"I am." She almost smiles. "Because we're not going in there asking them to save us. We're going in there showing them we'rethe better bet. That we're strong, united, and more valuable as allies than enemies."
She lifts the ring from her chest, letting it catch the light one more time.
"Besides," she adds, "I'm wearing your ring now. Which means I'm part of you. And you don't lose."
She leaves before I can respond.
I stand alone in the training room, staring at the empty doorway. My body is still humming with want. My mind is still full of her. The scent of her lingers in the air, and I breathe it in, knowing I shouldn't, unable to stop myself.
Tomorrow, Celeste will walk into a room full of predators wearing a ring that marks her as mine. She'll stand beside me, and she'll hold her ground, because that's who she is.
And I'll watch her do it. Terrified. Proud.
Falling.
The word catches in my mind, and I can't shake it loose.
I close the empty box and return to my quarters to prepare for tomorrow. Because she's right about one thing. I don't lose.
I just never expected winning to feel this much like surrender.
Chapter
Twenty-Three
The dress is waiting on my bed when I awake.
Black. Floor-length. Nothing like the soft, pretty things human women wear to galas and weddings. This is structured, architectural, a gown that looks like it was designed by someone who understood that beauty and danger aren't opposites.
I run my fingers along the fabric. Heavy, matte, with a subtle texture that catches the light. The bodice is fitted, boned like a corset but flexible enough to move in. The neckline cuts low enough to display the ring resting against my chest. The back is open nearly to my waist. And the skirt, fitted through the hips, then falling to the floor with slits up both sides that would let me kick, run, fight if I needed to.
There's no note. There doesn't need to be.
Beside the dress: boots. Black leather, heeled but sturdy, rising to mid-calf. Not decorative. Functional.
He thought of everything.
I pick up the dress and hold it against my body, studying myreflection in the mirror. The neckline plunges in a deep V, and I imagine his eyes following that line. Imagine his gaze tracing the exposed skin, remembering what his hands felt like there. What his fingers felt like lower.
Heat coils in my stomach.
I shouldn't be thinking about this. Not now, not with everything at stake tonight. But my body doesn't seem to care about political alliances and vampire lords. My body remembers the war room. The wall against my back. His hand sliding beneath my clothes.
A knock at my door. Elena slips in without waiting for an answer, takes one look at the dress, and stops dead.
"Holy shit."
"Yeah."
"He gave you that?"
"It was waiting when I woke up."
She crosses the room and touches the fabric with something like reverence. "This is... Celeste, this is serious. I've never seen him do anything like this for anyone."
Her eyes drop to the ring at my chest. She goes still. She reaches out and lifts it gently, turning it to catch the light. "His signet ring," she says quietly. "Do you know what this means?"
"He explained."
