The Solas Valentine Gala was everything I'd spent the last six months dreading.
However, Laurent had outdone himself with the tux. It was black on black, custom fitted, with a deep burgundy pocket square that my mother had insisted on. Standing in front of the mirror in my private suite at the Solas estate, I barely recognized myself.
It wasn’t Karl, the baker staring back at me.
No. This was Kael Solas, youngest son of the Solas family, dragon prince. The one who'd walked away from all of this to make honey-ember tarts for a librarian who didn't know his last name.
At least, not yet.
"You look like you're going to your own funeral," Ryker said from the doorway, already perfectly assembled in his navy tux, ice-blue eyes bright with amusement.
"Leave him alone," Caspian said from behind him, adjusting his cufflinks in the hallway mirror. "He's nervous."
"I'm not nervous," I said.
They both looked at me.
"I'm terrified," I corrected.
Ryker laughed and clapped me on the shoulder as he passed. "She's going to be fine, little brother. And if she's not, I'll personally find Colin and make his life difficult."
That actually made me smile, just a little.
The ballroom of the Solas estate had been transformed for the occasion. Deep red roses cascaded from every surface, interspersed with blush peonies and trailing greenery that softened the grandeur of the space. Hundreds of candles flickered in crystal holders along the tables and window ledges, throwing warm gold light across the room. The heart-shaped arrangements of white flowers framed the entrance, and sheer rose-colored draping fell from the ceiling like something out of a dream.
My mother had gone all out this year.
The guests were already filling the space when my brothers and I made our entrance. Formal attire everywhere, the soft sound of a string quartet beneath the murmur of conversation. Champagne flutes caught the candlelight. The scent of hothouse roses and expensive perfume layered the air.
I smiled when I needed to and shook hands when required. I said the right things to the right people like I’d been trained to do from birth.
Yet, the entire time, my eyes swept the room, searching for Amara. Searching and waiting.
She still wasn't here yet.
My dragon had been restless since we'd arrived, pacing beneath my skin, so very anxious to see our woman. Every time the doors at the far end of the ballroom opened to admit new guests, my attention snapped toward them like a compass finding north.
Not her. Not her. Not her.
"You need to stop doing that," Damon said quietly, appearing at my elbow with a glass of sparkling water. He'd traded his usual Armani for something equally devastating in charcoal gray, with a blonde woman I didn't recognize on his arm.
"Doing what?" I asked.
"Looking at the door like a dog waiting for its owner to come home."
I took the water from him and said nothing.
He sighed. "Did you tell her?"
"No."
"Kael."
"I know," I mumbled to my brother. "I tried. I went to the library and I tried and she was already so wound up about tonight that I couldn't add to it. I thought I was protecting her."
Damon was quiet for a moment. "And now?"
"And now she's going to walk through those doors and see me up here and I have approximately thirty seconds to get to her before she thinks the worst."
