Page 179 of The Edge of Darkness

Suddenly, it was as if there was no one else in the room. I did as he asked, lifting my hair and holding it off my shoulders as he laid the garment gently in place. It was a type of fancy cloak, one that was feminine and striking and unlike any other accessory I’d ever seen or worn. The structured piece of fabric draped over my décolletage and clasped around my neck like the high-collared tunics Remic favored. However, this piece was encrusted with jewels the color of the evening sky—purple, blue, black, and silver, glittering with the slightest movement. Down the back, a cascade of sheer, dark gray fabric hung to the floor, pooling around my feet.

“I want you in nothing but this later,” Niall whispered in my ear as he secured the last clasp.

My eyes fluttered closed as I leaned into his touch. His hands lingered, trailing over the bejeweled fabric until his fingertips met the exposed skin between my collarbone and breast. He stepped closer to me, pressing himself against my backside and allowing me to feel his thickening length beneath his pants.

Someone cleared their throat, and my eyes snapped open, a blush blooming on my face.

“I’m going to need something a hell of a lot stronger than this if I’m going to have to watch you two do that all night,” Roirdan said, shaking his empty mug before abandoning it on the table next to the book.

Niall nipped at my ear before releasing me and adjusting his pants without a shred of embarrassment. “I have only one rule for tonight,” he said to the entire room. “Drink until you can’t drink anymore.”

“Yes!” Roirdan pointed at Remic and Silas. “I want to see both of you drunker than fools by the end of the night.”

Silas chuckled. “Why?”

“Because this is Vahrenhall. This is where we let loose and have a little fun. And trust me, the more you let yourself succumb to the nature of this place, the better.”

I, for one, didn’t have any problem with the idea. In fact, I felt like I was quite overdue for letting loose. I grabbed Niall by the hand and reached out for Nivelle’s, preparing to port. Remic, Silas, and Roirdan did the same, and we vanished.

Every time I had ever attended an event in Vahrenhall, I’d either regretted a decision I made, or woken with no memory of the night before. Tonight, my goal was to not have either of those things happen.

Gods be good.

If I was going to have any luck at achieving either, I needed to distract myself from the witch whose hips were swaying far too enticingly as she walked.

I focused on the torchlights that lit the path to the field where tonight’s festivities were already underway. Vahrish fae didn’t believe in celebrations being held indoors. Even if it was storming, they would howl their inhibitions to the sky and spit the water from their lips while doing so.

Vahrenhall, and those who hailed from it, were still wild and untamed, and that part of my bloodline ran strong within me. As I aged, the bitterness I’d held in my heart for my own brethren who supported my exile, faded, and the abandonment became less of an open wound in my soul and more like a scar that itched every now and then. I was familiar to most in this court now, and I’d worked my way into the favor of several of Vanir’s council members and the leaders of his army.

But that didn’t absolve me of a past I had no hand in making. Perhaps that was why a part of me was still bothered by it. The fact that my future had basically been stripped from me by those who should have had no say in my life whatsoever was something I would probably always struggle with. On nights like tonight, though, I had the opportunity to toss those feelings to the wind, forget who I was entirely, and enjoy just being alive and free.

I liked to remind myself, It could always be worse.

I muttered the words under my breath as I tore my eyes away from where they had conveniently wandered again: Nivelle’s backside. Things really could be worse. If she caught me staring, she might feel inclined to cast some spell on me or use her power to gouge my eyes out. Somehow, the thought of her even threatening to do something like that stirred up some form of demented excitement I didn’t know I was capable of feeling.

Beside me, Remic matched my pace, his wings gently brushing my shoulder each time he stepped slightly out of line as we passed a flaming torch. I knew he could probably sense everything that was on my mind—he had a way of doing that. He’d joined our group shortly after Niall and I had formed an alliance, and the fact that he, too, had been an outcast, helped forge the brotherly bond we shared. He knew what it was like to be stripped of a future because of someone else’s actions. The annoying thing was that whenever he sensed something was going on, he would linger nearby, silent as the grave, and use his presence and pure intimidation to loosen one’s lips.

I blew a breath out through my nose, realizing that was exactly what he was doing now. Each nudge with his wing almost seemed intentional.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I muttered.

He gave me a look that called my bluff.

“There’s not really much to say anyway.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

I rolled my shoulders back, forcing my eyes to stay above Nivelle’s head. She’d even done something different to her hair for this occasion. It was wavy instead of straight, and the way it fluttered with every step she took⁠—

Fuck. Stop that.

I grunted in irritation.

“Is she getting under your skin or something?” Remic asked, jerking his chin at the witch.

“Always has.”

“Then you should talk to her. Tell her the issue⁠—”