Also: Rune didn’t need to be rescued. This was made clear as she stepped directly in front of Soren, blocking his path to the chairs.
“I promise not to miss much.” Pushing herself onto her toes, she slid her pale arms around the prince’s neck and grazed his cheek with her lips, lingering there. When Soren’s free hand settled on her hip, admiring its curve, she added: “Later tonight, when the recital is over and the guests are gone, I have something special planned for you.”
Gideon’s heart dropped at those words. As he watched Soren slide his hand up and run his fingers along Rune’s jaw, his entire body turned to stone.
“Something special?” the prince murmured, leaning down to press his mouth to Rune’s.
Slipping her hand into his brown hair, Rune kissed Soren back, giving him a taste of what was to come. Soren pulled her in closer, and Gideon knew this wasn’t the first time. There had been other kisses. Probably more than kisses.
The realization awoke something in him. Something tremulous and aching. It knotted around his rib cage, threatening to drag him to the bottom of the sea.
Enough.
He reached for his pistol.
But before he could finish this, Rune slipped out of Soren’s grasp.
“I think you’ll like my surprise.” Her cheeks were rosy asshe walked backward. “See if you can guess what it is while I’m gone.”
Rune winked. The prince’s eyes darkened with lust.
Gideon was going to be sick.
Rune spun on her heel and strode away, leaving Soren and Gideon to stare after her, the dress putting her on full display.
She rushed past guests making their way toward their chairs and guards stationed along the walls. As she hurried to the door, she nearly ran straight into the servant coming through them, halting just before they collided. The young woman balanced a shaking tray of glasses in one hand and held a bottle of whiskey in the other.
Gideon watched Rune exchange a few words with the servant, take the bottle from her, and disappear into the hall.
There it is.
The moment he’d been waiting for.
TWORUNE
DON’T CRY DON’T CRY don’t cry.
Tears burned in Rune’s eyes as she fled down the hall, past the stoic guards in their dark green uniforms. She was glad the rims of their hats shielded their faces, preventing her from seeing what they must think of her.
She couldn’t let the tears spill. Not here. Not with them all watching.
But no matter how fast she ran, she couldn’t outrun the song still playing in the ballroom, each note an arrow through her heart.
Alex’ssong.
The wistful tune had transported Rune back to Wintersea, to standing in her library’s doorway, watching her best friend hunched over the keys of her grand piano, his hands casting a spell over the room.
Alexander Sharpe.
This song—the one chasing her away—was the last he’d ever written.
Rune touched his ring, still on her finger, as a wave of grief swelled inside her. She scrambled for something to protect herself against the terrible wave, that horriblemissing, and came up empty-handed.
It was why she’d needed out of that ballroom. Before she broke down sobbing in the middle of a party to celebrate her upcoming marriage to a prince.
We would have been married by now.
She would have preferred Alex over Soren. Alex was her best friend. Other than her grandmother, he was the only person in the world who’d ever truly loved her. She might not have beenin lovewith him, but given enough time, perhaps she could have been.
