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“Go,” he finally said with a terse wave of his hand. Taly didn’t give him a chance to change his mind, taking the rest of the stairs two at a time all the way to the fifth floor.

Sarina had laid out her festival dress on the end of the bed. Light and flowy, the soft pinks and pale golds shimmered. A heavy silk robe in matching colors was folded beside it.

Standing in front of the closet mirror, Taly appraised the selection. It wasn’t that she hated dresses. It was the impracticality, the restriction to her movement, the constantfussing to keep things in place that served no other purpose than to look pretty.

She swung her arms, squatted down a few times, hopped in place. Festivals meant games, and games meant prizes—something that she tookveryseriously.

Everything stayed in place, nothing pulled uncomfortably, and the skirts fell just below her knees in layers, short enough to keep from dragging or getting stepped on. The wide cloth belt cinching her waist even had pockets. She could find no reason to change.

She considered “forgetting” the hairpin. But it was only a thought. Dutifully, she stabbed the shank into her hair.

Skye was waiting for her when she came downstairs, dressed in a dark blue tunic that showed off the lean cut of his body. He’d left the first few buttons undone, exposing a flash of the muscular chest underneath. His black leather coat was long enough to graze his knees.

Her stomach fluttered to see him. From the way his lips curled, he knew. But as she descended the final stair, she asked simply, “Where is everybody?”

The plan had been to meet in the front hall and then walk together to the lantern lighting, the official ceremony to kick off the festival. She craned her head to see down either hallway, but there was nobody else.

“I told them to go ahead.”

Well, that explained the empty house. “Why?”

Skye’s expression softened. “Because if we were courting, this is how it’d be done. The gentleman escorts the lady.”

Oh… There was that flutter again. Taly bit back a smile. “Courting, huh? Is that we’re calling this?”

Skye gave her a look that clearly saidshut up.And even though every light in the house had either been dimmed or extinguished, she could’ve sworn he was blushing. “Look, I knowwe’ll probably never get our shot at normal. Or if we do, it’ll be a long time from now. But a festival—that’s normal. And I want to do all the things I’m supposed to do. It’s dumb, I know, but—”

“It’s not dumb,” Taly said, that flutter turning into a whole damn herd of butterflies.

His grin was slow and dazzling. He made a show of offering her his arm. She made an equal show of taking it.

As they stepped into the chill night, she said to him, “You know, if this were a proper date, you would’ve brought flowers.”

Skye just smiled and reached into his coat, producing a single, long-stemmed rose carved with pain-staking precision from pale wood. “Will this do?”

Taking the rose, Taly could feel her cheeks heating as she pressed her lips together.

“Smooth,” was all she said as the butterflies took off in full force.

Aiden. Hated. Crowds.

Maybe that made him a stick in the mud—it certainly wouldn’t be the first time someone had accused him. But he did. He hated it. Hated the noise and the shoving and the heat of so many bodies pressed closely together. He hated having to yellwhat, what, what!just to hear what Taly and Skye were saying as they ambled along beside him.

The entire city had turned out, at least it seemed that way, all crammed into the small tangle of streets spreading out from the Swap. There were stalls with food and games, music spilling from some of them, fiddles and drums and flutes all competing to be heard. Children zipped by underfoot carrying toy poppers streaming ribbons of light. Brightly colored tarps had been strung from the rooftops to keep away the rain. Swaying beneaththem, rows of paper lanterns hung on corded vines covered with tiny flowers that flashed from red to blue to green.

Indeed, the entire street, every surface, was covered in those flowers, the stall awnings grown from them, so that with every gust of wind a rain of colorful petals fluttered down over the crowd.

They had a two-fold purpose. The Curse was still ravaging the city. Both humans and Fey were continuing to fall ill. But the pollen from the pax blossom had been shown to give some partial immunity in addition to being an easy-to-grow festival decoration.

“What about that one?” Taly asked, pointing to a stall where a man juggled rings of fire. People crowded around, all trying to throw paper balls through the center.

Aiden took one look and grumbled, “It’s rigged.”

“Of course, it’s rigged,” Skye said, one arm slung around Taly. “That’s what makes it so much more impressive when we win those prizes for ourladies.”

“I have no prizes yet,” Taly said around a mouthful of sugar floss spun from honey. “Also, don’t sayladieslike that. It’s weird.” She hopped, trying to see over the crowd. “What about that one?”

Aiden looked to where she pointed—a booth with people gathered behind the counter, tossing rings and trying to get just one to land around the neck of a bottle.