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“Yes. I do. If it weren’t for the pain, I wouldn’t have—”
“The pain?”
He narrowed his eyes at me and I took another swallow of my wine, deciding he should know the truth, whether it seemed more an excuse than anything, “When that doorway opened, there was this pull,” I told him, pointing at my chest, “Right here. And at first it was just that, a strangepullingsensation… but it grew stronger until it was this horrible ache. So, when you stepped in front of me, I just knew Ihadto go down there to make the aching stop. I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I should’ve told you—”
“Your Majesty,” Kade bellowed, waltzing over to the fountain where we stood. His eyes glinted with mischief. He leaned in close to my face to whisper, “What do you say we have a dance and set this place on fire?”
“She hasn’t decided yet,” Finn said, raising his eyebrow in challenge, “Maybe she’d rather dance with me and cover it in ice.”
I would have to decide, eventually. The nobles in attendance wouldn’t want to be kept waiting in suspense for much longer.
Kade and Finn continued to argue in harsh whispers at my side. Both the Graces of fire and ice were highly respected and would make my court proud, though they saw fire as the stronger of the two. But ice was known as being easier to control and would set their minds more at ease. Morgana herself burned down an entire wing of the palace when she was learning to control her one known Grace.
Before I could decide, Kade grabbed me around the waist and pulled me onto the dance floor. Finn rolled his eyes, tipped the contents of his wine down his throat and stalked from the room. He would be back.
“I hadn’t decided yet,” I snapped at Kade but followed him onto the floor, not wanting to cause a scene.
“And I’m not forcing you to, I just want to dance,” he said innocently, smirking as he led me by the hand.
The fire awakened in my blood the moment he pulled me against him to begin the dance. I swayed under the sudden surge of power, intoxicated by the heat spreading through me.
Kade teased me with his hands, squeezing and releasing my waist, breathing against my neck when he came close. It only coaxed the burning embers into a blaze that begged for an escape from the shackles of my skin. Then Kade spun me outward, and I caught sight of Thana hovering in one of the entryways. She wouldn’t come in even though I told her she would be welcome, regardless of what the nobles thought of her attending.
Her eyes met mine from across the room and she beckoned me to go to her. That’s when I noticed her flushed cheeks and the way she wrung her hands together. Something was wrong.
“Kade, I have to go.”
His face screwed up into a frown, “Go? Why?”
I tipped my head toward Thana, and Kade saw what I did, “Is something wrong?” he asked me.
I shook my head, “I don’t know.”
Kade scanned the room, searching for Finn and Alaric, but Finn still hadn’t returned, and Alaric was in heated conversation with Silas, likely to do with Ronan’s execution or the missing Fae who had yet to be found.
Thana waved at me again, and turned away from the entrance, beckoning for me to follow. It could have been something as unimportant as a forgotten necklace meant to be worn with the gown. That female could make a fuss about anything with little effort.
“I should go, Kade. She probably just forgot something,” I said, breaking him out of his search for assistance, “It’ll only be a minute, are you coming with me?”
He pursed his lips, and I could tell he was debating whether to disturb Alaric—to let his captain know we were leaving for a moment. “Just a few minutes or Alaric will have my head.”
We walked from the room arm in arm and entered the dim corridor. The flourish of Thana’s off-white skirt flickered around the bend in the corridor ahead.
“Thana!” I called, and rushed to catch up to her, Kade on my heels.
We rounded the bend, and she looked back from up ahead, eyes wild and dark in the torchlight, “Hurry!” she urged us, rounding another corner, leading us towards the western wing of the palace.
“Thana, wait!” I called.
Kade and I shared a concerned look when she didn’t return, before sprinting to catch up. My heel caught in a chipped tile, and Kade had to catch me before I sprawled face-first to the ground. His touch was heated and his eyes glowed yellow in the gloom, telling me his Grace was activated and at the ready should he need it.
I kept his hand in mine and felt the flames which had dwindled inside me come back to life in a great burst of warmth.
I couldn’t hear her steps up ahead anymore, but there were only two places she could go. The corridor ended in a sea-side terrace, and there was only one other corridor attached to it, leading to a collection of vacant chambers.
A miasmal sensation crept over me, raising the small hairs on the back of my neck, making me shiver. Kade’s jaw was set—his eyes narrowed, ready for anything.
We darted around the last bend. The moonlight spilled onto the floor from the terrace twenty paces ahead to our right.Where was Thana?
