Page 44

I stride across the bridge to Kaelis’s apartments.

My breasts strain scandalously against the almost-too-small bodice of sculpted black leather covered with a layer of intricate lace and beadwork.

Pauldrons of dove and raven feathers cover my shoulders, and from them strips of chiffon cascade down to my ankles, turning me into a living shadow.

The skirt is made of silk, two shockingly high slits expose both legs while I walk.

My efforts to regain my strength have been working. I suspect this was made to my first measurements on arrival; everything is a little too tight. My skin swells against its leather-and-lace prison with every breath.

But…that’s obviously part of the appeal of it.

I look delicious, and I know it. So I hold my head high as the Stellis that flank Kaelis’s apartments let me pass.

Their eyes linger on me, and it’s another reminder of how long it’s been since anyone last paid that kind of attention to me. A reminder that it feels… good.

I cross to Kaelis’s doors and, briefly, debate knocking. But the high of feeling so exceptional in my skin gets the better of me, and I ultimately decide against it, letting myself in with a bit of a dramatic flair.

I chose wrong.

Kaelis stands by his bed. The dim light of the apartment reflects off his skin, giving it a near-ghostly pallor.

He tilts his head at me and pauses, not even troubling himself with the appearance of modesty even though he lacks a shirt and his trousers are dangerously unlaced.

The thin, dark line of hair down the center of his stomach draws my attention right to the cords that hang lazily in his unhurried hands.

“If you wanted to see me with my clothes off so badly, you could’ve asked,” he drawls.

“At least you have clothes.” I gesture to my cleavage and the exposed midsection between my bodice and skirt, keeping my composure even when my cheeks warm slightly. “Rather than whatever the tailor could throw together from their rubbish bin.”

Kaelis tilts his head, dark eyes trailing slowly over my body.

One look brings the sensation of unseen hands on my exposed skin.

Tiny bumps rise along my flesh, and I am glad for the dim light of the roomso he can’t see what he can do to me with just a look.

Perhaps it’s the clothing, but for a moment it doesn’t seem like either of us is ourselves.

For the first time, I really believe we can slip into these pretend roles.

“The ‘rubbish bin’ suits you,” he says.

I fold my arms and lean against the doorframe, keeping my distance as I compose myself. “I bet you say that to all the women you keep imprisoned for a year and then decide to marry.”

“Every last one.” He finishes lacing his trousers then pulls his shirt over his head. I get one final glimpse of the muscles in his back shifting as he tugs the fabric down.

Kaelis is a ropy, lean creature. A man of hard contrasts, with a body that looks…

aching. It’s the only word that comes to mind to describe him.

It’s as if he aches for a nourishment food can’t give him.

He aches for a comfort deeper than the velvets and furs he surrounds himself with.

Aches for the touch of something kind…or at least of a pleasure deep enough to forget himself for a while.

His body is full of valleys and hollows for the shadows that love him.

He’s so full of voids that I can only imagine he’s struggled to fill for years. That, I unexpectedly can relate to.

“We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry,” I point out as he’s leisurely affixing his cuff links. I ignore the unexpected sense of camaraderie I feel with him. I know I’m seeing things where they’re not.

“A prince is never late. Everyone else is early.” Now I know he’s moving with deliberate slowness.

“Is that another thing you tell your partners?” I jape. “That you’re the last to come?”

“Don’t you hope it is?” A satisfied smirk slips as slowly across his lips as the crisp black jacket that slides over his shoulders.

I roll my eyes and force my gaze away, feeling the heat that threatens to rise back to my cheeks unbidden.

Get yourself together, Clara. The prince might be, objectively, if I had to be completely honest…

physically appealing. In a sort of strange, unnerving, and yet you can’t look away kind of way.

He’s like some gangly yet stunning, lithe and lethal, bird of prey.

If Kaelis notices that I’m avoiding looking at him, he does me the rare decency of not pointing it out. Instead, he slips into his boots, and with one more adjustment of his jacket, he crosses and offers me his elbow. “Shall we get this over with?”

“Lead on.” My fingers slide into the crook of his arm. The warmth of his body envelops me as we walk side by side through the academy.

I ensure I’m half a step closer to him as we stroll by the Stellis, like I’m all too happy to be at his side.

We separate some as we navigate rooms and passages to a darkened hall where a carriage and driver wait.

