“What?”
We stagger across the room until he slams me against the stone wall. His face lowers closer, a tangle of blond hair brushing my cheek. “Tell me not to and I won’t. Help me, Rosie, I’m barely holding on. Tell me now, and I swear to the gods, I’ll never look at her again.”
My heart blazes.Tell him not to do it. Keep him.Stop him from doing this terrible thing.
“I know it’s hard, Blossom.” His lips brush my cheek, and I close my eyes. “You’re good. You’re so good and perfect. But you can be selfish. You can do the wrong thing.”
“Day—”
“No, no.” His lips are by my ear, salty tears dripping onto my cheek. “Just think about it, Rosie. Think about what I’m going to have to do before you answer.”
“Don’t ask me to do that—” I snarl and flash my eyes open to see him a breath away from me. His hands grip my jaw hard.
“I have been with no woman since you, Rosalina, and I have no care to do so ever again,” Dayton says. “You know my heart. You’ve seen it. It belongs to you. It belongs to you and Fare. So, tell me not to do this.”
“Day …”
“Every swing of my sword is for you. Every word I utter, every action I take, every beat of my damned heart.” His fingers tremble on my face. “Rosalina, I love you.”
The earth seems to go out from under me, and I gasp in quick, short breaths. Helovesme. He loves me.
“My love for you is deeper than all the depths of the sea.” His forehead dips to mine. “I will do anything you ask. Please tell me not to do this.”
The stones below my feet should be covered in blood with how his words pierce my heart. I break away from his touch. “I can’t.”
“Why?” Hurt and anger tremor in his voice. “Don’t you feelthis? Don’t you love me?”
It’s that question that destroys every piece of hope in my heart. “It’s because I love you that I can’t ask you to do this.”
Tears fall down Dayton’s cheeks, and he straightens. He leaves my room, closing the door behind him. But he opens it a moment later and he’s holding his seashell necklace in one hand and the golden token of the Queen in the other.
“Farron made this necklace for me,” he says, voice hitched. “It’s the most precious thing I own.”
“I can’t take that.”
But he’s already stepping toward me, tying the shells around my neck. “Please. I want you to have some part of me forever.”
“Until tomorrow, Day.”
“Until tomorrow.”
This time when he leaves, the door stays shut.
CHAPTER 75
Farron
The party unfurls before me like a silken veil. A part of me hates how beautiful it is. The prismatic courtyard of Cryptgarden is draped in pastel fabric. Sculpted crystal trees and flowers cast a glow over the guests. It’s oddly reminiscent of Caspian’s birthday party, and a part of me aches for the company of Ezryn and Keldarion, but most of all, for Day and Rosie.
Caspian again sits on a throne of briars, a black fox mask covering the upper half of his face. My own mask is an elk, brushed with burnished gold, long antlers jutting from the top. It covers my nose and everything above. I expected to feel uncomfortable dressed in Caspian’s tight clothes, but there’s a part of me that finds it a tad … thrilling. Tonight, I’m not the Prince of Autumn, but just another debauched citizen of the Below.
Hand trailing on the cool stair handle, I head down into the throng. The air is rich with the intoxicating blend of musk and sweet incense. A kaleidoscope pattern shines over the dancers, cast by the crystals, making them look like dreams—or nightmares—brought to life. Everyone is wearing a mask, but for some, that’s all they’re wearing. The outfits range from elegant gowns to nothing at all.
Fae grace the dance floor with a hypnotic rhythm, their movements akin to poetry in motion, as if ensorcelled by the enchantment of the night.
It’s the drink, I think, having made sure to not have any myself.It’s working. They’re all mad here.
“Dance with me,” a woman with a wolf’s mask says. Her attire of silk and lace hugs her curves, leaving little to the imagination.
