like a little ragdoll. At first, I thought it was one of the silk dancers—just an acrobatic trick. Then I saw her. It was so loud. For someone so slight, when she fell, it was so loud.”
