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On this, there was no need to lie. “I do.” If I could have done nothing but sit in the empty ballroom with the music playing for eternity, I might have been content.

They didn’t have music like this in the Witch Kingdom.

Once more, I pushed the thoughts of my old home away.Keep acting natural.

“Are there always so many for an event like this?” I lifted my chin in the direction of the small orchestra. It was disproportionate for the event, surely.

Raphael’s lip quirked. “No.”

“Then why?”

“For you. I brought them here for you.” He spun me, and I managed to keep my balance while I twirled across the floor before winding up back in his arms, secured oncemore. “I wanted to show you another side of this kingdom.”

“Another side?” I shut my eyes, trying to figure out what he meant. “Raphael, tell me, why are all the humans in red?”

The symbolism was obvious, but I wanted to hear it.

Wanted to make him paint the divide between us clearly.

“I told you it was symbolic.”

Surely he didn’t think I’d give in to such obvious evasion. “Symbolic ofwhat?” I pressed.

He didn’t need to breathe, but he sighed anyway. “The blood the humans offer, and the darkness that triumphs over them. While three red moons hang full, ripe, in the sky, while the dark sky surrounds them.”

There were no pleasantries I could use to cover that truth. That would always be the chasm between us. The vampires were powerful, eternal. Humans nothing but fodder.

The song ended and another started. We kept moving, now in sync, even as I made the steps up.

“I do not wish to deceive you, little viper. My world is a brutal one. But I want to share it with you, nonetheless.”

The name reminded me of the venom currently running through my veins. I hid my reaction and looked away.

“What if I don’t want to be part of this world?”What if this world is wrong?

“Everywhere has its ugliness. Some places just cloak it better.” The knot on his throat bobbed. “If you cannotfind solace in my kingdom, then I will find you somewhere else, with all the gold you can carry. Yet I hope you would choose to stay at my side.”

“But… I was only meant to stay a few days. Then to translate the grimoire.” I forced myself not to give anything away when I mentioned the tome I’d already made progress translating.

“I only wish for your happiness.” His eyes held me, making it impossible to look anywhere else.

Happy. Like it was so simple. “Why?”

The vampire king was quiet for a moment. Then—“I suppose a part of it is because you’ve known so little of it.”

I couldn’t look at him anymore, so I cast my gaze around the room. What was a normal amount of happiness for someone to have? How did you measure it? Had I had a happy childhood before Greymere? It had been better, surely, but happiness had been a superfluous pursuit in my mother’s mind.

Happiness can be found at the bottom of a choice bottle, she’d once told me.You’re meant for more, my little princess.

I wasn’t happy. Maybe in fleeting moments here—but I was trading all those small moments for something more.

A purpose.

“And your life?” I challenged. “Is it happy?”

The silence that followed was a damning admission for a vampire who couldn’t lie.

We rotated around the room, my dress grazing the floor. The music swelled and fell as the dance ended. An invisible clock counted down the ceremony. Once we stopped moving, it hit me at once, the air suddenly impossibly thick.