A delicate touch pulled him out of his distraction, Rosalind brushing her fingers over his elbow. And he’d completely lost sight of her in his own misery, putting her in danger.
He spoke just as her mouth opened. “Everything go well?”
It took her a moment to respond, and Dav willed her all-seeing eyes to just ignore him this once.
“Sure,” she said, fingers slipping away and leaving him colder as she smoothed a hand over her silk dress. “They’re touring some trophy room now. I didn’t want to leave you, so Mozke will collect what I need. And they’re under a watchful eye.”
Davarox tried to hide the clench of his jaw, but he was grateful that Mozke was looking out for Rose when he couldn’t, and that someone was offering the same to them.
“Well,” Lazerath said, gesturing to the party. “We’re already here. We could dance.”
“You do know that’s not—” She pinched the bridge of hernose. “No, I don’t need to ask. Of course you know they’re not actually dancing down there.”
Davarox’s gaze fell to the crowd, one that he’d been too preoccupied to really focus on when he was concerned about Rose’s safety. Over the strange platforms and different marble statues and columns with winding vines, the mix of demons were moving in what one would assume was a dance. But if he looked closely, strained his ears over the melodies of voice and instrument, he could hear more. The soft groans, the whispers of debauchery, the slip of hands over flesh and winding tails.
“What sort of party did Mozke bring you to?” Dav wondered aloud. And maybe some part of him was curious if the same nobles who bribed corrupt councilors and voted for funding to be cut in places like the art district were also finding their way into Temptation or even a late night at Inferno to see Serenity perform.
“I don’t care what they’re doing,” Laz said, grabbing Rose’s hand and Dav’s sleeve before tugging them toward the throng. “We aren’t catering, and I just want a little bit of fun before we go home.”
Against Dav’s will, he was being dragged into the chaos. If Laz noticed the way others parted for them, he didn’t bring attention to it. Only found the location he wanted to stop and got his hands on Rosalind’s hips as fast as possible.
Dav enjoyed dancing, maybe not to the extent Laz did, but with the right number of drinks and a crowd of the right demons, he didn’t mind letting himself getlost in the movement. But here, he felt stiff. He hovered too close to Rose’s back, kept his tail tight to his legs, shuffled instead of swayed to the music.
“Beautiful, can I ask you something?” Laz said over the noise, oblivious to the demons around them.
Rosalind’s skirt twirled at her ankles, arms resting on his shoulders to play with the ends of his hair. “If I’ve ever danced before? The answer is very little.”
Laz’s grin was bright, and Davarox felt like a fucking rock in comparison to that joy. “You’re fantastic. But that’s not what I was going to ask. It’s about… Well, did Mozke tell you anything about soulbonds?”
It was because Dav was so close to her that he felt the stutter in her step. “Oh, gods, they mentioned it. But only the term.” Her inhale was sharp. “I did something wrong. What did I say? I’m so sorry, I didn’t?—”
“No, no, beautiful. Nothing wrong,” Laz reassured her. “It’s this… feeling. Like there’s love, and then there’s this somethingextra. When the demon, er, person, you love sort of feels like… they’re part of you. Your soul—gods, I’m fucking this up.”
“Hey, no, wait,” Rosalind said, hands cupping Laz’s cheeks. She flashed a look over her shoulder at Dav, confusion marring her brow. But just as she was turning, her head whipped back to Dav again. “Dav? What’s going on?”
He swallowed and took a step back, shaking his head. “Just… he’ll get the words out.”
Her head was shaking, but she turned back to Laz, handssmoothing over his shoulders. “I love you, Laz. It’s—why are you nervous?”
“I think you’re part of my soul, Rose.” Lazerath huffed a laugh, relief softening his shoulders now that he’d finally said the words. “A piece of me, deeper than just love. Demons have a ritual around it, and I’m supposed to offer you a blightspawn heart?—”
“That sounds disgusting.”
“It’s so gross,” Laz agreed. “But it’s super archaic and involves hunting, and I am shit when it comes to hunting, if there are even any blightspawn out there anymore, so usually there’s a cake we present?—”
Lazerath went utterly still.
Lifted his head slowly until he met Davarox’s gaze, noticing the distance Dav had created. Then glanced around like he was seeing the world for the first time. The glares pointed at the guest tainting their event.
Dav wanted to disappear into the crowd to avoid the pieces Laz was suddenly putting together, but the crowd was his enemy. They saw his weakness, his lack of magic, his uselessness.
And if he stayed with them another moment, they would feel it too.
“Watch where you swing that thing,” a female growled, jerking away from his tail.
“Don’t get too close, he’ll leech your color.”
“I’d be that miserable too, if I didn’t have magic.”
