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“I—I didn’t tell them to look intome.”
Leif shrugs, unperturbed, still holding Daniel’s hand. “They were curious.” He turns back to Daniel, blatantly looking him up and down. “And so was I. Would you like to dance?”
I’m totally staring, but I can’t help myself as a blush rushes to Daniel’s cheeks, and he nods silently, almost looking…shy?
Leif’s grin returns, though there’s a twinkle in his eye that wasn’t there before, and he tugs Daniel after him as he heads for the dance floor.
Kirby lets out a little chuckle beside me. “I give it an hour before theycasually slip out of here.”
I smile as Leif spins Daniel around and tilts him back in a dip, laughing all the while. Daniel’s returning smile is slower, hesitant, but there’s a lightness to it that I haven’t seen in a while. After everything he’s been through—we’veallbeen through—someone like Leif is probably exactly what he needs.
The music shifts, one song blending into another, and I eye a nearby servant with the blood champagne. It would be stupid to drink it here in plain sight, but my gums are starting to ache every time I catch sight of some in the corner of my vision.
“Dance with me?”
I blink back to the room, to Reid’s deep blue eyes gazing down at me, a single corner of his mouth lifted. The buzzing in my mind quiets at his proximity, the closest we’ve been since we entered the throne room. I smile back as he takes my hand and leads me onto the floor where several other Marionette pairings are dancing.
“It suits you.” I touch the new crown on his temple. It’s larger than his old one but much subtler than his mother’s had been. There are rubies, diamonds, and obsidians embedded among the gold, along with a few pieces of bloodstone.
He smirks and tightens his arm around my waist, pulling me flush against his chest. “It’s heavy.”
I chuckle and step back, returning a respectful amount of distance between us no matter how much my body protests the loss of his warmth. His smile dims, and he gives a subtle nod before tightening his fingers around mine.
How are you holding up?I ask through the bond.Really?
He caresses the back of my hand with his thumb.Just trying to get through tonight.
Was that Quinn I saw you with earlier?
His entire face softens around his smile.Yeah. I didn’t know she’d be here. She seems to be doing a lot better. My brother Jared and his wife brought her.
“Can I cut in?” Anya’s face appears behind Reid’s shoulder, her smile small, unsure.
“Of course,” I say automatically, dropping Reid’s hand as if it burned me, but he’s not so quick to release my waist. In fact, as I go to take a step away, his hold tightens on me, keeping me in place.
I shoot a questioning glance up at him, but he’s frowning at something over my head, eyebrows tugging together. Then as if in slow motion, his eyes widen.
“Reid—?”
The absolute horror in his expression makes my blood run cold, and then we’re falling. The noise registers somewhere between Reid throwing his body in front of mine, tackling us both to the side, and my shoulder striking the hard floor with agonizing force.
The explosion is first, the noise sofulland dense, layered and complex, it makes every one of my senses reset before I can process what’s happening.
My vision blurs and is marred with black splotches, and my lungs struggle to fill with air. After a moment, I realize it’s because Reid’s on top of me, his weight pressing into my chest.
Reid.
The back of his suit is shredded, blood covering his neck and the side of his face.
“Reid,” I try to say, but I can’t hear my own voice over the ringing in my ears.
Smoke fills the room, too thick for me to see farther than a few feet. Tables and chairs are flipped over, bodies lying on the ground, mouths open in silent screams.
My skin burns with magic, healing injuries I haven’t registered yet. I’m far too preoccupied with Reid’s closed eyes. No matter how much I shake his shoulders, I can’t wake him up. With how much energy my body is expending trying to heal itself, I can’t try to heal him now. Not without feeding.
Gently rolling him onto his back, I push to my feet, eyes burning as I squint through the smoke.
Oh God. The others—
