“It is, isn’t it?” He gives me a cold glare and tears past me. It feels like a punch to the gut.
I makemy way into the Grand Hall, pausing at the steps to take in the splendor waiting on the other side.
If this is the precursor to the wedding, I shudder to think how decadent the real deal will be. The entire room has been transformed into a woodland dream. Every inch of wall and ceiling is covered in moss and tangling vines with tiny fae lights sprinkled throughout.
The beauty of this world is never lost on me—even when that beauty is wrapped in thorns sharp enough to draw blood.
I step into the sea of ballgowns, feeling strange without Zadyn by my side. He was with me the first time I danced in this room, when I met the people I would claim as my family. He’s been with me every step of the way, easing my transition into this world.
And I may have ruined everything between us.
Spotting Mar’s mass of auburn hair on the terrace, I cut through the party to find my friends huddled by the open doors. Every head is angled toward the sprawling lawns below, where two lines of archers are assembled. Their flaming arrows release at the same moment, shooting up into the night sky and criss-crossing before exploding like dying stars. The crowd of onlookers “ooh” and “ah” in response.
“I’m going to get a better look.” Eaton excuses himself to join the horde of nobility gathered along the balcony, stopping beside Sorscha.
“Anyone care to dance? I have skills that need to be shown off,” Kai drawls, dusting off his shoulder.
“Don’t look at me.” Mar snickers.
Kai turns to me and inverts his lips into a pout that would be ridiculous on most males. He somehow manages to make it look pornographic.
“Fine,” I cede. “I will be the sacrificial lamb.”
He smiles and snakes his arm around my waist, steering me to the dance floor.
“How are you feeling?” he asks. I place my hand on his shoulder, and we begin to waltz.
“Fine. Why?”
“Well, it’s just that the last wedding you attended got a little”—he makes a face—“bloody.”
I have to laugh.
“As long as you’re not planning any repeats.”
“Nope. I’m praying this wedding will be absolutely uneventful. Boring, even. No surprises.”
“Haven’t you learned by now,Lady Accostia? Court life is chock-full of surprises. Not always the good kind. Couldn’t tempt our little Zadyn from the library?”
“He is not little?—”
“Wait, how do you know that?” Kai gives me a dubious grin.
“You know what I mean.” My cheeks flush. “He’s probably getting dressed now.”
“He didn’t come the moment you beckoned? The scandal.”
“Oh, shut up.” We fall silent as Kai’s ballroom expertise carries us across the floor. “We haven’t really had much time to talk. Alone.”
“If it’s a rendezvous you want, you need only ask.”
I press my lips into a flat line. “I want to know how you’re doing. Really.”
“I’m fantastic.”
“Are you? Because I know how good you are at pretending everything is perfectly fine and life is one big riot.” I search his face, but he avoids me, adopting an air of cool indifference. “You went through hell. And you made it out.”
“We both did.”
