Ebony appeared to be in good spirits, smiling wide enough to reach the empty black sockets as her form flickered from translucent to opaque. Unease rocked my belly, an itch crawled up my skin, staring at the large package.
“What’s with the box?” I asked.
Ebony fluttered down from the chandelier, and goose bumps raised across my skin as she came to rest by my side. Ebony held my hands, her form more solid, as if she was truly here. “Open it! Oh, it is simply lovely! I promise you won’t be disappointed!”
The candle’s flames brightened as her smile threatened to burst the entire room in light. Silas attempted to hide his smirk by scratching at his chin, only to nod my way.
I tugged at the bow, coming undone in a few simple strokes. I carefully ripped through the paper to a black box underneath. Ebony nodded profusely, one second away from jumping in herself to open the box as her phantom hands inched closer.
I opened it and nearly dropped to my knees. “Silas, I...” My voice drifted to Silas’s warm and adorning gaze, unfazed while perched over his glass of wine. “I can’t... This is... Gods...”
“You came home distressed after your visit. I gathered it did not go well, and I had Ebony look into afew things for me and came to find that it had been your birthday.”
Ebony touched my shoulder, finger firm and cool. “I told this lug that we simply could not possibly pass this important day up. So, while you were moping about—I procured a list for this brood to go get for tonight.” She stuck her tongue out at Silas, an amusing gesture.
I laughed, and it sounded odd passing from my lips. I let my hand pass over the ornate fabric, satin and beading raised against my palm.
The dress was gorgeous, wrapped pretty in the shimmery gold and gossamer. An over-the-shoulder gown with black and crimson trimmings laid together with exquisiteness made for a queen. Silk gloves sat on top, along with a necklace statement piece, a single tear-shaped ruby and a black velvet strap.
I blinked in disbelief as reality set back in. One does not wear such a gown for a man and ghosts but for a grand ball. To be admired by some and envied by others—all eyes trailing after desire incarnate.
Mama would have considered the gown to be ludicrous and sinful, especially a gift from a man, a scandal waiting to happen. Miriam would have thought it bold and a gorgeous sentiment from a lover’s eye.
I set the dress back into the box, the ache heavy in my chest. “This is gorgeous, but I’d have nowhere to wear such a gown.”
As if on cue, Silas flashed from his seat and cupped my chin. “I thought you may say that, so I had arranged a ball here. The residents are preparing themselvesas we speak. It has been so long for them, too, that I hope you would give them the honor of wearing this.” He kissed my hand.
“Silas, what are you saying?” I said, mind envisioning the grand occasion.
The difference between the engagement ball and this one swirled in my head.
Silas’s devilish grin widened, and I fought the urge to shamelessly kiss it off him. “Valeria McCallister, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to tonight’s ball?”
His hands wandered down, tracing the edge of my hips and up the length of my spine.
I leaned into his scent of cloves and spice and wordlessly kissed those fine lips of his. “You are simply too much.”
Silas pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’d do anything for you. That is a promise.”
Ebony twisted my dark hair into braids that tickled my bare back, folding the plait in on itself and pinning it high. “Alright, open your eyes!”
In the mirror, an endless, bewildering forest-green stare greeted me. The woman reflected back was regal, only to miss a crown to adorn the infinity blackness of her dark hair. My own body was foreign to me, fuller with curves prominent accentuated the dark trimmings of the dress. The fabric was smooth against my hand, the beading glimmering in the moonlight.I was crimson and nightshade, akin to Silas and his dark beauty.
The full moon gleamed brightly into the room from the balcony as I took to the evening air, the harsh cold filled my lungs. Moonlight gave off a distinct red glow, casting an eerie scarlet color reflecting off the roses. The greenery of the rose bushes took on a whole other color, darkening to a nearly black hue. The frigid air bit into bare skin, my own breath whispered past my lips into the glittering of stars off in the distant winter’s night. I draped my arms over the stone ledge and stared up to the jeweled thrones smiling down on mortal flesh.
At the edge of the garden, I spotted a tall, lanky shadow lurking among the roses, hunched over. It crept out of sight, disappearing behind the thicket of the maze.
I leaned over the ledge, searching the lower grounds for the figure.
“You look stunning.” Silas leaned against the doorway with a half-cocked smile gracing his beautiful lips. “Everything okay, Little Dove?”
I strode to him and set a cold hand in his. I shook the thought out of my head. I was not going to let anything ruin such a moment for me. I may not have many more moments like this after tonight.
“Yes,” I said, placing a kiss upon his lips. I looped my arm in his and allowed him to escort us down to the booming voices and swell of music.
I drank in Silas as I did the music, as if it was my very last.
Twenty-Nine
