Page 9

I'd admired attractive men at Halloween parties before. Usually, that was all it amounted to.

This time, I wanted to know who was standing beneath the mask.

He seemed entirely at ease amid the crowd's fascination, not posing for photographs or competing for attention. Something about that unselfconscious confidence reminded me of Cillian in the conference room, which was an odd thought to have at a masquerade.

I watched him answer another guest with a slight inclination of his head, as if the extravagant wings belonged to him and required no explanation.

And when he lifted his head, his gaze found mine.

His masked face turned toward me. From that distance, I couldn't make out the color of his eyes, but there was no mistaking where his attention had settled.

The attraction was immediate, but what unsettled me most was how much I wanted to speak to him before I'd heard him say a word.

The difference was that tonight, I didn't know anything about this man's job or his place in Witch Harbor society. I could simply speak to him and see whether the conversation was worth staying for.

I wasn't sure I wanted anything more than a dance. For once, I liked not knowing.

"Everly?"

I turned toward Taryn.

She was smiling at me with an expression I knew far too well.

"What?" I asked.

"You've been staring at that man for a full minute."

"I've never seen a costume quite like it," I said.

"Naturally. I'm sure that's the only reason."

I laughed, feeling warmth rise into my cheeks.

"You're impossible."

"And you're allowed to appreciate a handsome man, particularly when he's made such an effort."

She touched my arm.

"Go introduce yourself."

I looked back toward the stranger. He was speaking with another guest, but his gaze returned to me when the conversation ended. I had no way of knowing what he'd thought of me from across the room. I only knew I wanted to find out.

"Absolutely not. I don't even know who he is."

"That's rather the point of a masquerade."

"I came here to dance, not throw myself at the first attractive man wearing feathers."

Taryn's smile widened.

"Then dance with him."

Before I could reply, someone approached us from the direction of the band.

A tall man dressed in an elegant eighteenth-century coat and a silver mask stopped beside Taryn and politely asked whether she'd care to join him for the next dance.

She looked at me.