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That last thought finally snaps me out of it.

“What are you doing?” I demand, silently applauding myself for keeping my voice steady.

He blinks, as though coming to, and rises. I ignore his offered hand, standing on my own and brushing out my skirts. But the energy in the room has shifted. Eryx is still staring at me as though he’s just seen me for the first time, and I cannot stand it.

I leave, shutting the door to the parlor with a slam. I halt when I’m five feet away because I hear their voices.

“Do you want to talk about what just happened?” The question comes from Argus.

“Shh. She’s not gone yet,” Eryx barks.

I take one more step away before holding my breath.

“It was nothing,” Eryx continues after a pause. “She caught me off guard, is all.”

“I wasn’t sure whether to step in or leave the room.” This from Dyson.

Eryx scoffs. “It wasn’t like that.”

“If you say so.”

“She’s been my enemy since the beginning. I never had a chance to see her as anything else.”

“And now?” Argus asks.

“She’s still the enemy. I just lost myself for a moment.”

“Lost yourself?”

“Surely even you can admit she’s the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen.”

“Don’t let her hear you say that,” Argus says.

“I would never! Can you even imagine how unbearable she’d be then? It’s awful enough now.”

Dyson laughs.

“It’s those eyes,” Eryx continues. “They’re mesmerizing.”

“I imagine her eyes were not all you were admiring from your position spread-eagle atop her,” Dyson says.

“Oh, piss off.”

Dyson snickers.

I pad several more feet away before daring to take another breath. Yet my heart is pounding as though I’m in danger.

It wasn’t Eryx. It wasn’t the chase or the way he caught me and held me. It wasn’t the way we were touching or even the way he looked at me at the end. As though, for just a moment, his sole objective wasn’t to banish me from the estate.

No, the danger comes entirely from me.

I looked right back at him. I looked, and I saw someone I didn’t want to disappear from my life. I saw someone Iwanted, just for the smallest amount of time.

And that is terrifying.

IAVOIDERYX THE NEXT DAY,refusing to enter the dining room for meals. I have my breakfast brought up to my room, before hiding between the stacks in the library.

Tekla and Karla are in here, too, dusters in hand, removing books and wiping the shelves clean. Karla sneezes from a bit of exposed dust, and Tekla reaches over to brush a strand of hair free from her face that came loose in the action. Both girls blush and turn away. Tekla goes toinspect a different bookcase, though I’m certain I just saw her finish cleaning it.