‘Not a party, sister. Think of it as a small, intimate gathering among friends.’
I shake my head. ‘No.’
‘Yes.’
‘But I’m tired.’
‘Tough.’
‘And I wanted to read my book.’
Flint looks at me as though I’d just announced my plan to assassinate the emperor. ‘Sometimes, I wonder how we ever shared a womb.’
I roll my eyes. ‘Flint, what would you say if I told you that for some people, attending parties every single night can seem alittleexcessive?’
‘I would say that those are exactly the kind of people who could use one. Now get dressed and quit complaining.’
Reluctantly, I do as he asks.
‘Ah, there’s that sweet smile,’ he says as I emerge, scowling, from behind the screen. ‘Now, come on.’
I sigh loudly. ‘Just let me blow out the candles first.’
But Flint only snaps his fingers, and every candle in the room sputters out. He loops his arm through mine. ‘Shall we?’
My brother steers me out of my chambers and along the Aquatori Wing, coming to a stop outside the very next door.
‘You’ve got to be joking,’ I say.
‘I know, she doesn’t seem the throwing-a-party type,’ he says, rapping the golden knocker. ‘She’s exceedingly uptight for a Fish.’
The door swings open. Marina’s eyes are lined with silver, her hair pinned back with those fish-shaped clips. She’s forced to raise her voice to be heard over the noise coming from inside her rooms. ‘Flint. And you brought your sister with you, too. Howdelightful.’
She shoots me a particularly nasty smile as she stands back to let us pass.
Marina’s rooms are identical to mine in every way but one – they are filled with people. I tuck myself into a corner by the window while a group of chaperones in glittering gold robes all swivel round to stare at me. I linger there for nearly an hour, watching from the sidelines, counting down the minutes until I can slip off to bed.
A shriek of laughter rises above the din, and I glance up to see Zeph swinging Elaith on to his shoulders. She’s brandishing a bottle of champagne, giggling as she pours some into Flint’s open mouth. My brother wipes the back of his hand across his chin before turning back to the handsome Ventalla boy he’d been in the middle of kissing.
Kai appears at my side, grinning. ‘Are they always like this, d’you think?’
‘Definitely,’ I say, as Elaith proceeds to down the contents of the bottle and Flint turns his attentions to a golden-haired Terrathian girl.
‘Blaze!’
I look round to find Spinner sitting a short distance away, playing a game of cards with a handful of Eyes.
She beams as I approach the table. ‘Want me to deal you in?’
Before I can respond, a silence sweeps through the room, voices dwindling as the Etheri turn their heads towards the door.
My breath hitches.
Fox stands framed in the doorway. His loose green shirt gapes open at the neck, exposing several inches of smooth golden skin, his thin gold chain glimmering as it catches the light. He smiles, slipping his hands into his pockets, dark leather quenching the glow of his tree-shaped brandmark. Almost immediately he’s swarmed by his usual gaggle of sycophants. I watch, disgusted at the way they fawn over him, at the way he lets them. But rather than stop, he keeps walking, the Etheri parting down the middle as he makes his way directly towards the spot where I am standing. I freeze. Yet when he speaks, it is not to me.
‘Move.’
Spinner’s companions get up hurriedly, but she remains seated, her mouth hanging open with shock and indignation.
