“Eats humans,” Soren said, finishing the gruesome sentence for me like he was talking about having a sandwich.
I scooted even closer to him. “How did it get in here? There’s no way it would fit in the tunnels—”
Soren nodded to the far side of the room, the tip of the S. Naturally, they had a troll-sized tunnel. Of course.
He seemed to take pity on me. Maybe he could hear the way my heart pounded so wildly it almost jumped outside my body. “They’re only invited on their best behavior. Don’t make trouble or give them any reason to notice your human scent in the midst of all the other smells in here, and you’ll be fine.”
An outburst close by led to a fae with antlers laying another fae out flat on the floor, but the troll lumbered on past. If that didn’t count as trouble, what did?
I tried to slow my rapid breathing.Blend in, I reminded myself.You look like a fae. They don’t know any better.
When we passed another dance floor, Soren took my hand. “Are you ready for your next task?” he asked as he unexpectedly spun me out and around, into his arms, joining the dance.
I frowned.Thiswas what he wanted to use his two hours for? Distracted by the way he pressed me close, I forgot to answer for a moment. He moved me effortlessly. I didn’t even need to worry about tripping over my feet.
“You brought me here to dance?” I asked a bit breathlessly.
Those dimples from a held-back smile appeared. “You’re going to talk to the prince of the Hollow Court. His name is Caius.”
“Me?” I squeaked, eyes darting around in search of a nearby prince. Encountering a fae royal hadnotbeen on my “Rescue the Family” bingo card. “You want me to talk to him by myself?” I really regretted not asking for more details—or, at the very least, putting more clauses in our contract. Should I be excited that I could ask someone powerful for help? Or terrified, considering royals usually abused that kind of power? My instincts screamed at me to get out of this. “I don’t think this is going to work. For one thing, how would I even find him? I don’t know what he looks like, and—”
“You won’t need to go anywhere,” Soren reassured me. “He’ll come to you.”
He twisted our arms above my head, and when they came down, my arms were crossed over my chest as I leaned back into him. I gave him a side-eyed glare before he swung me out and around again.
“Really.” I dragged out the word. “What makes you so sure?”
“Trust me.” He allowed a small smile as he brought me close again, staring down into my eyes. To anyone looking on, it was deceptively romantic.
I dropped my gaze to the buttons on his shirt. “So, you just want me to talk? That’s it?”
“Actually, I want you to casually drop into conversation that you were with me all day yesterday and that we stayed in since you arrived—afteryou make sure a toddy isn’t close by. Fortunately, there aren’t too many in this court.” He spun me around again, subtly pointing toward a different yet equally vibrant redhead on the far side of the room. “They’re usually easy to spot.”
“I wasn’t even here yesterday,” I reminded him, dizzy from trying to search for toddy wobbles, royalty, and humans who might be my family in the midst of all this spinning. Also, I didn’t know how to talk to a prince. I really should’ve listened to Soren’s etiquette lessons earlier.
“That’s not really the point, is it?” Soren murmured.
My head twisted in his direction. “You want me to lie for you,” I mused out loud. “If you need me to do this badly enough to make a deal, that must mean you really can’t lie.”
He pressed his lips together.
I grinned. “Iknewit!” Then my face fell. “One problem.”
“What’s that?”
“Did you forget? You said yourself that I’m a terrible liar.”
“Didyouforget”—he pulled out a pocket watch to show me the time—7:34 p.m.—as he spoke—“that you promised to help in any way that didn’t cross the line, between now and nine o’clock?”
It occurred to me, belatedly, that he could ask me to do a hundred things in the span of two hours. I probably could’ve made a dozen different deals instead of one. “This is all you want me to do?” I stalled.
“For now.”
It was still just the two of us dancing near other couples, no royalty in sight. Though my body was practically vibrating from anxiety, I tried to relax. “Most people would consider lying to be crossing a line.”
He gave me a level look. “You specified in the contract that crossing the line meant hurting someone.”
Shoot. Ihadsaid that.
