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“Help me remember. Tell me something—anything. Make it feel real.”

“Anything?” he asked with a mischievous quirk of his scarred brow. Being this close she realized the thin white line reached from the top of his brow to his temple. She dreaded what might come out of his mouth next, and he started laughing. “That frown is going to give you wrinkles. I’ll tell you one thing; you kissed me first.”

Layala scrunched her face. “That doesn’t sound right.” She wasn’t one to make the first move. Unless she’d been different before. But wasn’t her soul, her personality the same?

“You practically begged me, and when I wouldn’t, you shoved me up against a wall, and planted the hottest kiss I’d ever experienced in my five hundred years right on my mouth. You got handsy too, copped a feel of the goods. You even told me I was a big boy.”

Layala smiled and shook her head. “You’re lying. I know you are.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I wouldn’t do that or say that.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Then, what happened?”

“We…” was it dark? A garden of jasmine and tall bamboo, the sky was filled with strange colorful lights. No, a dark castle… Layala slammed her eyes closed trying to find that time, but it wouldn’t come forth. “I don’t know. But not that. There were no walls to shove you against.”

His eyes glittered with delight. “So where was it?”

“Was it a garden like the one you put in my dreams, where youtormentedme? Chasing me like some wild beast.” A good reminder of who she danced with.

“I didn’t put you there. You putusthere. We certainly kissed in that garden and a lot more, but not for the first time. And I don’t remember any chasing.”

“Well, you did.”

“Well, why did you run?”

“You scared me.”

He paused only for a moment. “Anyway, what happened when you kissed me first and said I had a big dick? I want details,” Hel said, changing his steps to match the new song. Layala only noticed the switch in music because his movements slowed. This song was gentle, more romantic.

“I didn’t say that!” Layala whisper-shouted and glanced around at the other guests. No one seemed to pay particular attention to them.

He smiled ever bigger, bringing out his dimple. “What did you say then?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t, Hel.”

“I like it when you say my name. Say it again.”

Layala scoffed. “Don’t make me regret dancing with you.”

“I don’t recall asking.” He adjusted his hand on her back, only moving his fingers but the touch sent goosebumps rising on her flesh. “But you haven’t left yet. Why is that?”

She finally looked from his eyes, pinning her gaze into the rune peeking out from the collar of his high-necked top. “What is that rune?”

He lowered his chin to find the one she stared at. “It’s a shielding rune so I can’t be tracked by anything or anyone.”

“And that?” She lifted her hand off his shoulder and ran her finger over the small one just behind and below his left ear. Goosebumps rose under her fingers, and he missed a step for the first time but recovered quickly and cleared his throat. “It allows me to walk through solid objects.”

“Like walls and doors?”