He spun me across the floor, our bodies moving in sync. His lips brushed against my ear. “Where did you learn to dance likethis?”
My mouth went dry. I’d been so caught up in the moment that I hadn’t stopped to think. A solitary fae wouldn’t know these dances. She would have never stepped foot in a fae ballbefore.
I pulled back and gave him a demure smile. “How many times do I have to tell you that I like to do myresearch?”
“And yet, your research turned up nothing about me.” He spun me around in a circle, and then pulled me tight against his chest. I lost my breath, just for a second. But only because he’d been tossing me around like a ship at sea, not because of anythingelse.
“Should it have?” I squeaked out as he began to dip me low to the ground. I clung on tight, my fingernails digging into the skin behind his neck. “You said you’ve kept your existence a secret. You’re awraith.”
“If you look hard enough, you can find me.” He yanked me up against his chest again, and then ran his hand down the length of my back. My entire body went tight. Heat flooded myveins.
And then the musicstopped.
As suddenly as he’d swept me into his arms, Lugh stepped away. He gave a slight inclination of his head. “Enjoy yourparty.”
Mouth open, I watched him leave. What the hell had that been? My hands clenched, and I stalked after him. He couldn’t just walk away. Not after that. We’d been in the middle of a conversation. Granted, he’d practically been speaking in riddles but still. It had felt like I was growing closer to some sort of realisation about the King, and then he’d vanished into the throngs ofpartygoers.
I stopped and cast my gaze around the room. Ah, there he was. Pushing out of the Great Hall’s doors toward the courtyard. I hurried after him, determined to finish our conversation. As far as I knew, I’d be locked in my room all day again tomorrow, only to come out when a floor needed to be swept. This might be the last time I could speak to him forawhile.
When I pushed out into the courtyard, I sucked in a deep lungful of fresh, misty air. The room had been clogged with fae. Heat had seeped into my skin. The cool Edinburgh night was soothing afterthat.
I cast a glance around. The courtyard was quiet and empty. Cobblestone ran underfoot, and tall stone walls loomed all around. In the center stood a bronze statue of a male atop of a horse. The features had long since been worn over the centuries, but the sharply-pointed ears and javelin in his hand made it clear this male had been a warrior fae likeme.
And Lugh was nowhere to beseen.
With a frustrated sigh, I zoomed across the courtyard. There was a high level arch overhead connecting The Royal Palace to the building next door, and I headed straight for it. When I reached the arch, I continued on, and rounded the nextcorner.
There he was. Hidden in the darkness with two other shadowy forms. Adrenaline tripped in my veins as I pressed my back against the stone wall before they could spot me. What, pray tell, was the King doing lurking around in the shadowyalley?
I slowed my breathing and flicked my hearing toward theirconversation.
“Anderson’s been in touch. He has a lead on the cauldron,” the voice said, female, soft, andscared.
“Good,” Lugh murmured. “Did he mention where he thinks itis?”
“He didn’t want to give that information over the phone,” the other shadow said. This one was male, nasally, and high-pitched. “Said his line has been tappedbefore.”
“Good,” Lugh said. “We donotwant anyone to find this cauldron before wedo.”
My heart thumped. It was that damn cauldronagain.
What cauldron? Just say what bloody cauldron itis!
“What are you going to do when he finds it?” the female hissed. “You can’t just keep it here at Castle Wraith, notwhen—”
“You leave that part to me,” Lugh interjected. “Eoin, I need you to keep searching the books. Find anything you can that will help expeditethis.”
Lugh stepped back and turned myway.
My heart leapt. Cursing silently, I scrambled back out into the courtyard and high-tailed it across the cobblestones. I reached the door heading back into the Great Hall at the precise moment that Lugh stepped out from beneath the arch that spanned the two buildings. His eyes settled on me, and I paused. His stride remained steady; his expression never wavered. I wanted to wrench open the door and storm inside, but that would look far more suspicious than if I stood here with a shit-eating grin on myface.
Maybe.
When he reached me, he wrapped his hand around where mine grasped the brass handle. “Enjoy your midnight stroll in the courtyard,Moira?”
His voice was full of ice. Nervously, I wet mylips.
“It’s hot in there,” I said in a garbled voice. “I wanted some freshair.”