I allow him to help me into the carriage, his hands lingering on the small of my back, my hips…

my thighs. Though the moment the door closes and we’re out of sight of the driver, Kaelis sinks back into his seat as if he can’t get far enough away from me.

“We’re going to need to be convincing,” he murmurs. “The other nobles will be watching us. Clan High Lords and Ladies might be there. Word will get back to my father and—”

“Kaelis,” I stop him. “Clearly, I know.”

It dawns on him that I was already doing what he was in the process of trying to tell me to do. I give him a curl of my crimson-painted lips. He chuckles, low.

“Let’s give them a show, then.” Kaelis folds his arms, expression turning serious once more. “Here’s what you need to know if you’re to mingle with the nobility and have any chance of them believing you deserve to be among them…”

I bristle at the word “deserve” but keep my mouth shut and stay focused on what Kaelis tells me next.

The truth is, I don’t know the nuances of clan life or politics.

I’ve spent so much of my life resenting the nobility that I never bothered to learn anything beyond what I thought could be useful to tear them apart.

Now this knowledge is the only thing that’s keeping me from being thrown back into Halazar.

The carriage crosses the long bridge that spans where the Farlum River meets the sea and ambles into the city proper.

I lean back, watching the glamour of the wealthiest parts of the city glide by.

I can feel Kaelis’s eyes on me, studying me as he speaks.

Perhaps…a little more closely than even he intended.

Well, he is the one who picked out the dress. If he’s distracted, he has only himself to blame. I sit a little taller and slowly cross and uncross my legs, allowing the hip-height slits to fall open. I think I see him lick his lips, but I can’t be sure.

“Are you listening?” His voice is slightly husky.

“I can look out the window and listen at the same time,” I assure him.

“Just have better manners when you’re around nobility.”

“Whenever I see someone worthy of actual nobility, I’ll be the portrait of politeness.”

He huffs with amusement, rather than offense.

The regent’s manor built for Prince Ravin is a grand building, brightly illuminated by spotlight and sconce to put his wealth on display.

The carriage slips between sturdy gates and proceeds up a driveway that lazily slopes between gardens.

Kaelis is the first to step out of the carriage when it comes to a stop, shooing the driver away so he can help me out himself.

Music and laughter spill from the many open doors that line the wraparound veranda.

Paintings are propped on easels, against walls, and on furniture.

Sculptures stand among them. Bards roam, and contortionists slowly move their bodies, to the awe and delight of the nobles who mill about.

Women and men hang from the ceiling on nothing but strands of silk.

My fingers brush Kaelis’s as we ascend the steps. The movement, though unintentional, draws his eyes to mine.

“I have you,” he whispers, fingers slipping between my own. There’s something in his eyes that makes me feel…safe. “Just follow my lead, and I’ll make sure no harm comes to you tonight.”

“I won’t let either of us down.” My grip tightens on him. I don’t think I imagine a soft sigh and a slowing of his breath. But neither of us lingers long in the moment.

We’re swept into the currents of the soiree.

Kaelis moves us from one room to the next.

His hand is always on my person. Hot on my thigh.

Caressing up my side, dangerously high on my ribs, as he introduces me casually to people we pass.

I don’t miss the occasional chatter about someone escaping Halazar, though it seems none of the nobility is too concerned about it.

After two months of no leads on the escapee, the enthusiasm for the mystery is dying down.

I’m about to say that I think it’s going well…when Ravin appears.

“Clara, Kaelis! So glad you both could make it.” His dark eyes are nearly black in the dim light of the veranda.

“Wouldn’t miss it.” I smile, shifting a bit closer to Kaelis for emphasis. “ We wouldn’t miss it.”

“Indeed,” Kaelis agrees, pulling me tighter. “Where’s Leigh?”

Leigh Strongborn Oricalis. The Wind’s Bane, they call her. She’s a warrior rumored to be so fierce that she can go toe to toe with even the most skilled Arcanist despite possessing no magic herself.

“Oh, you know how she is.” Ravin shrugs and laughs. “These parties aren’t much her thing. She’s back in the stables with her stallion, I think.” A pause. His eyes dart to me. “No hidden meaning in that. She loves her horse more than most people.”

“And loves her falcon at least double as much as her horse,” Kaelis adds. “Perhaps more than even you, brother.”