Page 28 of Veil of Night & Flames

Only he believes the dream.

And maybe, just a little, I wish that I could believe it, too.

I blink fast to hold back the tears. I can’t do this. Not tonight. I can’t pretend to my blitzed-out uncle that my mother is still alive. Which is why instead of arguing, I just take his hand. “Dance with me.”

“Ah, there’s a good girl. Dancing with your old uncle. We’ll show them how it’s done.”

I expect to look foolish, but it turns out my uncle knows how to dance. I’m the one who feels ridiculous, because he’s like the male lead in a classic Ginger Rogers movie, and I am so not Ginger. Still, it feels lovely to move with the music and to see Finn so happy. So lovely, in fact, that I’m almost glad that Adric brought Finn here.

Almost, but not quite.

On the far side of the Great Hall, the king in question watches us from where he stands by a woman in a gold half-mask who’s gesturing at him with a wineglass. Someone important, I assume. Probably one of the dignitaries from another realm. Adric told me that representatives from all the realms are here tonight. Even from Retribution, which is more than a little unnerving.

Whoever she is, he’s not listening to a word she’s saying. I know, because his silver never-miss-a-thing eyes are on me.

“He’s watching you,” Finn says mildly, turning us in a slow rotation.

“He knows he’s pissed me off.”

“Has he? What for?”

“I have a list. But mostly he’s refusing to let me take you home.”

“But Cora, dear, I don’t want to wake. This is a lovely dream.”

“It’s not a dream.”

“So says everyone inside a dream.”

I start to retort, then clamp my mouth shut.

“Cora, child,” he says in that soft way he spoke to me when I was little, “why are you worrying about me? I have that miraculous library. I have a lovely room and three meals a day. Best of all, I have Cassie, and my sister is very good company. I’ve missed her, and she tells the most intriguing stories.”

“Mom isn’t—” I bite down on the rest of it.

“Isn’t what?”

“Isn’t who I’m worried about,” I say, because what else can I say? He truly thinks this is some wonderful dream he doesn’t want to wake from because he’s hallucinating my mother. Do I really want to convince this uncle I dearly love that he’s been kidnapped to another realm and his sister is dead?

Yeah, no. I really don’t. Adric’s already said I can’t take Finn home, so all I’d be doing is stealing the illusions that make this place palatable for him.

“All right,” I finally say. “Why don’t you tell me about the fascinating things you’ve found in that library?”

His eyes light up, and he takes a breath before diving in—with meticulous detail—to tell me about a manuscript on dreaming as a form of transit between worlds. “You know how I love science fiction,” he says, and it’s all I can do not to burst into hysterical giggles.

Thankfully, the music shifts. Finn grins, then spins me out onto the dance floor, leading just as he did when I was five, and we danced with my feet on his shoes.

Then I see the scar-faced man.

I don’t know him, but I’d seen him talking with Adric earlier, so I assume he’s castle staff. He moves with purpose to Adric’s side. From where Finn and I stand, I can only see ScarFace’s back, but Adric’s face is visible. His expression remains royally neutral, but his mouth tightens, and his eyes flick once to where I’m standing, then to Kali across the room, then back to ScarFace.

“Something’s wrong,” I whisper.

“Dreams can turn to nightmares,” Finn says, his voice still lilting and soft.

Finn’s not wrong, and my chest tightens when I see Adric striding toward us, with ScarFace walking two paces behind. The music continues, but the nearest courtiers have noticed the king and the scarred man, and a gossipy buzz of whispers fills the room.

When Adric reaches us, his tone is level, but his expression is tight. “There is a matter to deal with,” he says. “I would like you at my side.”