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“I don’t.”
“So just my naturally seductive demeanor, then?” he countered with a smirk.
“Are all males in the Faeland this forward?” I asked before catching myself. I closed my eyes and felt the heat rush over my cheeks.
Nikolai raised a brow. “If you think I’m offended by you calling me a male, I’m not.”
“But in the kingdom—”
Nikolai squeezed my hand. “I’ve spent some time in the kingdom.” My eyes flicked to his cut ears. “I know how they treat those of Elvish blood. It’s despicable, and you won’t find any in this room that disagree.” He spun me twice. “But the Mortals’ rigid obsession with the sexes, I never understood.”
I tilted my head. “Why?”
Nikolai shifted his shoulders as we danced. He leaned in closer. “Apart from the fact that the practice is inaccurate, the Elverin don’t see ourselves that way. The practice is sillier to us than rude.”
“Elverin?” I asked. I’d never heard the word before.
Nikolai smirked. “Elves and Fae. Halflings too. We don’t draw lines between us as easily as the king does.”
I opened my mouth to ask another question, but Nikolai dipped me so low, his face was level with my chest. When he lifted me back up, I hoped he could see the irritation burning in my eyes.
He did, but it only made him smile wider.
“I hope you’re not planning on cutting me down, Keera,” Nikolai said, twirling me again before he swept us back into the dance. Other couples drifted across the floor beside us, twirling and laughing.
“I would never bring a weapon to dinner,” I said. “Lord Feron trusted that I would come unarmed. So I have.” I tried to match his light air, but it was difficult when Nikolai spun me around again.
“Liar,” he taunted with a smug grin.
I lifted my brows in a challenge.
Nikolai pulled me closer to him. His chin was right beside my ear as he whispered, “I would bet my horse that you have at least three weapons hidden on your person. I would expect nothing less from the king’s Blade.” He looked down. “I bet you could hide a treasure trove of items under that skirt. Though I’m sure nothing would compare to your—”
I squeezed his shoulder until he winced. “I wouldn’t finish that sentence, or you will come to know just how deadly I am, Nikolai.” I was no longer joking.
“I do love the way you say my name. So much malice. So much passion.” He smirked wide enough that I could see his fangs. “But we both know you’re not going to kill me.”
“Why not?” I asked, playing along, wary of the tension building between us.
“Because you’ve had your chance and didn’t take it.” There was something knowing in his smile. A dare to guess his meaning.
I tried to picture his face with a hood, covered in shadow, only the line of his chin showing. He was the same height as the Shadow. But Nikolai craved attention. He loved that everyone’s eyes were on us as we danced around the room. Could someone who hungered for the world’s attention really be the hooded menace I’d come to kill?
“What are you trying to say?” I asked as the music came to a halt.
Nikolai gave a bow just as exaggerated as the one he’d given Feron. “You’re smart, Keera. I know you’ll figure it out.”
“YOU PROMISED.”
The words rattled through me, turning my bones to ice. I turned slowly, scared of what I might see.
“You promised,” she said again. She was sitting in the middle of the room on a wooden chair. No fire raged in the hearth behind her, no candles lit the room.
It was just us and the gray moonlight that cut across her beautiful face. The faint scar looked silver across her eye and cheek. It pulled tight as she frowned at me.
“You promised.”
“Will you stop saying that?” I screamed, running my hands through my hair. “I know I promised. And I failed.”
