Soren moved around the table to sit in one of the open seats.
I swallowed. He moved with a confident grace, sure of his place in the world, something I’d never really figured out. I stared at him, wondering what he’d think of my outfit, even though I shouldn’t care, and waited for him to look at me.
He never did.
It pulled me out of wallowing and into fury.
Was I that unimportant?
He probably hadn’t even tried to find my family.
I couldn’t sit here like nothing was wrong for another second. I needed to be alone, to think.
I shoved my chair back, and the wooden legs screeched across the floor as I stood, interrupting a lively debate between Lore, Peregrin, and Julian over the last sausage. Everybody stopped talking to stare.
Including Soren, who finally looked at me.
His eyes drifted from my hair—which Lore had pulled out of the ponytail and braided in places, leaving the rest to cascade over my shoulders—to the light pink tint she’d rubbed on my lips, to the gold chains at my throat, all the way to where the dress brushed the floor.
He swallowed visibly.
When the others glanced between us, he cleared his throat. “Is there something we can help you with, Brynn?”
His voice was mellow, like he was naturally quiet. Yet another annoying thing about him. He couldn’t just fit the role of a villain and let me hate him like I needed to.
I searched for a believable excuse to slip away. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
Smooth.
“I’ll show you where to go,” Lore piped up, coming around the table with a smile, like she didn’t even notice the tension.
I followed her down a short tunnel that came to a stop at a wooden door.
“If you need anything, I’ll be right outside.” Her words seemed innocent, but I felt like a prisoner. It made me itch to get out of here. Sighing, I entered the bathroom and shut the door. I actually did need to go.
Not surprisingly, the underground bathroom didn’t have any windows for an escape. Whatdidsurprise me was the way the tree roots along one wall made a pretty pattern, like they’d somehowarrangedthem that way, with little flowers growing out of strategic places despite the lack of sunlight. Did those fae lights also give humans pseudo sunlight, or would we all shrivel up underground if we stayed too long?
Though small, the room contained everything I needed, including warm water to wash my hands and a mirror to catch a glimpse of my wide-eyed, massively overwhelmed expression. I took a second to straighten out my bangs and take a few deep breaths.
As I did, a soft chime came from somewhere beyond the bathroom door, ringing out seven times.
Seven o’clock.
Opening the door, I found Soren waiting impatiently at the end of the tunnel where Lore had been.
“Ready?” he asked.
He’d added a deep black jacket over his vest with something that sparkled along the sleeves. His whole ensemble resembled almost a Regency-era fashion if I wasn’t paying attention. But when I looked closer, little differences stuck out, like the strangely pointed toes of his boots, or the elaborate embroidered ivy along the seams, or the outline of those stunning wings just barely visible behind him on the dark stone walls.
“You’re willing to do all this for your family?” he asked unexpectedly, in a monotone that hid his feelings about it.
My jaw dropped. “Of course.”
I’d do anything for them, I added silently, smart enough to keep any whiff of desperation from him.
He shook his head at me, frowning, and muttered, “So strange.”
The insult startled me enough to slip under my defenses. It slid over me with the same icy-hot humiliation of the snowball last week, making me both flush and tremble at the same time.
