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He didn’t let me go, his eyes boring into me as if he were going to say something intense, but the moment passed, and he reluctantly released me instead.
“I suppose so,” he agreed slowly.
I hesitated as he moved toward the door to the inside. “Nyx…”
“Hm?” He turned back to face me.
“Should I call Odette to join us?”
His face shadowed, but he didn’t refuse immediately. That was an improvement. Maybe he was warming up to having the enchantress back in the fold.
“I won’t stop you if you want to,” he agreed tensely. I weighed the decision, sensing his displeasure in my ask. He clearly didn’t want to spend any more time around Odette than necessary.
“How can she really do her job if she’s stuck in her room all the time?” I insisted.
“She can be summoned.”
There was no room for argument at all.
“Why won’t you tell me what happened between the two of you?” I pressed softly. “Shouldn’t I know if there’s a problem?”
“If there was a real problem, she would be gone, probably dead,” he told me flatly, but I believed that to be true. “The problem lies more in the fact that I simply don’t like her—and you shouldn’t, either.”
I made a small moue of my lips as he spun around again. “Nyx?”
He stopped, and I wondered if I was annoying him, but it didn’t stop me from asking, anyway. “Yes?”
“What was that phone call about earlier?” His cheeks waned slightly, and I stepped closer. “Did something happen?”
“No,” he said quickly. “It’s just… kingdom business. You don’t need to concern yourself over it.”
“Why do I feel like you’re treating me like a China doll?” I sighed. “I won’t break if you unload some of your stress on me, you know?”
He laughed. “I want to unload some things on you, my love, but not stress. Never stress.”
Slipping my arm into his, he led me out of the chilled night air and back inside, securing the doors in his wake.
“Just enjoy the party, Little Muse,” he whispered, catching my vaguely stricken expression. “We made a pile of money for the inner city tonight. And isn’t that what this is all about? At this rate, we’ll be able to fund that new program we discussed for single parents in no time.”
He kissed my cheek and took a glass of champagne from a passing server, downing it all in a single gulp. If he saw my raised eyebrow, he made no comment. The DJ began to spin a wildly upbeat tune that brought a smile to Nyx’s handsome face.
“Come on, Maren,” he said, grabbing me by the waist. “Teach me some of those dance moves you do so well.”
Setting down his glass, he swung me onto the dance floor, the others joining us, too. And for a few minutes, I was again lost in Nyx’s spell, where everything was fine and well.
I should have known better than to be lulled into submission again.
Chapter 12
Maren
The cast began to filter out around one in the morning, but I was wide awake, still high on the rush of the evening. I was mildly disappointed that the afterparty had come to an end.
Nyx seemed intoxicated, even though I knew he’d only had a couple of glasses of champagne, but he was feeding off my energy as the two of us saw Tristiana to the door.
“You really did it,” my friend told me affectionately, offering me a hug in the massive front foyer. Nyx lingered back, grinning proudly.
“We did it,” I corrected her. “And the best is yet to come.”
