As he led me onto the floor, I caught my father’s eye across the room. He gave me a soft smile, pride pouring from him as he watched his daughter choose her own happiness. He lifted a hand, waved goodbye, and disappeared out the door to make his way to the temple. For an unknown reason, tears lined my eyes.
But before I could indulge them, the music picked up, and we were turning about the room. Tol’s chocolate irises burned with those amber specks, and my heart fluttered like an Angel’s wings. His lips quirked up at one corner, as if he heard it.
“This is long overdue,” I commented.
“What’s that?” He slid his hand around my waist, pressing it gently into the small of my back.
“The dance. From my birthday.”
He guided us effortlessly around the floor, without taking his eyes off me. “I would have danced with you all night.”
“I know.” I bit my lip, and his eyes flicked down to it.
As if on instinct, he pulled me closer until there was no space between us, the champagne fabric of my gown doing nothing to stifle his heat. The arches of beading throughout channeled it, and thoughthe gown made me feel like a vision born of Angellight, I wasn’t sure if I was grateful or furious with Jezebel for choosing such a thin material that every inch of his body scorched mine.
His gaze dropped for the briefest second. When it lifted, his eyes burned with need, tracing over the thin straps and low neckline.
“You’re beautiful,” Tol exhaled.
“You’re not half bad yourself, Vincienzo.” Unlike many, he’d gone without a jacket, wearing a white linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Leave it to Tolek to add his own take to even the most reverent of holidays.
I wouldn’t have him any other way.
“I know,” he replied with a wink. But then, his face fell slightly. “I’m sorry for how I reacted earlier.”
“You had every right to be angry with me.” I tilted my head up. “I’d placed a value on honesty and then didn’t show it.” He deserved better.
“Correct,” he agreed. “I have a right to be upset.” I was glad he didn’t try to placate me. “But I shouldn’t have walked away without an explanation. Why did you hide this prophecy from me, though?”Me. Notus. He understood why I didn’t share all my secrets with the entire council, with all of our friends. But the pain rounding the edges of his question—it was personal. Tol’s heart ached because I kept the threat fromhim. “I know it wasn’t just the warning. That wouldn’t be enough to stop you from doing what you wanted without an explanation.”
“I wanted to tell you, Tol. So many times. But I was afraid of what it meant for you. Speaking it made it feel real. And then, once I thought maybe it would be okay—” I thought of those thrashing nightmares he fought off in the cave. “You already had enough to worry about. I didn’t want to make it worse.”
“I’ll worry a lot less if I know what’s going on.” He lifted our clasped hands to brush a strand of hair out of my face. “You can share anything with me. I’m not going anywhere.” As if to prove it, he squeezed me to him. “By your side, infinitely, remember?”
I had known that for a while—since the day he jumped in front of Victious’s ax for me, and truthfully much longer than that. But the reminder that I wasn’t alone settled in my chest, prying some of my headstrong habits from me.
I let them go, promising to myself—to Tol—to do better. To be worthy of his honest heart.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m still not used to someone carrying burdens with me.” For years, I had shouldered my frustrations alone, refusing to acknowledge those who longed to help.
Tol spun me as the music whirled, and when I settled back in his arms, he promised, “Your curses aren’t burdens. We’ll conquer the Angels together, Alabath.”
Together.
I wanted together with Tol. That truth slammed into me, enough to stop my feet from moving, but he continued to carry us across the floor.
“I told you I don’t lie to you. I only ask that you do the same.” The weight of that request gathered in the sliver of space between us. I moved closer, swallowing it.
“No lies,” I swore to him. “And no omissions.”
“No lies, and no omissions,” he repeated, and it sealed like a promise. Like the thousands we’d exchanged in our short lives. The certainty that we would trust each other, be honest with each other no matter what, soldered a few of my broken pieces back together.
Tol’s body was firm against mine, and the thoughts it dragged to the surface were enough to cause my cheeks to heat. He was giving me a questioning stare, one brow raised. His thumb dragged absent-minded circles around the base of my spine. Desire unlike anything I’d felt before burned through me, and I forgot what we were talking about. Every thought, every inch of awareness focused on those slow motions and where else I wanted to feel them.
The music faded, but neither of us pulled away.
I was distantly aware of Missyneth announcing that the council was ready for my promenade from the palace to the Sacra Temple. That everyone was to congregate in the streets to line the path. That I was needed.
“I should?—”
