Page 21 of A Blade of Blood and Shadow (The Ravaged Kingdom #1)

Chapter

Fourteen

M y throat was dry as I took Kaden’s arm and let him lead me toward the house.

His expression was relaxed, almost bored, as we strolled up to the tall wooden doors, though I could tell from the stiffness of his body that he was anything but.

Kaden’s own wariness made my heart beat faster. Caladwyn had to be a powerful fae if he could make the likes of Kaden nervous.

The doors swung open of their own accord, and a cacophony of music and aromas assaulted my keen hunter senses. The cloying sweetness of freesias overpowered everything else — the fruity wine, the tang of sweat, the spiced scent of roasted meat.

The room was a blur of whirling silk gowns, frothy lace, and lurid bouquets of unfamiliar flowers.

Tables sagged with food and wine. The floor had been polished to a gleaming shine, creating a mirror-like surface that reflected the dancers and the rainbows of light from the crystal chandelier.

The walls were gilded with intricate designs that seemed to rearrange themselves into new patterns each time I looked away.

Everything hummed with the off-kilter music that kept a frenetic pace for the dancers twirling around the long tables.

Up close, the faeries were even more beautiful and frightening.

Ebony scales glittered beneath an emerald tuxedo.

Sets of five, six, even seven eyes followed us through the crowd.

One female in a burgundy dress leered at us with needle-like teeth.

Above it all, leaning against the second-story railing, was a male who had to be Caladwyn.

He was dressed in a velvet jacket of robin’s egg blue and gray knee-length breeches.

His eyes were the same vibrant shade as his coat, and his spun-gold hair seemed at odds with his pale porcelain skin.

The male stood with a stillness I’d only seen in vampires, and his eyes gleamed with an ancient shrewdness as he surveyed the crowd.

“Is that . . .” I trailed off, curling my arm more tightly around Kaden’s as he wove a path through the dancers.

“None other.” He didn’t ask whom I was talking about.

Caladwyn’s piercing gaze seemed to follow us around the hall, and his wasn’t the only one.

At every turn, fae eyes swiveled in our direction, and a low hiss grated on my ears beneath the trill of music. At first I thought they were staring at me — the lone huntress in a room full of faeries — but then we passed a group of females who all looked to Kaden.

They all stopped tittering at once and cleared a path, shrinking away from the dark fae as though he carried some contagious disease.

“Wow,” I said, not bothering to make sure we were out of earshot. “It seems your reputation precedes you. ”

Kaden shifted and tucked his free hand over my arm, as if that small bit of contact could shield me from the unsettling gazes of the faeries who surrounded us. “They don’t know anything about me,” he said in a voice that was uncharacteristically cold. “Only what they’ve heard.”

“Which is?”

“Nothing current, I can assure you. Most of these fae came into the mortal world before the portals were sealed five hundred years ago. They’ve been trapped here ever since.”

“And you haven’t?” I probed.

He gave a small shake of his head. “I came here after that — slipped through like a spider.”

A dark smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and I shivered at the thought that beings like Kaden could slip into the mortal realm whenever they felt like it.

“Most of what they’ve heard is conjecture,” he continued. “I only came of age a few decades before the wards went up between our worlds. They don’t know anything about the male I’ve become.”

My stomach gave a funny little jolt as though I’d missed a step going down a flight of stairs. Kaden was over five hundred years old.

Although hunters and witches naturally had much longer life spans than mortals, hunters were usually killed before they had the chance to grow old. I couldn’t even fathom what it would be like to live as long as Kaden had.

At that moment, Caladwyn materialized in front of us, his features just as taut and ageless as the Ringmaster’s had been.

Up close, the old faerie wasn’t as tall as I’d expected.

The top of his head only reached my nose, but what he lacked in height, he made up for with smugness and magnetism.

He didn’t smile, but the slight twinkle in his pale turquoise eyes seemed to invite us to play a part in his little court nonetheless.

“Cousin,” Caladwyn exclaimed, spreading his arms wide.

Cousin? Kaden had failed to mention that . The flaxen-haired male didn’t bear any resemblance to the dark fae on my arm, so perhaps they were distant cousins.

Still, it seemed like something Kaden could have mentioned.

“How wonderful to see you.” Caladwyn’s mouth stretched in a genial smile that, nevertheless, bore the edge of a challenge. “It’s a rare treat to have you grace us with your presence. And you’ve brought this ravishing creature for us to admire.”

Caladwyn’s blue gaze slid over to me with a predatory gleam, and I felt Kaden stiffen at my side.

As if he’d somehow sensed Kaden’s reaction, the fae’s grin widened.

“Caladwyn,” said Kaden, inclining his head just enough to be respectful but not deferential. “Your gathering is a spectacle, as always. This is Lyra.”

My stomach dropped at his use of my true name, but then I remembered what he’d said about lying to the fae.

“Ly-ra.” Caladywn seemed to savor the sensation of my name on his tongue as he reached for my hand with both of his gloved ones.

I fought the urge to rip it away as he bent to place a cool kiss along the ridge of my knuckles.

“Curious that you would bring a huntress as your date,” Caladwyn added to his cousin. His tone was one of intrigue rather than anger or disgust, but it still put me on edge.

“I’m sure I’ve done stranger things,” Kaden said breezily, tightening his grip on my arm.

“Yes, well, I do hope you enjoy yourselves,” Caladwyn drawled, his gaze drifting over our heads a little too blatantly to be natural. “It’s sure to be an interesting evening.”

Something about that comment grated on my nerves, and I had the distinct impression that Caladwyn wanted to appear disinterested just as much as Kaden wanted to appear relaxed.

