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The music started. A waltz. He wondered if Rainier had arranged that.
"Who leads?" he asked.
"I asked, so I lead."
The man could dance. Daemon heard startled gasps, noticed other couples stumble to a halt and move out of the way. But those were distant things. His focus…and his temper…were fixed on Rainier.
"Before you decide in favor of killing me, I should mention that I'm Second Circle," Rainier said.
That statement almost threw him off balance. It was possible. Jaenelle's court had been so informal, he'd never met anyone beyond her First Circle. "You mean youwere Second Circle. The Dark Court no longer exists."
"Hmm.Yes. I'm no longer Second Circle just like you're no longer the Consort."
They whirled around the dance floor, perfectly matched, studying each other.
"I'll think you'll find, Prince Sadi, that those who serve Jaenelle don't give a damn that there's no longer formally a court. The Dark Court still exists because she still exists. We still serve…and you're still the Consort."
"What's your game, Rainier?"
"Figured I'd better help you two by providing a distraction. You're doing a lousy imitation of a quarreling couple. You're having too much fun. I'm thinking you're trying to draw out whoever started those rumors. So this should catch someone's interest."
The man had a point. They certainly had the attention of everyone in the room. "How did you end up in the Second Circle?"
Rainier grinned. "I was the coven's dance instructor. The fifth or sixth one the High Lord hired. I wasn't much older than the girls and had no credentials except a knowledge of, and love for, dancing, but he told me if I could last the hour with them I had the position."
"And you lasted the hour."
Rainier nodded. "The Heart of the Realm was in that room. If the personalities and power of the coven didn't scare the shit out of a man, there was no better place to be. There's still no better place to be."
He had a feeling Rainier was more than a dance instructor, but the man wasn't a rival, and a skilled ally could prove useful right now. "Do you know court dances?"
"I adore court dances."
"My lead." Daemon sent a psychic command to the head musician. When the music changed, he and Rainier broke the steps of one dance and flowed into the other as smoothly as if they'd been partners for years. Hand to hand. Turning. Circling. Gliding. Watching each other. Restrained sensuality swelling to the point of bursting. He saw the hint of fear in Rainier's green eyes as the web of desire he was spinning through the dance became a snare for the unwary.
"Mother Night," Rainier whispered hoarsely. "You must be a mean bastard when you want to hurt someone."
Daemon smiled a cruel, knowing smile, and crooned, "But you'd let me hurt you, wouldn't you?"
The sudden tremble in Rainier's hand was answer enough.
As the dance ended, Daemon leaned in, trapping their hands between their bodies, bringing lips close to lips. "That's why they called me the Sadist."
Something was scraping his temper, some feeling in the room that reminded him too much of the Terreillean courts, something that had him teetering a heartbeat away from the killing edge.
But thatsomething wasn't the man staring into his glazed eyes. This male belonged to his Queen and shouldn't be harmed.
With effort, he pulled back the seduction tendrils, eased back physically. "Thank you for the dance."
"My pleasure." Rainier cleared his throat. "It's been an education."
They walked back to where Jaenelle and Surreal stood. No one in the ballroom spoke, no one moved. Even the musicians were silent for a long moment before the music began for the next dance, and the room was once more filled with movement and murmurs.
Jaenelle watched him approach, her face flushed, her eyes wide.
Was she repulsed by seeing him dance with another man? What was she thinking? He wanted to reach out, mind to mind, but he didn't dare. Not when his temper was being held back by a frayed thread.
As he stopped in front of her, Rainier still beside him, he saw her throat muscles working to swallow.
Looking dazed, Jaenelle said, "It's awfully warm in here. Is it warm in here?"
Surreal snorted as she studied him and Rainier. "Sugar, we passed warm and leaped straight to blazing."
"Oh. Good. It's not just me."
Surreal gave him a wary look and linked her arm through Jaenelle's. "I imagine everyone is feeling a bit warm right now. Let's go out on the terrace and get some air."
"Air is good," Jaenelle said, wobbling a little. "Air is… good."
He said nothing as the two women made their way to the glass doors that led out to the terrace.
Rainier cleared his throat. "It's been… um…" He shook his head and walked away.
Daemon stayed where he was, watching Lucivar approach, seeing wariness in his brother's gold eyes. Rainier had been given the lightest taste of what it was like to dance with the Sadist, but Lucivarknew. And Lucivar was afraid.
But being afraid never stopped him from issuing a challenge with all the Eyrien arrogance in him.
"Quite a dance," Lucivar said.
"It had its moments."
"Rainier is a good Warlord Prince."
"He's a dance instructor?"
"Among other things."
Which confirmed his sense of the man. "Who trained him?"
"I helped him hone what he'd already learned."
Which meant Rainier wasn't just a natural predator, he was also a well-trained killer.
"Daemon… Jaenelle and Rainier are just friends."
"I know. It isn't him. But there's something in this room…" He shook his head. "I'm going to find someplace to be alone for a few minutes. I need a few minutes."
Lucivar stepped aside, letting him pass. With a bit of hunting, he found a small, secondary parlor near the ballroom. By the look of it, this was where visitors who weren't "important company" were entertained. Which meant right now it was quiet and empty, and that was what he needed to bring himself back from the point of going cold.
Lektra grabbed Tavey's arm. "Do it now. He's by himself."
"You want me to talk to him alone?"
"Well, you can't do it whenshe's nearby, and she's been clinging to him all night. This may be your only chance." And after watching him dance with that other Warlord Prince, she'd go mad if she couldn't have Daemon soon.
Tavey looked scared, but he never could refuse her for very long. So he left the ballroom to deliver his little speech.
