I glanced around, trying to figure out where the fuck Ezra went. “Is what I’m wearing fine?”
Her eyes moved over me in a way that made my skin crawl. “You look great.”
I loathed the compliment. It felt like a chain being looped around my neck.
“Should we go now?”
She nodded, excitement flickering in her eyes.
I forced a smile and followed her down the street and into the dying light of the evening.
But deep in my chest, my magic was already racing at what would happen. Would Elowyn be at the party? And if she was, could I kidnap her safely?
Loma had taken her time introducing me to everyone in this mansion. I knew her family was wealthy, but so were every single one of her friends. The women stared far longer than I liked, and the men didn’t care to talk to me because of it.
I was standing in the corner by myself, drinking because I needed something to take this edge off. It was clear that I did not belong here. Loma stood beside me, clinging to my arm like a prized possession. I let her. For now. Her laugh rang out as she greeted someone across the room, and I offered the polite nod expected of a mate.
I hated this. I felt like I needed to go home and scrub my skin clean and burn these robes that Loma had touched.
This wasn’t a party. It was a performance. One where I had to smile and pretend I didn’t want to kill half the room.
“Everyone’s dying to meet you,” Loma whispered, her lips brushing too close to my ear. “My brother is especially curious.”
Perfect.
“Is he here?” I asked, scanning the crowd.
A pause. “He’s around somewhere. He likes to… observe before he introduces himself.”
Of course he does.
I took a drink from a floating tray and sipped slowly. The liquid tingled on my tongue, charmed with something mild. Notenough to cloud my mind, but enough to irritate me that they’d even tried. Around us, illusion magic softened every harsh edge, light bending to flatter faces and hide flaws, while enchantments hummed beneath the music, threading through the crowd like a second heartbeat. I reinforced the barrier of my magic. Subtle. Untouchable.
Loma leaned in again. “Try to have fun.”
“I’ll do my best,” I said flatly.
She wandered off to speak to someone draped in gold and illusion, leaving me standing near the arched entrance to the ballroom alone.
I felt him before I saw him.
A presence that sung with evil.
I turned just slightly, enough to meet the eyes of the man watching me from across the room.
Philip.
The resemblance to Loma was faint—sharper around the mouth, colder in the eyes. His posture was all charm, all confidence. But there was something else under it. Something feral.
He didn’t smile, didn’t wave.
He just stared.
I raised my glass in a mock toast.He tilted his head. Interesting. I suspected he knew exactly what I wanted, too.
Loma returned, looping her arm through mine once more.
“Did you see him?” she asked casually.
