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"Here," he said. "Relax a little, Huntyr. This is supposed to be a fun night."

I shot him a glare, rolling my eyes at the thought. "You really think anyone here is having fun when we're supposed to be training for survival? This is a show, a charade. They want to parade us around like puppets."

"You're cynical," he replied, leaning in so only I could hear him. "But I like that about you. Always on the lookout. Always with your guard up."

I ignored the way his words made my shoulders tense and turned to Ashlani, who skipped toward us with a white, glittering skirt flowing around her ankles. "There you two are!" she chimed, breaking any invisible tension that may have lingered between Lanson and me. "I was starting to think the two of you bailed!"

I took a long sip of my drink, letting it burn my stomach as I swallowed. "That's still looking like a pretty good option."

"This is a celebration, Huntyr!" she retorted. "Don't be such a grump."

As much as I hated it, she was right. I turned my attention to the room around me, filled with all sorts of luxuries and expensive foods I had never seen before. The boring, bare ballroom had transformed somehow, turning the dark walls of wood and stone into magical sheets of twinkling lights and white fabrics that would make you forget you were at this horrid place to begin with.

"See," Lanson said, watching me with a grin, "it's not so bad here."

"Fine," I admitted. "I'll try to have a good time, but I promise you I'm not dancing. And if any of those assholes try to beat me up again, I'm leaving."

"Deal!" Ashlani squealed, clapping her hands as she picked up another chalice of liquor.

Boy, was I wrong. It was the drinks. It absolutely, without a doubt, had to be the drinks. Because somewhere in the midst of Lanson whispering in my ear, of refilling my drink anytime it was nearly empty, and of the beautiful music growing louder and louder as the night went on, I ended up on the dance floor.

Dancing and twirling around like a damn idiot.

As if I actually belonged here. As if I actually stood a chance at having real fun.

I danced with Ashlani first, letting her bubbly laughter and annoyingly contagious smile drag me out there against my will. She clasped my hands, not letting go as she twirled me around, giggling and tossing her head back as we made our way to the center of dancing fae.

"You're smiling," Ashlani said. I was so dizzy, I thought I could collapse right there. "I've never seen you smile this much."

She was right. My cheeks started to hurt from it. "There isn't usually much to smile about, especially around here."

"There's always something," she replied, turning her attention to something behind me. "You just have to look for it."

I spun around, expecting Lanson to be standing right behind me.

And nearly froze when I saw Wolf, tall and annoyingly fucking handsome in a blacked-out suit that barely seemed to fit his long, sculpted limbs. I stopped dancing. Any smile lingering on my face disappeared, stripped entirely from my expression as I met Wolf's cold, empty gaze.

Only, it wasn'tentirelyempty.

I was taking the few steps toward him before I realized what I was doing, before I could talk myself out of it. I moved through the crowd, narrowly avoiding the other drunk, dancing fae as I kept my eyes locked on his.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. My voice didn’t sound nearly as angry as I’d meant for it to.

Wolf's mouth twitched upward. "Celebrating. Enjoying myself. Same as you, it seems."

"You don't seem like the type that celebrates. Or like the type that enjoys yourself, for that matter."

He smiled fully, flashing his perfectly white and sharp teeth at me. "If you want me to show you a good time, Huntress, you only have to ask. With aplease, of course,"

"Screw you," I said, turning on my heel to make my way back to Lanson.

A rough hand caught my upper arm, pulling me back to Wolf in one swift motion, as if it took little to no effort for him to move my entire body so easily.

"Careful," he growled.

His eyes locked on mine, holding my gaze for a few seconds before flickering down to my mouth.

I didn't move. I couldn't.