“Well I wouldn't mind trying my hand at being the submissive one.”
My eyes rolled back into my skull again. “I don't think I need to press you into kissing me, anyways.”
“No, you don'tneedto, but I want you to.”
“On the gods.” My eyes rolled back into my skull. “Fine, come here.”
I had just begun tapping into my powers to fulfill his fantasy when a throat cleared behind us. We both jerked ourheads towards the entrance of the arena. Sawyer leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. “I need to talk to you.” He nodded towards Sebastian.
Sebastian’s jaw tightened, recognizing that this wasn't something that could wait. It must have been important, because the two of them still weren't on good terms.
He turned to me, placing his hands on my upper arms. “If I let you walk back to the castle alone, do you promise to be careful?”
“Of course.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I'm sure. Go.”
Sebastian dropped his hands. “Okay. I'll come get you before the ceremony.” He planted a brief and uncoerced kiss on my lips.
My gaze followed him to Sawyer, who dropped his head to avoid eye contact with me. He still refused to talk to me, and I didn't fully understand why. Surely he didn'tactuallyblame me for Jocelyn's death? I thought he was just angry and needed to point the blame at someone, but with each passing day, I became more unsure.
“Alright,thatmight be my favorite dress I've seen you in,” Pia chimed when I exited my washroom in the gown I chose for this evening.
The dress of luxurious, black silk clung to my curves, flaring out at the bottom with the help of a slit on each side. The top was snug and sleeveless, the plunging neckline edged in gold beading. A cascade of golden leaves adorned the gown, flowing from my waist all the way to the bottom of the skirt which was trimmed with the same beading. The dress twinkled from my reflection in the window. “I might have to agree with you.”
“Woah.”
My skirt flowed as I spun around at the sound of Sebastian's voice. He approached me, his attention roaming me up and down. “You look…I don't even have the words.”
Pia cut in. “I believe the words you're looking for are gorgeous, breathtaking, totally hot, bangable—” She stopped herself when she noticed Kohen in the doorway, waiting to escort her to the ceremony.
“Speaking of breathtaking.” He wrapped his arms around the waist of her navy gown, pulling her into his chest.
“I'll see you down there,” she addressed me, her cheeks blushed.
Kohen led her down the hall, then Sebastian shut the door behind them. He made himself comfortable, sitting in my armchair by the window, eyeballing me as I collected my comb and started working it through my hair.
“You look quite handsome,” I complimented his usual dress suit.
“I’ll admit that I do clean up nice.”
“I still think I prefer you in your work leathers, though.”
Sebastian smirked. “I prefer you in whatever is under that tight dress.”
My thighs clenched. “What did Sawyer want to talk to you about?”
He crossed one leg over his knee and released a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan. “Apparently him and Kohen overheard a conversation between two guards earlier that sparked some concern.”
My hands released my hair as panic filled me. “Okay? What did they say?”
He sucked his lips in, then blew out a breath. “One of them said something about a group of stray Draemornian soldiers showing up at the ceremony tonight. Something about them being pissed that Beaumont pulled back his war threats, and how they want justice for what happened in Craterra. Wedon't even know if there's any truth to it, but we have to act like there is.”
“Who were the guards?”
“Two guys who graduated last year, I think. Sawyer wasn't exactly sure.”
