Altogether, this was nothing close to what I’d imagined getting engaged to someone might feel like.
I loathed it.
When I glanced at the main entrance of the ballroom, my heart lodged in my throat.
Ursuline stepped into view. Their silver hair was styled back, the sheen reflecting under the dim lighting, and their pale-blue skin glowed. They wore a black poet blouse that hung low on their hips and lay open in the center, showcasing their broad, smooth chest. Silver dangled on their ears, the cuffs around their biceps, and the choker around their throat. Their eyes held a predatory gleam as they surveyed the room, as if they were picking out their prey.
I swallowed hard, trying to squash down the thoughts that emerged.
Because I very badly wanted to be their prey.
Their dark gaze landed on me, and they glided forward. Darla stepped up to them and placed a hand on their shoulder, her lips pursed in irritation. They jerked out of her grasp, and I almost rose from my seat on impulse. I tried to plead with my eyes, beg for Ursuline to head my way, to spare me from this solitude. I was at a party, technically in my honor, and I not only didn’t know most of the people here, but I also didn’t have the slightest thing in common with any of them.
Ursuline’s eyes met mine again, and they headed in my direction.
Darla glowered at them, but I wasn’t sure why. Due to their appearance or something else? Much of what Ursuline did for them remained a mystery, same as much of what the Triton family did for their wealth. I’d asked a few light questions around with the staff, but everyone had snapped up tight on the subject, and I could take the hint.
They closed in on my table, and I rose from my seat, not caring if I seemed eager. The glares from my parents grew more intense from their corner, but I ignored them. They’d sold me to the Triton family, and my fiancée didn’t even want to spend time with me. Arielle was getting up close and personal with Darryl on the dance floor, and I could do nothing about that situation without causing a scene.
“You showed up,” I said, my tone a little breathless.
Ursuline stopped in front of me, and they quirked a brow. “Uninvited, at that.”
Anger rushed through me. “What do you mean?” Ursuline had been the one person who’d made me feel welcome from the moment I’d arrived here. And given their loyalty to the Triton family, I couldn’t fathom why they wouldn’t be included in such a large event, even if I had conflicting feelings for more personal reasons.
They glanced down to their tentacles. “Do you happen to see any other monsters, sunshine?”
I glanced around the room, so similar to the frequent parties my parents threw. All homogenous, all in muted tones, everyone looking a certain way. The conformity made my skin crawl. Embarrassment flushed through me, first that I’d be associating with people who’d behave like this, but that fast burned into a steady prickle across my skin at the knowledge that the Triton family would forsake their own kind with this pretense.
That trying to woo the upper echelons of Peregrine City would cause them to cast off Ursuline.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” I said, a little more heatedly than necessary.
“You might be the only one,” they said wryly, casting a glance across the room. I followed their gaze to where Frederick and Darla whisper-hissed at each other and shot glares toward Ursuline. Their lips quirked, and they lifted their hand to offera wave to both Frederick and Darla. I didn’t need to look in my parents’ direction to know they were aghast. Not like I was their problem now, though.
Arielle hadn’t broken away from the dance floor. Darryl’s hands roamed all over her body in its flowing chiffon dress, and she ate up the attention.
“Want a drink?” Ursuline asked, their low, rich voice sending shivers through me. Time and time again they kept extending a hand, a lifeboat when I needed one the most.
“Gods yes,” I said. “The champagne I had feels like hours ago.”
They tilted their head in the direction of the bar set up on the far side of the ballroom, the one less frequented. I stepped forth, ready to be away from this table of people I’d barely talked to.
“What prompted you to come?” I asked as we strolled across the room, maneuvering around throngs of partygoers deep in discussion. “I can hardly imagine part of your retainer involves attending many of these events.”
“I wasn’t going to,” Ursuline said. “Truth be told, these affairs are insufferable. But Jacques was making his crab soup.” Their gaze lingered on me a little too long, a little too knowingly.
My heart sped a bit faster. They hadn’t come here for me, had they? Jacques, Maribella, and others on the staff had done little things to make this night less hellish for me, swinging by with hors d’oeuvres when I was alone, making my favorite dishes, and offering a few whispered check-ins. However, Ursuline showing up when they weren’t invited, when they weren’t welcome by their own employers—my stomach swooped.
One of their tentacles brushed against my leg, and a shudder racked through me. Fuck, I’d grown so lonely tonight, and this kindness they extended had my emotions brimming close to the surface.
We stepped up to the bar, where a hook-nosed bartender I hadn’t met before stood wearing the traditional all-black attire.
“What do you recommend?” I asked.
“Want me to order for you?” They arched a brow.
I bobbed my head. Truthfully, handing them the reins would be a little too easy. In the short amount of time I’d known them, they’d already earned my trust.
