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113 PRUDENCE ST, OLD TOWN

COME WITH ME TO THE LUMINARIES DINNER?

RUNE

Afterward, she promptly fell into bed, trying not to think about Alex’s anger, or his tempting invitation to Caelis, or thetension between them tonight. Fighting with Alex made her feel unbalanced. Like a ship they’d been sailing smoothly on for years had suddenly plunged into stormy waters.

Alex never blurred the line between his loyalty to Rune and his love for Gideon. He liked to keep them separate. In courting Gideon, Rune was shrinking the gap between those parts of his life, and it was making him anxious. That’s all this was. That’s why he was being so protective.

Rune shook her head. She couldn’t afford to be distracted right now. So she put her oldest friend out of her mind and fell asleep.

TWENTY-EIGHTRUNE

IT WAS A FULLday and a half before she received a response from Gideon. Rune was in her casting room, working on her Luminaries speech, when Lizbeth interrupted.

“A package arrived for you.”

Rune, who was in the middle of spewing extravagant lies onto the page with her pen, asked her to leave it on the desk. Only when she came to the end of the paragraph did she look up.

It was a plain white box tied with pale blue ribbons.

Wintersea blue,she thought.

Eyeing the box, Rune rose to her feet. Stretching the kink in her neck, she shoved aside the speech she was writing and pulled the package closer. Loosening the ribbon, she removed the lid, then pushed back the brown paper. A folded mint-green garment laid inside. Resting on top of it was a note written in black ink.

Are you asking me to be your date?

—Gideon

Rune read and reread those words before flipping the paper over and looking for more. But that was all he’d written.

Is that a yes?she wondered.

Glancing at the pale green fabric, she set the note aside and pulled out the dress. Something flickered inside her as it unraveled. Her pulse sped up as she took in the tapered lace sleeves and the delicately embroidered bodice.

After loosening the laces, Rune stripped out of her clothes and stepped into the elegant dress. The silk was smooth as water against her skin and the lace sleeves fit her arms like gloves. Without someone to do the laces up, she left the back open, stepped into the matching silk shoes the dress had arrived with, and walked into her bedroom to stand before the full-length mirror.

Her heart nearly lodged in her throat.

The mint green and white lace complemented her pale complexion and brought out the shades of red in her hair. As her fingers traced the almost imperceptible pattern of waves across the bodice, Rune tried to remind herself how much she loathed the boy who’d made it.

But it was the most beautiful dress she’d ever seen, never mind worn, and Rune couldn’t stop the startling warmth rippling through her. She wished she’d asked Lizbeth to stay, to tie the laces so it would fit properly.

The tulle of her dress swished around her legs as she waded back to her desk. Sinking into the chair, she grabbed a pen and paper, then jotted down a response.

Gideon Sharpe

113 Prudence St, Old Town

Yes, Gideon. I’m asking you to be my date.

Rune

P.S. My plan is to win you over so you’ll keep making me dresses forever.

P.P.S. Let me know when it’s working.

She found it hard to concentrate after that and was almost relieved when Lizbeth interrupted again. Rune had moved from writing her speech at her desk to reciting it as she paced the room.