Maybe the heart in my throat is just a coincidence. Maybe everything’s super duper fine.
Besides, I’m not just here to attend a ball in this flowing gown. I’m here to work. Help a wedding run smoothly. Make surethe most romantic day of the yeargets anotherromantic occasionadded to it.
Unfortunately, something about nighttime has worked its way into my blood and bones, leaving me frightened and chilled.
At some point tonight, I’m supposed to have my first kiss. I’ve spent weeks working up to it—while not dying—but now that it’shere, I’m terrified.
Terrified that I’ll mess up. Terrified that I’ll freak out. Terrified that I won’t do it well. Terrified that it’ll be a disappointment. Terrified that I’ll contract an illness. Terrified that kissing me will have been so awful that Malcolm will leave me alone to die. Terrified, terrified, terrified, terrified…
A figure bangs on my car window, and I jolt, whipping my attention up toward a shadow in the space beyond the glass.
Malcolm.
My Malcolm.
My Malcolm who knows I’m drowning in here and has zero qualms about breaking in if I don’t drag myself out first.
Smiling, he has the sense to try the handle before smashing the glass. Finding my door unlocked, he frees me from the confines.
Tense, I sit there, tracing the jet black of his suit, dress shirt, and cufflinks. Everything except for his ice-blue tie blends into the night around him, but I can’t shake the feeling that he ismineand he isperfectand whatever happens…will happen.
And it will be okay.
Because there’s not a thing in this world that would dare to keep him from me.
Because nothing could ever be strong enough to stand between me…and my monster.
Calm and confident, he offers me a silk-gloved hand. “You look beautiful,” he says. “Come. Let me see you in the moonlight.”
Blinking, I glance toward the heavens as my white gloves meet his black ones. “What…moonlight?”
He doesn’t tear his eyes off me. “Is there no moonlight?” He draws me effortlessly out of my car. “Pity.” His face shows nothing of pity. “I suppose I’ll have to see you in the shadows.” His grasp on my hand solidifies. “Woe…is…me.”
Moments pass, stretching out between us while my heart thunders in my skull and he drinks me in.
Choking on the words, I say, “Should we head inside and make sure everything’s ready before people start arriving?”
“We still have time.”
Right. That’s good. I was worried I’d be late. It took me a few tries to get this dress on in a way that didn’t feel like I was flirting with death. And by that I mean I literally started putting it on, had to take it off, tried to put it on again, and had to take it off again. Seven times. Because seven is a decent enough number, according to most gamblers, so I figured there had to be something to it.
I am exceedingly grateful that my gloves are white. At least my hands feel okay. Correct. I don’t…know.
Malcolm startles, losing the daze in his eyes. “I almost forgot.” He reaches into his pocket. “Here.” His palm opens, and I stare down at a small crystal star. Ice blue. Precisely the color of my eyes. I have never seen anything that reminds me more of them. I have never seen anything that looks this close to my very specific favorite color. He says, “I found this while I was looking for examples of the aesthetic Ivy wanted for his ball. It made me think of you, so I got it.”
Fingers trembling, I reach for the tiny thing. “It’s beautiful.”
He closes his hand around it. “If you hate it, you don’t need to keep it.”
“I don’t hate it.”
“No, really. I can just chuck it in the yard. Right now.”
I catch his wrist before he can launch the tiny star across the manicured front lawn of Iverson Swallow’s mansion home. Panic resonates through me as I dig my grasp into Malcolm’s veins.
He eyes me, then his expression melts into a smile. My eyes fixate on his lips as he settles the crystal in my palm. “I’m glad you like it.”
“I…” My fingers tremble around it. Ice blue. Like my dress. Holding it to my heart, I peer up at him, hopelessly. A million things swarm in my head, but I can’t catch them at all. I reallylike it. It’s sweet. It’s perfect. It’sme. It’s color in my bleached world.Heis color in my bleached world.
