Page 82 of Find My Way Down to You

“Is it true that you choose some of them to become more than just souls?”

Like Aminta?I almost ask.Do you remember each of them? Pleasetell me you do. Tell me you’ve seen London.

“Someone has been very chatty.” Milos’s pointed gaze moves in Henri’s direction. Clumsily, I pivot until I’m in his eyeline again.

I grin. “That’s so kind of you. To give them another chance.”

He licks his lips. “Is it?”

“I want to know more about you.” The lie comes out sweetly, but it leaves a bitterness in the back of my throat.

The hand on my waist moves silkily to my lower back. Milos’s fingertips dip even lower. “My turn.” His electric stare crackles in my bones. “Where you are from…what is it like?”

“Santa Barbara?”

“No. The mortal realm.”

Suddenly, I trip a little. With a firm hand, Milos holds me upright. It’s not like when Cary did it in the garden. There’s no gentleness in his touch or flicker of concern in his gaze. Milos does it like he was preventing himself from falling instead of protecting me.

Flustered, I say, “You’ve never been?”

For some reason, I assumed all the Deathless have.

Milos frowns. “My brother did not tell you?”

I shake my head.

Leaning closer, Milos says, warm breath against my cheek, “I am unable to cross over to your realm like the other Deathless.”

“Why?”

His eyes grow smaller. Darker. “I am the final judge. Aides’s prince. I am bound to the throne. I must be here, always.”

“Always,” I repeat in a whisper.

He searches the ballroom like he’s hunting for someone. Through his teeth, he grits, “It was not my choice. But it is who I am.”

Trying to process everything makes my head dizzy. There’s too much information. And still not enough answers.

“So, you can’t ever leave?”

His mouth smooths back into a smile. “There is one way.”

I look at him expectantly.

He spins us. The room becomes a blur. Dripping stars and falling petals and hypnotic scents. I’m lightheaded. Milos hauls me in until it feels like my body’s melting against his.

Against my ear, he says, “You look beautiful tonight.”

A flush burns against my cheeks. “Thanks to you.” My hand slides down to the wing of his shoulder blade. “I love my suit.”

“I am glad.” His lips trail lightly down my jaw.

“Nice touch with the flowers,” I comment.

He eases back a fraction to look in my eyes. “That was…someone else’s suggestion.”

“Someone else?”