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“As do you,” I say, coolly. The champagne is helping my ruse. “Like a villain from a fairytale. The cursed ones who kiss women into oblivion and lock them away forever.” After our earlier spat—debacle, really—I had one truth. Kieran Lazarus was no more aware of what was going on than I was. Devil’s Bay was hiding far more truths and he was just a pawn in a bigger game. This world was toying with us all.
His lips twitch. “Is that what you want?”
“Maybe I just want to see if you live up to the myth.” I tease. The Demon of Devil’s Bay needs to be humbled.
Lightning flashes, and for a moment his eyes glow silver instead of blue. The illusion of a man flickers, revealing something darker before settling back into the familiar shape I knew. My pulse trips. A jolt of apprehension washes over me. The same gritty overlay slowly slips before my eyes, turning everything into a cascade of grainy shadow. Is this going to be a truth or a hallucination?
Who says they’re not all truths?
Kieran spins me before I can register the full change of vision, my dress blossoming around my legs like a black orchid. When he catches me again, my breath tangles with his.
“This is a lot smoother than our other tries,” I remark, giving a quick wink.
“I think having an audience helps,” he volleys.
We dance in a hypnotic circle, drifting closer to the edges of the room where the others watched. Their eyes gleam with unreadable hunger. Cassandra sips her champagne like nectar and winks at me over her glass. The movement should feel playful, but her expression is wrong. Her skin doesn’t shift fully with the smile. The light in her eyes doesn’t warm. She appears like an echo of a woman. Was she also a soul or just another living thing?
“Why is everyone staring?” I whisper.
“Because you’re a siren,” he says, the words flat. If he was so keen on romancing me, he should have done so ten years ago.
Who says he hasn’t?
“Why are we always dancing around the truth?” I stab a finger into his cold, hard chest.
Get closer, twist the knife.
“What is truth really? It’s a very subjective word,” he rebuts, grabbing my finger.
Lightning illuminates the room, sending rumbles across the ceiling.
“So, tell me, since we seem to be meandering around everything here. Daisy…you seem to know of her. But can’t seem to recall where you know her from?” I prod. There was one slip up of his. He claimed the world only shows things to people who have shared memories. This confirms that I had been at their wedding. And he did know who I was, and he definitely knows who Daisy is.
Had the man before me killed both of us?
I feel his grip tighten for a fraction of a second, his eyes shifting to the purview of the room. Kieran swallows before he answers, “it seems she was a close friend of my wife’s.”
I nearly scoff at the audacity to keep lying.
“Did she live here for a while?” Tugging him closer, I’m acutely aware of the penetrating stare of Christian. Kieran’s friends now join in on the dancing, Irene shuffling elegantly with Arian, Killian remaining behind, cold eyes casting a cursory glance toward me every so often. Cassandra’s finely painted talons skate down Christian’s arm, and I imagine doing harm to her, ungodly, merciless harm.
“She came and went. A troubled woman who could not be helped. She was her own downfall and I had to do what I needed to protect what’s mine.”
Cassandra glides toward us, her gown trailing behind her without a sound and without my shadow. “You two dance beautifully,” she purrs. “A perfect match.”
“Glad you approve,” I reply. “Do you want to cut in?”
“Oh no. I will have my turn later.”
Something about her tone makes me want to snatch her, the way the creature had snatched my ankles.
I do not like her.
You and me both, inner voice.
Kieran’s hand tightens at my waist. “Enough circling, Cassandra.”
Her responding cackle bounces around the room. She then turns and vanishes into the shadows along the wall.
