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Chapter 22
Bree
After Dagen escortedBree back to her quarters, she laid awake in bed with her covers clutched tight to her chest, staring up at the dark ceiling as her heart ran wild in her chest. What in the name of the forest had just happened? She’d gone to confront Lord Dagen about attacking the entire Court during their nightly feast, and instead, she’d ended up...what exactly? She didn’t evenknow.
One moment she’d been yelling at him and the next she’d been frozen on the spot while he ran his fingers through her hair, waxing poetic about her bright soul or some insanity likethat.
And the worst part of it all? She hadlikedit.
No, she whispered to herself, and then she closed her eyes tight. She hadn’t liked it. She was just confused because it had come so out of the blue. Who would have thought Lord Dagen of all people was interested in her? He was so strange and mysterious. So distant and bizarre. Sometimes, he seemed incapable of feeling much of anything. And yet he had feelings forBree?
Or didhe?
Maybe Bree was getting ahead of herself here. All he’d done was touch her hair and tell her that she was terrible at wearing glamor. That didn’t mean he wasinto her. Maybe Bree was the only one who’d felt anything at all when he’d been touching her. Maybe she was the only one who had trembled, heart racing, heat rushing through herbody.
Which made the entire incident that much moreembarrassing.
She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but it was impossible to deny that he’d had some sort of effect on her, one she was going to have to push aside. He was dangerous. He was devious. And he was a DarkFae.
* * *
Rafe didn’t collectBree for training the next day, leaving her pacing from one end of her quarters to the other. Had Taveon told him about her new living situation? He most surely had. And was his absence because of it? She certainly couldn’t see any otherexplanation.
But what did it mean? Bree stopped to stare out the large window at the growing moonlight. The lands of Underworld stretched out far on every side. The castle was high on a hill, looking down on the world below it. She could see the thick forests, their silvery leaves illuminated from the glow of themoon.
Rafe hadn’t sent word that training was cancelled, and she hadn’t seen him after the attack at the Great Hall the previous night. Had something happened to him? Had he tried going after whoever had tried to take down the Prince? It scared her to think that hehad.
A knock sounded on the door. Bree let out a relieved sigh and crossed the room. But when she opened the door, it wasn’t Rafe’s tall form standing in thehallway.
“Lord Dagen?” She asked with a frown. “What are you doinghere?”
“It’s nice to see you, too,” he said with a flicker of asmile.
“Sorry. I just...well, I thought you were Rafferty. He has usually come to get me for training by now. I would have gone to the training room myself, but...” Bree gestured at the two guards that stood tall and silent in the hallway on either side of the door. “After last night, I’m just a bit worried that something has happened. Do you know where heis?”
A strange expression flickered across Lord Dagen’s face. “He is fine. May I come inside? There is something I would like to speak with youabout.”
Bree hesitated. Was that really a good idea? Prince Taveon was already suspicious about Dagen’s gift to her. How would he react when he knew the Lord had come to visit her in her quarters? Plus, there was that whole thing last night that she couldn’t get out of her head. Her whole face warmed at the thought ofit.
“It isn’t a request,” Lord Dagen said with a hint of a warning in hisvoice.
Great. It looked like her deal with the devil was coming back to bite her in the assalready.
With a faux polite smile pasted onto her face, Bree widened the door and gestured for him to come inside. The guards didn’t even blink when he strode in and shut the door behind him, but she knew it wouldn’t take long for Prince Taveon to find out he’d beenhere.
“What’s going on?” she asked, propping her fists on her waist. “Don’t you think it’s a bad idea to come here? Prince Taveon has already given me a hell of a smackdown for accepting these new living quarters fromyou.”
He furrowed his eyebrows. “You humans have a strangevocabulary.”
“I’m not a human,” she said, sharply. “Notanymore.”
“Indeed.” Dagen paced to the window and gazed out at the rolling hills, just as Bree had done only moments before his arrival. “How do you like your new view? I assume you noticed we have a full moon thisday.”
“Yes.” A pause. “Is it always thatbig?”
“Only once a year.” He turned to her then, eyeing her with a strange curiosity. “I did assume that Prince Taveon would have mentioned this to you, though I have a suspicion I know why he didn’t. He thought you would insist on going to the balltonight.”
“There’s a ball tonight?” Bree’s heart lifted a little, even though she desperately wanted to show nothing but complete indifference to Lord Dagen’s words. She loved parties and dancing and merriment. And it had been a long-ass time since she’d done anything remotely close to letting down her hair and having fun. She could let off some steam. She could dance her worries away.But...
