“You’re doing great, Mira,” Flynn says encouragingly.
I can’t help laughing. “You’re being polite.”
“No, I—” He stops. “Dammit.”
“What?” I look up from my feet.
A figure stumbles through the crowded ballroom. His hair has gotten longer since I last saw him. He’s always been well groomed, but today, his gray-specked beard is overgrown and unkempt, and the hair on his head is greasy and knotted. His walk is a stagger, and he shoves anyone who doesn’t move out of his way fast enough. He’s not even dressed for the occasion. If you told me he stumbled out of bed, fell into a vat of ale, and then made his way here immediately after, I’d believe it.
Selva Sixmen.
An Honorate approaches him. “Selva, what are you doing here?”
A circle clears around Selva. No one wants to get too close.
“What amIdoing?” Sixmen slurs his words so much, it sounds as though he’s trying to speak while drowning. “What areyoudoing? Where were you when I left the Honorate? Where were any of you?” His voice rises to a gruff roar. “You’re a coward—a puppet for the Shadow Queen, just like everyone else.”
Flynn groans. Since the rest of the ballroom has fallen quiet with discomfort, the sound carries.
Selva’s dulled eyes find us. His countenance shifts. His jaw tightens, and he lurches. Partygoers flee, clearing out a path for him to stumble through. “Flynn.” Selva points a shaky finger at his son. “My own flesh and blood did this to me.”
Flynn sighs. “Dad, I told you to stay home.”
“You don’t tell me what to do.” Spit flies from Selva’s mouth and lands on me. “You did this. You conspired with the Shadow Bitch to take my place.”
Flynn gawks at his father. “You sound insane.”
Selva finally notices me. His wild eyes flash with fury. “Everyone let me get thrown out of the Honorate, but they’re fine with anOpheranbeing here?”
Flynn pushes me gently behind him, placing himself between me and his father. “Leave her out of this. You stepped down voluntarily. You need to go home and calm down. Sleep it off.”
Selva lunges around Flynn and snatches my arm.
I shriek and try to wrench myself away. Even with alcohol dulling his senses, Selva’s grip is strong. “Get your hands off me.” My tone is frosty in an attempt to mask how much he’s scaring me.
Selva ignores me. His other hand grabs my chin and twists, forcing me to look into his bloodshot, hazy eyes. “If I haveto leave, I’m taking her with me. Opherans have no more of a right to be here than I do.” His breath is hot and rank. I almost gag from the stench of it.
“Let go of her.” This voice is eerily calm. Kaidren steps from the crowd around us, expression darker than I’ve ever seen it. He’s teeming with a quiet, controlled rage.
Selva scowls and doesn’t release me. “More Opherans. They’re taking over.”
“Does the fact that I’m Opheran scare you, Selva?” Kaidren calmly enters the circle, until he’s right next to Selva, towering over him. “If you don’t take your hands off her, I will show you firsthand that you’re right to fear me.”
“You shouldn’t even be here. You, an Honorate, and I’m not? Absurd.”
“Remove your hand.” Kaidren doesn’t respond to anything Selva says.
With a drunken roar, Selva rears back to punch Kaidren.
Kaidren steps aside, but Selva doesn’t let up. He releases me, trying to hit Kaidren again. This time, when he snaps back his arm, his elbow strikes me. It slams into my nose, knocking the wind from my lungs.
I teeter in place, stars dancing in my mind’s eye. The last thing I see before I crash to the floor is Kaidren punching Selva Sixmen right in the jaw.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
SWEET AFTER ALL
My vision blurs. My hands cup my aching nose. Red lace gloves instantly become sticky, coated in blood, as scarlet as my mask.
