She is as luminous as the moon.
Her dress is elegant and simple, the color of the twilight sky, a dark and fathomless blue that shimmers ever so slightly when she moves. She’s done her long hair up into some sort of twist, delicate tendrils framing her face. A silver necklace shaped like a vine glitters along her collarbone, twisting this way and that, studded with small sapphires that catch the light.
The sight of her in my arms—conscious, this time—steals my breath, though I know I should say something. About the dress, the hair, the jewels adorning her neck.
But all I can see is her lovely, heart-shaped face. I could write an entire sonnet about her eyes, and the perfect pout of her lips has me dreaming of another time, another place, long before I bargained away my soul. Long before even the cruelties of my human life carved away the parts of me that ever hungered for more.
There is no more escaping the truth. Elizabeth Bonnivarde has utterly bewitched me. Which is problematic on multiple levels, not the least of which is that we have a job to do tonight. One that requires absolute focus, and yet the very sight of her threatens to turn me into a babbling monkey incapable of scratching his own backside, let alone executing a complex spy mission in the house of a potential enemy.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” she asks, undoubtedly sensing my nerves. “We could just… get some drinks?”
“No, I… I apologize for the awkwardness. It’s been… a long time since I’ve danced.”
“I was surprised you asked.”
“No more surprised than I.”
“Why did you? Honest answer.”
Bloody Hell.Everywhere her body touches mine, Iache.
I clear my throat. Guide her into a gentle twirl, then back, saving myself from that so-called honest answer, offering another instead. “You look lovely, Miss Bonnivarde.”
“Really?” Her hand briefly leaves my shoulder, fluttering self-consciously to her neck before returning to me. “Kate found the dress in Mom’s old things and altered it for me. The necklace, too. I wasn’t sure if it was all too much, but… vintage issoin, right?”
“Considering I qualify as vintage myself, I’m inclined to agree.”
“Ooh! I have an idea. Since you’re in such an agreeable mood…” She grins, nearly gutting me with it. “Favor? Just for tonight?”
“You and your ideas. Why do I get the sense I’m being led into a trap?”
“No trap. Just a request.” Her brow furrows the way it does when she’s concentrating on a summoning and wants very badly to succeed. “Okay, I know you’re Mr. Rules and Regulations, and I don’t want you to feel disrespected or anything. Because Itotallyrespect you. It’s just... we’re practically on a date, and?—”
“What?” Suddenly, my throat is dry. The temperature in the room is warmer than it should be. The music louder, the lights far too brash. “We are most certainlynoton a date.”
“Apretenddate. And it feels weird to be so… so formal with each other.” She gazes up at me again, her eyes luminescent in the low-lit ballroom. “Is it cool if we use our first names? Just for the night?” As quickly as the words are out, she’s shaking her head, her gaze falling away. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. Oh, God. Please don’t make it weird, Professor.”
“When have I ever…?” I let the thought fade as the realization dawns. Fuck. Ialwaysmake it weird. It’s practically a compulsion.
I let the silence simmer. Leash myweirdinstincts. A memory surfaces from the first night we met, when she was so certain I’d judged her unworthy. That I didn’t like her.
Wasn’t there another demon available? One that’s a little more…cool?
How far we’ve come, my star pupil and I.
“I’m notallrules and regulations, you know,” I finally say. “I’ve been known to rebel once or twice in my day.”
“Definitely,” she teases. “One time in the cemetery, I caught you with your top button undone.Veryscandalous. Oh! And that other time you started a new journal when there was still a blank page left in the old one. Positively mutinous!”
I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Very well,Elizabeth. You have made your point. You know, for someone who detests lawyers, I think you’d make a fine one.”
Her return smile is worth a bit of personal discomfort. Besides, I’d never admit this, but I rather like the taste of her name in my mouth.
Elizabeth…
She arches a playful eyebrow. “It’s only on account of you looking so good in a tux,Merrick, that I’m letting you get away with that lawyer dig. Come tomorrow, all bets are off.”
“I would expect nothing less.”
