Faces swirl around me in a blur of color and chaos as he spins me around the dance floor. I’m sure they’re all thinking I’m using him in some way to gain an advantage. The thought makes my stomach churn.
“Loosen up, Arina,” he whispers, and I stiffen on instinct, then shimmy my shoulders to try and appease him.
“Actually, I—”
“Let me guess,” he interrupts. “You’re worried they’re going to think you’re using me to gain a spot on the guard?” I narrow my eyes at him, irritated that he knows me this well.
“Well, yes, but—”
He hums. “We all know you’ll shut them up in the first event tomorrow. For tonight? Don’t worry what they think.”
Fuck. He won’t let me get a single word in, and now I’ve lost track of the rebels.
I whip my head around, searching forhim.
Eryk is looking at me as if I’ve grown a third eye or an extra appendage.
“Is everything alright?” he asks.
I’m just about to respond, maybe this is my window to finally tell him what I heard in the breezeway, when two thick fingers tap Eryk on the shoulder.
“May I cut in?” His voice is low, murderous, but the smile on his face is a sincere enough mask. Those amber eyes give no hint of the monster I can sense living just beneath the surface.
Those dancing around us continue on as if they’re mechanical cogs in a clock.
Eryk looks surprised, but steps back, bowing like a gentleman and preparing to pass me off to this lethal stranger like I’m merely a trinket they both have an opportunity to play with and exchange at will.
My hand squeezes Eryk’s for an extra second, hoping to alert him to the looming danger without being too obvious.
The idiot takes it as some kind of flirtatious gesture and kisses the top of my knuckles.
“Don’t think this was our last dance of the evening. I’ll be back for you,” he promises, and my heart jumps to my throat at the thought that I may not make it through the next song.
“Hello, little snake. Thank you for the pleasure of your company this evening,” the man says without even looking at me. “I trust your shoes are holding up well?”
I study him carefully, noting the way his eyes flit back and forth over my head. He’s scanning the room, watching something, but I can’t discern what.
It gives me a moment to inspect his features a bit closer. His dark brown hair sitting mussed on his head, his perfectly pointyfae ears, the stubble of his clean-lined facial hair, and the scar running through the right side of his lip all do something to me. Not to mention the sheer size of him.
The fae holding me in his arms is a weapon.
If there’s any chance of getting out of this situation alive, I’ll have to do something I hate. Play dumb.
I force myself to curtsy. “Yes, thank you.”
We begin our dance in tense silence; eyes locked only on each other.
A nagging thought creeps into my mind. Can anyone see what’s happening here? I don’t dare look away.
Finally, he breaks the quiet, “Relax.”
I give a small smile. “I’m sorry. I’m just not really used to anything like this. I don’t want to look out of place.”
“Can I tell you a secret?” he asks.
I nod slightly, encouraging him to continue, and surprised to find myself so eager to hear what he might say.
“Everyone is worried they look out of place. They’re so worried, in fact, that they aren’t able to notice anything outside of themselves. And if they are noticing you? It’s only because you are so spectacular.”
