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“I,” I cleared my throat, thinking, “I like to drink. I enjoy training with my daggers.” The feeling of their weight at my hip was sorely missed when I changed into my formal wear, but for comfort, one was tucked into my sock.
“Those sound like a dangerous combination.” She giggled, trailing her finger over my shoulder.
“Yes, but that is why I refrain from doing them together.”
Except for that one time, but I didn’t really talk about that. The point was, don’t drink and play with knives.
My arms ached from keeping one hand hovering over her waist without touching her. The lingering attention of my parents burned against my skin, watching us dance with acute interest. Not to mention the way my nose itched from the cloud of perfume LaBelle wore.
I missed Ryker’s scent. Even from this distance, if I took a deep enough breath, I was able to catch the smallest hint. Was it on my clothes?
As we spun with the music, and the other couples finally came out on the dance floor, I caught a glimpse of long blue hair and silver eyes. Torrance. My attention snapped to my friend-turned-enemy. I pulled away from LaBelle with the smallest of bows, keeping him in my eyesight.
Torrance was the reason I had lost my crown. He was the person who led my parents to the refuge. The blood of those Nymphs was as much on his hands as it was mine. If only I could rip his head off his shoulders here and now, that seemed fair enough.
“Please, excuse me,” I mumbled, turning on my heels before the song had reached its completion. LaBelle’s jaw dropped in what could only be described as a perfectly practiced pout before the words had completely left my mouth.
As Torrance saw me approaching, he plucked a second drink off the tray of a server passing by and extended it toward me. “Dace, I’m so glad to see—”
My fist struck his face. Blue hair and the slur of the words he meant to say were tossed over his shoulder as his head snapped to the side. Liquid from the drinks sloshed from their cups and covered his suede shoes. Fae around us gasped, some even took a step back.
“You fucker,” I hissed. “Do you know how many Nymphs you killed? How dare you show your face here?”
Torrance rotated his jaw and handed both drinks to the nearest Fae. “Okay, I may have deserved that.”
“You deserve to meet the same fate as those whose bodies couldn’t even be laid to rest.” My hand reached for the knives that were not on my waist. My fingers tingled with the desire to wrap around his throat or to string him up by his toes. It would be fitting for Torrance to have a slow, painful death. He deserved to pay in several ways for his actions, and I didn’t care if it was god ordained or not.That idea was the only thing that kept me from using my bare hands to rip his head from his spine.
“Well, would you let me explain?” he said with a smirk.
“You can explain from your grave if you don’t knock that nasty little smile off your face.”
The smile faltered, but he didn’t lose it. “I was only following my commands. It was seen that I was supposed to lead them to you. I’m not about to test my fate with the gods. A simple misunderstanding, you see.”
“What I see is a man whose nut sack is about to be up his damn throat in about five seconds if he doesn’t get the fuck out of here. I don’t care about the visions from the gods.”
“Dace, you know I’m not one to miss out on these free drinks,” he tutted.
“Dace,” Jesseline coughed at my side.
“What?” I snapped.
The crowd around us stared with wide eyes. My father had stood from his throne to watch our interaction. If Jesseline wasn’t about to stop it, he surely would, especially if it meant keeping my mother from getting embarrassed by my rash behavior.
I pointed at Torrance.
“It would serve you well to disappear from my sight.” I closed my jacket where it had come unbuttoned and forced myself to walk away.
My attention trailed the mass of partygoers. I observed the Fae who drank and danced and cheered. Some remained reserved, I noted that it was mainly members of my parents’ court, the ones who strongly supported my absence. But it wasn’t them I was looking for.
“Ryker stepped out for a minute,” Jesseline said, her eyes never stopping her swift surveillance.
“Stepped out, where?”
She shouldn’t have left. I should have made it clearer that with her being my favored proposition, she was a target to those who wanted that position. Jesseline was here as extra eyes on her and now she had to have her eyes on me because I made a fuss. I cursed under my breath, pushed through the crowd, and jogged up the stairs.
The heavy ballroom doors thudded shut behind me, muffling the plucking of delicate strings. A different sort of tune drifted from down the hall. I could hear the keys of a piano randomly being plucked in no particular rhythm. I followed the sound to one of the rooms that was often used for smaller gatherings.The room was utterly empty with the exception of the piano in the corner and the girl perched on the edge of the bench before it, her fingers pushing at the keys. I stepped into the large, empty room and took a breath of her heady scent.
Ryker’s eyes jumped from the instrument to me, her body jerking upright. “Oh, you scared me.” She smiled, tilting her chin down. The curtain of her hair covered her bashful blush.
