Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her adjusting the dress Elowyn wore. Elowyn turned, and my head followed when I saw her entire back was exposed.
Her smooth, pale skin was marked with a large black tattoo of a woman’s face. Half was beautiful, crowned with flowers; the other half skeletal and decayed. The flowers had withered. I had seen the symbol before and knew it carried meaning tied to life and death.
Gods, it was a beautiful piece of artwork. One I wouldn’t mind tracing with my fingers. I swallowed hard and looked away. Unfortunately, Ezra was right in my line of sight, smiling like an idiot.
When I glared at him, he didn’t cower. His grin only widened, mocking what everyone could see. I was barely holding it together.
I looked down at Bayla. Her big green-gold eyes stared up at me. Her future played out before me in a flash, and I smiled.
“You’re going to do great things, Bayla,” I whispered so only she could hear.
“I think this one is perfect, El,” Della said with a smile. “It makes you look elegant.”
Elowyn’s eyes found mine over Della’s shoulder, but she looked away the second she saw me watching. Her hands ran over the thin fabric of the dress before she nodded. My eyes roamed over all the tattoos on her skin. I had never seen this much of her before and my greedy eyes couldn't look away.
I stared far longer than deemed appropriate.
“You’re right. This is perfect.”
Her dark hair was pulled into a fancy updo, with two curls framing her face.
Someone moved in front of me, and I glanced up to see Thea. She smiled down at her daughter, then looked at me. Gods, Ihadn’t even heard her come up because I was too distracted by Elowyn.
“You got her to calm down,” Thea whispered. “Did you use some sort of magic or something?”
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. “No. No magic. She probably just likes being rocked like this.”
But my focus moved back to Elowyn.
“I feel sick,” Elowyn whispered to Della. “I really don’t want to do this.”
Della pulled her into a hug. When she pulled back, she whispered something I couldn’t hear. Elowyn glanced at me again at whatever Della said before she looked away disappointed.
“I’ll be back,” Della said, not looking at us.
As her star mist vanished with Elowyn, everyone’s eyes shifted to me at once.
Thea took Bayla from my arms like I was about to explode.
They were waiting for me to say something, but I wasn’t about to start that conversation. I just kept rocking in the chair as if it would soothe me, saying nothing.This was fine.I didn’t need to know anything about Elowyn getting married. It wasn’t my place. She wasn’t mine to worry about.
I was a godsdamn liar.
The need to know burned deep in my chest, but I ignored it as best I could. There was no reason I needed to know. My hands gripped the arm of the chair as I tried to keep myself together. I looked out the window trying to distract myself, but I was a fraying rope about to snap.
“Are you trying to play it cool right now?” Ezra asked with a grin. “Because you’re doing a terrible job at it. Do you want us to tell you—”
“No,” I snapped. His observant remark cutting too deep.
Fuck. I wanted to take that back, but I’d already said it.
“Are you sure? Because your eyes are red,” he said, still grinning.
“It has nothing to do with that witch,” I lied. “I’m just stressed out about finding my mate.”
Itwasodd I hadn’t found her yet. Ardella and Mikel had. Shouldn’t we get our mates around the same time, being triplets?
“Maybe it’s Elowyn,” Haden suggested.
