As the girls passed, Gareth leaned in to kiss me. His mouth tasted of wine, and when his hand slid around my waist to pull me closer to him, my stomach tightened and heat gathered between my legs. He held me to him until not even my sensitive hearing could detect the girls’ chatter over the noise of the party.
When I pulled back from him, he smiled, his green eyes sparkling. “I know this is a deadly mission and all, but I have to say, I’m having a marvelous time so far.”
The low tone of his voice sent a frisson of desire through my body. “Stay focused, Professor.”
“What were they talking about? Anything helpful?”
“Aralinda Lemaire is angry with her parents. Something to do with her brother and a woman named Lily. She doesn’t think Lily is suitable for her brother, but her parents won’t do anything to discourage him from pursuing her. And she’s annoyed with her sister too. The youngest, Griselda. She has a weak stomach, apparently.”
“Family gossip.”
“But not the useful kind.”
Gareth frowned. “I’m not sure why someone having a weak stomach is grounds for annoyance.”
I glanced past him at the crowded ballroom, quickly noting my sisters’ locations. The gowns we’d borrowed from Kirsa were sturdy but unremarkable, the fabric in need of a good laundering: dusty blue for Farrin, dull olive green for Gemma, faded lavender for me. We’d chosen them in order to blend in, but even in plain gowns that didn’t fit quite right, my sisters stood out more than I was comfortable with. Gemma and Talan had settled themselves at one of many high tables, a plate of food between them; Farrin and Ryder danced in a throng of others. But my eyes went to them immediately.
Was it simply because they were my sisters? Or was it because my sharp eyes couldn’t help but notice the trace of Kerezen’s power that lingered upon us?
“What’s wrong?” Gareth murmured, leaning back to sip from his goblet. “You’re restless.”
“I don’t like waiting. I like moving.”
“And you move most excellently, in all manner of scenarios.”
“Please don’t make jokes right now.”
He glanced at me. “Something is wrong,” he said quietly. “Tell me.”
“My sisters are too obvious. They have a glow about them, and they don’t look frightened enough.”
Gareth shifted on the chaise and lazily surveyed the ballroom over the rim of his goblet. I allowed myself a brief moment to admire how his borrowed coat, vest, and trousers hugged his long, lean body.
“I see no glow,” he said. “And isn’t the point of this party to convince the Lemaires that you’re having a good time so they’ll keep you around? If Gemma and Farrin were cowering in the corner, they’d draw much more attention, I think, and not the good kind.”
He was right, of course. But I couldn’t shake my unease, and Aralinda Lemaire’s laughter echoed through my mind, raising alarm bells I couldn’t explain. The sooner we completed this mission, the better.
“I sense you’re about to tell me that we should get started,” Gareth added, “even though it hasn’t yet been five minutes.”
“You sense correctly.”
“Before we do, I must tell you one very important thing.”
I bit back an impatient curse. “Go on, then.”
He put down his goblet and turned to kiss my hair, his arm still loosely about my shoulders. “Even in your borrowed dress,” he murmured, “you look beautiful. If this were an ordinary party, I’d dance all night with you, stopping only occasionally to pull you into some shadowy corner and kiss you senseless. Then, after we got back home, I’d take you upstairs and—”
“Home?”
“Come now, you stopped me at the best part,” he said, gently teasing.
“What home, Gareth?” I didn’t know why the word had pierced me so deeply, but it had, and for a moment I couldn’t quite catch my breath.
“Our home,” he said simply, and then pulled back to look at me, his smile wavering. “It was only a daydream. I wanted to fill your head with nice imagery before we dashed off to spy and murder. I’m sorry.”
Our home.I took Gareth’s hand and kissed it, my heart thudding against my ribs. I wasn’t sure if what I felt was terror or terrible happiness.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” I said, standing, not quite looking at him. “Let’s go. I can’t bear to sit here any longer.”
