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Her dress is peacock green, shimmering with hues of cobalt when she moves. The neckline plunges down, nearly to her waist. Feather-like stitching covers her bodice to match the mask covering the upper half of her face. Filigreed silver talons, connected to matching bracelets with thin chains, cap the tips of her fingers.
Alaric enters from a door at the back and stops before her. Under his black jacket trimmed with silver threading along the collar, lapels, and cuffs, he wears a white shirt, even his mask is simple black leather. The only color is the large ruby pinned at the throat of his white cravat.
Lawrence nudges me. I immediately lower my head, keeping my gaze averted.
Della and Bram go off together in another direction and Lawrence draws me into a dance along the edges of the crowd. He keeps his face angled toward me with an easy smile while his gaze casts about.
As the others move into place, Lawrence and I need to find a way for me to get close to Elizabeth. It would be better to get her alone, but that might not be possible. She may be more powerful, but I am counting on the element of surprise and my training to make up for the difference.
“May I cut in?” Cassius’s voice has our dance coming to an early end.
Lawrence glares. “What are you doing?” he hisses through a feigned smile.
At first, I think he will ignore the request, but then Cassius adds, “I will keep your guest company while you greet our queen.”
Cassius picks up the dance seamlessly. His movements are unusually stiff, and I don’t think it’s from nerves. On the next step, he grimaces.
Something is wrong.
“What happened?” I mouth the question.
He doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he leads me to one of the many long tables along the outskirts of the room, far enough from anyone else so we can speak without being overheard. Cassius fills a cup with a dark liquid from a large glass bowl with pieces of cut fruit that float in a mimic of dancing courtiers.
I repeat my question in a harsh whisper.
“Only a minor scuffle,” he says airily.
If that were true, it would have healed already. “Clearly it is more than that,” I say with false sweetness and step closer, furtively placing a gentle hand against the side he favors.
He hisses through his teeth. Beneath my fingers, I feel the slight unevenness of a bandage wrapped around his middle.
Cassius takes my wrist and lowers my hand. “It has been tended to. I will be fine soon enough.” I glare until he offers at least some explanation. “We were surprised by an unexpected guest. But we managed to rise to the occasion.”
This veiled way of speaking is frustrating, but we can’t risk talking openly.
I take a breath and turn to look at the dancing while I pretend to sip my drink. My gaze snags on Alaric’s face, and something inside my chest squeezes at the sight of him.
Too late, I realize I am staring as his eyes meet mine. He does not look away.
Demon shit.
Fear jolts up my spine.
I cannot breathe, cannot move, cannot think.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CLARA
The sharp recognitionin his gaze sets my heart hammering against its cage of ribs. Between the mask that covers all but my mouth, the darkened shade of my hair, and having been left for dead—our bond severed, Alaric should not be able to recognize me.
The rest of the world drops away, the music turns distant and muffled, and everyone else in the room becomes as insignificant as leaves swirling in an autumn breeze.
Partially turning toward Elizabeth, Alaric bends to whisper something in her ear. She waves a dismissive hand, not bothering to look away from the constant procession of vampires who come to greet her as they arrive.
Alaric descends the dais steps and casually makes his way through the crowd. His course appears meandering as he stops to speak to court members and gentry. However, I can’t help but notice that his path will bring him to me. Cassius’s hand tightens around my upper arm with bruising force when he comes to the same conclusion.
“I think it’s time for another dance,” he grinds out under his breath. Then proceeds to drag me onto the floor and away from Alaric. But with his injury, we are not fast enough to lose ourselves in the sea of dancers.
