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Before I could reject this absurd notion, she tugged my hand and led me forward. I should warn her again now. The burst of adrenaline in my heart overpowered my misgivings, and I followed. A beast following his own lamb to the slaughter.
She faced me, her eyes wide, and set her hand on mine. Her cheeks flushed, and her breaths came in shallow bursts.
“Am I still supposed to act like I hate you?” she whispered. “Because I’m a terrible actor.”
Curse me, my hand slipped onto her waist. “Forget what they think.”
As we waited for the music to begin again, she glanced at the other high fae. They scowled at us, and Talia scowled right back, then shot me a grin that made me laugh out loud. The cellos cut their first deep notes and I thrust forward into the first step of a tango.
Talia nearly stumbled, but she caught on quickly as I led, recognizing most of the steps and feeling her way through the ones she didn’t. Soon she’d found the rhythm and was flinging her tiny little body into the dance in an entirely mesmerizing way. She still had some hesitation in her movements, doubt in her eyes, but she hid them with her grand, fully committed spins. A desperation that I could never quite understand fueled her.
I dipped her and my chest ached as I pulled her back up, holding her close for longer than the dance required. Her breaths were faster now, her eyes alive and bright, as she whirled back toward me for the final move of the dance.
Her leg hooked mine and together we angled slowly toward the ground. It was only the prescription of the tango—the other couples were doing the same ending move—but for me it was as if the world had constricted and there was nothing but Talia and her leg wrapped around mine. Her mouth was close, her breath fast on my face.
I’d brought her here to show her how hated I was, and instead, I’d done this. My mouth drifted closer to hers, entirely without caution. The look in her eyes, of hunger and acceptance and curiosity and delight all rolled into one, shattered my self-control and stripped me to my rotten bones.
She closed the distance between us, pressing her lips to mine. Sun above, what have I done?
The dance ended. Applause rang out. We stepped apart. Only then did I notice Sinsorias standing nearby, his arms crossed and a twisted sneer on his glamoured face.
30
Talia
My pulse thundered in my ears, and I could scarcely draw a full breath as Rafael’s hand slipped off my back.
I didn’t care that I was in a city made of tree houses and little dirt homes. I wasn’t distracted by the magical lights and dragon fountains. And despite creatures with limbs like branches and flowering hair walking around the same space, I couldn’t tear my eyes from my husband’s face. And for a moment, he held my gaze, amber light flickering in the depths of his eyes. In that moment, I glimpsed what I’d scarcely believed possible. For all his words and evasion, there was desire in his eyes…for me.
Then his attention snapped to something over my shoulder, and a crease formed between his brows. The world came crashing back down around me. Several dryads stood with folded arms and surly, bark-covered faces. A pack of the littler ones, brownies I believe, pointed and fussed at us.
An aloja lifted a whirling paintbrush and studied us with a tilted, liquidy face. She tapped her paintbrush a few more times on her canvas, which was a curved sheet of bark, and then stepped back, satisfied.
When she whirled the painting around, I was startled to see it was of us. Rafael holding me in the final dip of the dance. The hem of my dress exaggerated and flowing in a circle around us. Only Rafael was depicted not as a man, but as a bear.
The creatures nearby started throwing stones at the painting, which the aloja snatched up protectively. Rafael’s hand in mine tightened almost to a painful squeeze. I didn’t want this perfect moment to dissolve, and I knew as soon as I turned around, it would. Already, it was breaking apart as the strange fae turned angry eyes on us.
I returned his firm squeeze. I was here with him, and I would stand by him and face this angry mob. After all, I’d vowed to take his curses and his blessings, and if that meant taking the hatred they all felt for him, I’d do it. Stars, I’d take him living half the time as a bear, if it meant having him.
His lips against my forehead stole my shaky breath.
“I’m so sorry,” he muttered.
Every pinch and pull of his lips against my skin, the heat of his breath and the closeness of his wide chest made it hard to concentrate on his words.
“Sorry for what?”
He stepped back and scowled at something behind me. Finally, I turned.
Sinsorias strode toward us, arms opening as if to embrace us both.
“You would defy your brother even now, I see.” His lips were red—too red—and his pale face glowed with magic that exaggerated his cheekbones and chin. Even so, he did not look at all like a man, but like a jester. “Still thought you could succeed before our trip? Mortals are fast-moving things—fast to live and die—but falling in love in a single night is too much to ask. A single dance doesn’t turn a woman’s heart.”
I glanced at the ground, a fierce blush proving him wrong. No, it wasn’t a single dance that had fanned my affection. It was my determined, unyielding choice. I’d married this man, and every part of me wanted to find reasons to love him. He’d held me, chased after me, protected me, given me the work I loved most in the world, and danced with me. A happy marriage could be forged from such things even after such a disastrous beginning.
The entire clearing had paused to watch us. Rafael’s hand in mine reassured me, comforted me. Then his fingers twitched and loosened. He wouldn’t meet my eyes, and my dangling hand suddenly felt exposed and foolish. I was left standing alone, unmoored, beside him.
Sinsorias examined me with an arrogant tilt of his head. “She wants to love you, I can see that.”
