“Of courseshewould 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 myeverythought…
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 toignore—“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 methatway, 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.
