“The scandal,” she breathed, fanning herself with a lace handkerchief that fluttered straight through her transparent wrist. “The passion. The way youleaptinto his arms! Cyrene, I nearly perished from delight.”
“You’re already dead,” I pointed out.
She flipped her hand my way, ignoring my comment. “You must tell me everything again but with more detail. Was it planned, a symbolic gesture,or did your heart simply override that formidable intellect of yours?”
I pressed my hands to my flushed cheeks and groaned. “It was strategic. Entirely strategic.”
From his perch on the stone railing, Quandary released an indelicate snort that puffed thin curls of smoke from his nostrils.Strategic, my tail. You kissed him like you were trying to eat his soul.
I did not.I whirled on him.It was a diversion.
For whom? Because from where I sat, he looked very diverted.
As if she could understand our internal conversation, and maybe she could, Cordelia swooned again, drifting backward until her translucent skirts got tangled in the stone railing. “He caught you, didn’t he? With those strong arms. Oh, be still my unbeating heart.”
“I’m begging both of you to stop talking.” I paced the length of the terrace, my pulse still a skittish, traitorous thing. Every step sent my mind flickering back to the shock of his mouth against mine, the way the world had gone blindingly bright.
It was supposed to be a message to his advisors. That was all.
I’d seen the sneer curling Lady Aragorn’s lips, heard the snide whispers about witch glamour and fabricated affection on my way to breakfast, and something inside me snapped. The rational part of me said that if the court doubted our marriage, I could fix that with a well-timed gesture, a kiss to silence the gossip.
But when Kieran caught me and he’d actually kissed me back, the entire plan had flown straight out of my head.
His lips were warm and steady and unbearably familiar. He’d tasted like winter wine, the same but not the same as the man I’d once known. For a moment, I’d forgotten where we were, forgotten who was watching. I’d even forgotten the treaty.
I’d only rememberedhim.
Now, with the sun slinking down below the horizon, the memory burned like a brand. I could still feel the ghost of his mouth on mine.
Quandary hopped across the railing beside me, his tail twitching.You’re still blushing. Does your magic always do that after you kiss someone, or was that a special effects feature?
I’m not blushing.
You’re the color of a ripe apple.
Go find something flammable and sit on it.
He grinned, his tiny fangs flashing.He kissed you back.
I threw my hands in the air. “Fine, yes. He kissed me back. And yes, there was a minor magical reaction, but it was circumstantial. Completely explainable. Joy magic tends to amplify under emotional?—”
“Joy,” Cordelia cooed, making me realize I was now speaking aloud. “You certainly look joyful.”
“Cordelia.”
I’ll be back,Quandary said, soaring inside on his tiny wings.
I almost called him back. He was going to get into trouble. I just knew it.
Cordelia distracted me by floating nearer, her hands clasped under her chin, the very picture of ghostly bliss. “You do realize you’ve altered the course of vampire history? They’ll write songs about you. The witch queen who bewitched her vampire husband with one scandalous kiss.”
“Oh, fates preserve me,” I grumbled. “It was not scandalous.”
The petals still floating through the air begged to differ.
I sighed and leaned against the cool stone railing.
Beyond the castle walls, the sunset painted the sky in pinks and golds, colors that had no business in this kingdom of eternal twilight.
