“Not yet.” He spun me into his arms, one hand finding my waist as if it belonged there. “But you will.”
The music carried us through the crowd, his scent wrapping around me, and everywhere we touched sparked with something I couldn’t name.
The song shifted, faster now. He released me with a twist, and the room blurred.
Someone else caught me.
This time, it was Solomon.
His grip was steady, fingers closing just above my pulse as if he’d measured the distance beforehand.
“Sorry,” I said automatically.
His hand caught mine mid-turn. Colder than the others. Calloused.
“You don’t have to-” I started.
“I know.”
He drew me in anyway.
For a heartbeat, his control slipped. I felt it in the way his fingers tightened at my waist, the way those pale eyes dropped to my mouth before snapping back up. He saw too much. I should have looked away. But I didn’t.
Another spin and another exchange.
Lucian.
His hand closed around mine before I could step away.
“This is a mistake,” I said, low.
He didn’t loosen his grip. “Then why are you dancing with me?”
I searched for the answer and came up empty. “I don’t know.”
His gaze held mine with new intensity, and I realized my answer mattered more to him than the truth.
“Neither do I,” he said.
He pulled me closer.
We barely moved. Just swayed, his breath warm against my lips, his fingers pressing into my hip, afraid I’d vanish. My heart slammed against my ribs. This was insane. I didn’t know him, didn’t know any of them, and yet my body leaned into his, recognizing what my mind couldn’t grasp.
Dances with strangers who didn’t feel like strangers.
I watched myself rise on my toes. Watched my fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt. His breath caught, and just before our lips touched, he whispered-
“Mira?”
Percy’s voice yanked me back.
I was on the floor. My knees had given out at some point and tears streamed down my face, though I couldn’t remember starting to cry. He crouched in front of me, hands hovering. He wanted to touch me but wasn’t sure he should.
“Hey, it’s okay. What happened? Do you need the hospital, should I-”
“I saw it.” My voice came out a whisper. “When I touched the crest.”
His whole body went still. “What did you see?”
