I’ve never been so acutely aware of someone I’m not even looking at. Yet William’s presence is impossible to ignore, even as we stand on opposite ends of a room with dozens of people between us. I can feel him looking at me. Smirking, more like.
Our unspoken truce has ended. Or whatever the camaraderie we found on the balcony is called. It ended the moment I slid my hand out of William’s as we left the north wing. We found Jolene pacing the hall not long after, and when she asked what took us so long, what horrors had befallen us in the mysterious wing, William and I exchanged a look. One that sealed our secrets between us.
After that, I simply said to Jolene, “Spiders.”
And that was that.
She’s been hanging off William’s arm ever since, and there she remains, clinging to him like a lifeline as they chat amongst a small crowd before the enormous fireplace. A fireplace thatsomehow keeps the room cooler, not hotter, as it burns pearlescent white logs with pale blue flames. Strange fae magic, to be sure, and I’m grateful for it. Even though the nights seem cooler in the Solar Court than the days, with so many guests, so much activity, and so much alcohol, I daresay this cramped room would be stifling without the cooling magic. We’re in a recreation room on the first floor, one of the few not dedicated to any art. Unless you count drinking and canoodling as an art. The room seems to be most effective at pairing up couples, which makes it perfect for the purpose of our bet.
I meet William’s eyes for what must be the hundredth time since entering the room. A corner of his lips curl as he taps the mantle he’s leaning against. My gaze shifts to his fingertips. For a moment I’m struck by the memory of how he’d lifted my chin with that very finger. Before he teased me about pleasure. Then I realize what he’s gesturing at. It’s the small clock perched upon the mantel. It reads a quarter to eleven.
He gives me a pointed look that says,Almost midnight.
My sneer replies,I know.
He tilts his head to indicate the girl on his arm. The lofty arch of his brow conveys that his night’s win is guaranteed. He’s not wrong either. Jolene has both arms wrapped around his, her cheeks flushed from the drink she somehow managed to consume without letting go of William. She’s determined to take him to bed tonight and isn’t keeping her intentions a secret from anyone. A sharp pinch of annoyance pricks my chest before I snap my attention back to William.
Then pay attention to her, I mouth at him with a dismissive flick of my wrist.
Pay attention to him, he mouths back, jutting his chin at the man whose chair arm I’m perched upon.
I bat my lashes and lean closer to my companion until our shoulders touch.Like this?
William isn’t the only one who’s found a partner for the night. Though mine is still more of apotentialpartner. He’s a human named Archie and he’s a postgraduate student at the university. He took a liking to me almost as soon as we entered the room. I was initially worried about our age difference, as he’s three-and-twenty to my nine-and-twenty, but he wasn’t put off in the least. If anything, he was more fascinated.
Archie notices me leaning into him and angles himself toward me. With a disarmingly sweet smile, he lifts his palm and presents a pair of dice. “Will you blow on them, Edwina?”
A blush warms my cheeks. I’ve hardly known the man for more than an hour, and he’s already calling me by my first name. “Blow on them?”
“Infuse them with luck.”
I shake my head. “I don’t have any magic if that’s?—”
He chuckles, as do the others surrounding the card table. Archie has been engaged in a game of cards and dice with several male classmates. Most have a female companion with them, perched on the arm of their partner’s chair like me, which the players insist is good luck. Archie begged me to be hislady luck, but I haven’t a clue what this blowing on dice ritual is all about.
“You’re so cute, Edwina.” Archie blinks up at me, his cheeks ruddy, his chestnut hair mussed. He wears spectacles just like me and might be the cutest man I’ve ever met. I’d love to cast him as one of my heroines’ younger brothers. Or perhaps the hero’s much kinder yet secretly villainous rival. “It’s not magic, sweet girl. It’s just for luck.”
I internally wince. No one has ever called mesweet girl, and I daresay no one would if they knew me well. Still, it’s refreshing to have a stranger see me in such a way.
I do as he asked and blow on the dice, then I lift my gaze to find William again.
He’s hidden at first as a cluster of partygoers saunters past, but as soon as they clear my line of sight, I find William’s eyes at once, narrowed to a glare. I give him a haughty shrug and lean even closer to Archie, draping my arm behind his shoulders as he throws the dice, then flips a card. Archie cheers and circles his arms around my waist, pulling me fully into his lap at the same time. My face burns hot, and I’m not certain what to do with my hands. One arm is still thrown over his shoulders, and I place the other hesitantly over the armrest. I’ve never sat in a man’s lap before, and I’ve certainly never acted so familiar with a stranger in public, but the other women at the card table seem perfectly comfortable in similar positions.
I find William again. His face is slack at first, but his expression quickly sharpens. He scoffs, as if my efforts are laughable, and somehow manages to extract his arm from Jolene’s ironclad grasp to put it around her shoulders. Her expression brightens at once. That might be the first time he’s initiated any kind of touch with her. She whirls toward him and drapes both arms behind his neck. His eyes widen as if he hadn’t expected her to react. For the briefest moment, his arrogance disappears. Then he lifts his gaze over her head and we lock eyes once more. His haughty façade returns, and he places his hands at her waist. While he doesn’t bring her nearly as close as Archie has brought me, it’s obvious he’s trying to show me up.
So I take things one step further and place a hand on my companion’s chest.
William pulls Jolene an inch closer.
I drag my hand higher up Archie’s torso until it rests over his clavicle. Nearly the same place William touched me earlier. Then I slip my hand under the collar of Archie’s shirt until only warm flesh lies under my palm.
The way William sucks in a breath, the way his jaw tightens, makes me feel like it’shisbody beneath my palm, his skin I’mteasing. And that, for some strange reason, thrills me. I give him an innocent smile.
William’s eyes dip to my mouth and his own parts slightly.
I lift my chin and drag the tip of my tongue over my upper lip. I probably look more like a lizard than a seductress, but the way William’s pupils go wide has me uncaring either way. I sit up straighter in Archie’s lap, lifting my chest and letting the low-cut bodice of my evening dress do the rest of the work. I may not be the most well-endowed, but I know how to lace my corset just right to make the best of what I have. Showing it off is a matter of posture, which I rarely care to utilize. But now…
William’s gaze slides to my chest?—