Was there a faerie in this room who wasn’t playing some kind of game?

As Caladwyn swept away to circulate among his guests, Kaden veered sharply to the right and ushered me onto the dance floor.

All eyes were on us as he took my hand, resting his other on my waist.

“W-what are you doing?” I stammered, acutely aware of all the attention we were attracting.

“Dancing.” His tone was light and peppered with amusement — as if every fae in this room wasn’t regarding him as if he were some sort of pariah.

My skin heated where he touched me, and my heart gave an erratic jolt as he began to move around the polished dance floor — maneuvering my hips this way and that as easily as if I were an extension of his own body.

“I don’t . . . dance ,” I rasped, leveling him with a glare that I struggled to hold as I focused on my feet — and not treading on his .

“Ah, but you are a splendid fighter. And what is a dance but two bodies fighting to be joined?”

A scorching flush whipped up my cheeks, but I only glowered at Kaden.

A rough, dark chuckle rumbled up his chest, and his strong fingers dug into my side as he drew me closer. My breathing hitched as my hips brushed his, and, just like that, the music shifted from a frantic gallop to a slow, sensuous waltz.

Hands sweating, I gripped Kaden’s shoulder to slow my momentum and forced myself to meet his gaze. His gray eyes swirled like the ocean before a storm, darkening in a way that sent my pulse racing.

Then I trod on his foot.

Kaden didn’t so much as wince. He just slid his hand along the small of my back and splayed his fingers against my bare skin. “You dance as lethally as you fight,” he murmured.

I opened my mouth to retort, but the sudden change in position had brought our bodies even closer together.

I could feel the hard planes of his chest where he was pressed against me, and that crisp scent of leather and night had become impossible to ignore.

I shivered as his thumb began to move in slow, languid circles along my back, raising goosebumps everywhere he touched.

Gradually, something settled between us, dulling the sharp edges of my soul. My shoulders dropped their defensive posture as my body molded against his.

Lacing my fingers behind his neck, I took the opportunity to study Kaden up close — something I’d never allowed myself to do for more than a few seconds.

Like all the fae here, his face was that of a young man. His golden skin was flawless — not a wrinkle or scar on him. But there was an ancientness behind those swirling gray eyes that made me want to know him.

Slowly, Kaden’s hands drifted lower until the tips of his fingers curled into my hips. My breaths became embarrassingly shallow, and I could have sworn he’d stopped breathing altogether.

I had the sudden inexplicable urge to reach up and caress that perfect chiseled face — to run my fingers through that silky black hair and along the sensuous curve of his mouth. But I forced my hands to remain clasped at his neck as my treacherous body warmed.

Kaden’s lips quirked as if he could read my thoughts, but then his back went stiff. I tore my gaze away from his perfect face, but before I could see what had captured his attention, Kaden’s warm, rough hand came up to cup the side of my jaw.

Instantly, my eyes snapped back to him. He was so beautiful, and my skin prickled everywhere he touched me.

Then his eyes fluttered closed. I only had a split second to register what was happening before he leaned in and brushed his lips against mine.

Every nerve in my body came alive at the unexpected contact. His kiss was soft and tentative at first, but I burned for him in a way I’d never experienced before.

In that moment, it didn’t matter that we were in a stranger’s house surrounded by deadly fae. Everything around me faded away, leaving only Kaden’s burnt cedar scent, the feel of his strong body, and the intoxicating warmth of his lips as they gently parted mine.

My fingers dug into his jacket, and a soft moan slipped from my throat. Every reason why I shouldn’t trust Kaden flew out of my head as I gave in to the sensation of his mouth moving against mine.

As he deepened the kiss, my whole body responded. My one hand tightened on his jacket as the other reached up to cup the back of his neck. My fingers tangled in his soft, silky hair, and my insides swooped as he nipped my bottom lip.

“I’m surprised at you, Kaden.”

The strange voice hit me like a bucket of ice water. I ripped away from Kaden with a smack of lips and wheeled around to face the intruder.

A stooped male stood on my other side, regarding us with a pair of cunning yellow eyes. Greasy black hair swung into his eyes, making his alabaster skin seem even paler than it was.

Heat flooded my cheeks as the realization hit me and I remembered why we were here. Kaden had been aware of this male’s presence. That was why he’d gone so stiff the moment just before he kissed me.

That had all been for show. Of course it had. Creating a diversion had been part of the plan; I just hadn’t known what it would entail.

A sudden charge of dark power seemed to churn around us, and I shuddered as it hummed over my skin.

Kaden looked completely different from the male who’d just been kissing me. His stormy eyes were colder than I’d ever seen them, and his lips were twisted in a murderous expression. I knew the buzz of magic was coming from him, but that didn’t make it any less off-putting.

“Cavorting with a huntress,” the stranger drawled, and the way he said “huntress” made my insides boil. His eyes roved over me without the slightest bit of decency, taking in the broad expanse of bare flesh along my shoulders and dipping between my breasts.

Something about the way he assessed me made me want to cover myself. My dress no longer felt beautiful and daring. It felt like a costume Kaden had thrown over me to disguise what I really was.

The fae looked me up and down and then sniffed. “Disgraceful. Even for a bastard.”

Despite my effort to put some distance between us, I was still standing close enough to Kaden that I felt his muscles clench. Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure that he had planned this.

A long moment passed in strained silence as his magic thrashed against my skin. Then I felt the caress of warm fingers just above my elbow as Kaden stroked the back of my arm. I shuddered at the light touch, and I didn’t protest as he gently moved me to one side.

I was vaguely aware of Kaden fussing with the embroidered velvet sleeve of his jacket. Then he took one smooth step forward and threw out a fist.