Page 45

Ravin brings a hand to his chest, feigning injury.

“You wound me. Though I doubt you’re wrong.

Not all of us can be as deeply, madly in love as the two of you.

Or as well matched. A love story for the ages, they’re calling it.

One of the few things that the nobles seem to be more eager to gossip about than the Halazar escapee. ” Ravin’s eyes dart to mine, gleaming.

I do nothing but smile politely. Kaelis attempts the same. I think, at least…It looks more like a sneer.

“Oh, Clara. I’ve a special guest I’d like you to meet.” Ravin’s words are said lightly enough…but there’s still that look in the firstborn prince’s eyes that’s putting me further on edge. He shifts back, waving someone over.

That’s when I see him.

Liam.

The past I thought I’d long buried and the future I killed suddenly stands before me.

His bright blue eyes are as vibrant as I remember—as they were in the iteration of him in the Arcanum Chalice.

Those blue eyes lock on to mine, and I feel my hand go limp at Kaelis’s hip.

It’d fall away if the prince didn’t pull me closer, jolting me to the present.

“Clara?” Liam exhales. The sound of my name is a surprise. It somehow encapsulates the raw, aching truth of everything— so damn much —left unsaid between us.

A woman stands beside him, her golden eyes darting between her betrothed and me. I remember her. Her fiery hair spun into tight curls. The way she pins little gemstones through her tresses like the stars of her clan’s namesake. I remember everything down to the shining ring on her finger.

“Liam?” she probes gently.

“Yes.” Liam clears his throat and finally tears his attention from me to look at her. “Elara, my love, this is Clara Ch—”

“Redwin,” I interject hastily. The past has finally loosened its grip on my throat enough for me to speak. I see Liam’s brows briefly furrow. But it’s hardly noticeable, since I keep the focus on me. “It’s Redwin now that I’ve uncovered my lineage, thanks to the prince—Clara Redwin.”

“ Lady Clara Redwin,” Kaelis adds firmly.

“An old acquaintance,” I continue. “Liam knew me before my family history was discovered,” I try to quickly explain, shoving my true name as far as possible from the conversation.

I’d forgotten I’d told Liam the Chevalyer name—something I should’ve never trusted him with.

I did stupid things when I thought I’d met the love of my life at seventeen.

“Yes, I knew her back from my days on Silver Street.” Liam’s tone is neutral, which is a relief, because it betrays nothing of our deeper history.

I silently hope that if he held any love or fondness for me at all, he picks up on the need for discretion when it comes to everythingabout me.

Did he even know I was in Halazar? The only safe thing for me to do is assume he has more than enough information to damn me.

“Ah, yes.” Elara gives me a practiced smile and politely extends her hand. “Liam mentioned you.”

What does that mean?

“Oh, did he now?” Ravin seems utterly delighted as I take Elara’s hand. “Clara is quite unforgettable. How else could she ensnare my brother? Though, I suppose her delicious, story-worthy history helps her allure.”

“?‘Ensnare’…” Liam breathes. “The woman engaged to the prince…is you?”

I nod. My throat is gummy.

“Oh, please accept my warmest congratulations.” Elara beams. I can’t tell if her obliviousness is intentional.

“Thank you,” I say.

“Yes, congratulations,” Liam clearly forces himself to say.

You were the one who left me, I want to scream. But I can only smile because of this game of pretend I’m stuck in.

Kaelis remains silent. But his hand on my hip might as well be burning a hole through my flesh. His energy shifted at the mere sight of Liam.

“Please excuse me, I’m quite parched.” I step away, freeing myself from Kaelis and the whole circumstance.

One room. Then the next. Another. A stairway to the second floor and past some minstrels and a couple who sneaked away into a coat closet they forgot to close.

I can’t breathe. Every strap of leather is constricting me. All this time I thought of you. It was you I wanted. Only you. I can hear Liam’s voice from the Arcanum Chalice still inside me. As if he’s still there. Still a part of what could be…

Footsteps have me slowly unwrapping my arms from around myself. I’d wound them so tightly, as if I could ward away all my racing thoughts and find some comfort. I turn, part of me hoping to see Liam there.

Though I know it’s not him by the pace and gait. How have I already learned what the prince’s footsteps sound like?

“I don’t think this is where you’ll find drinks,” Kaelis says slowly, motioning to the canvases that surround me. The spotlights on the ceiling cast his face in dramatic shadow.

“I got lost.”

“You ran.”

Frustration and embarrassment tighten my chest. “I made a strategic retreat. I didn’t want him saying something he shouldn’t.”

The gap between us closes to almost nothing. Kaelis looks down at me. Every light and shadow frames his sharp features more elegantly than any statue on display.

“He knows too much.” It sounds like a threat.

“He won’t say anything,” I assure Kaelis.

“Even if Liam won’t”—Kaelis’s voice dips low at Liam’s name—“Ravin will see this as a victory. He suspects you, for good reason, and if he gets any proof you’re not a noble as we say—”

“Liam will say nothing,” I insist. “And I’m not going to give him proof.” I can hear the accusation in Kaelis’s voice.

“Your actions say otherwise.” There’s fire in those dark eyes. “You still love that man, don’t you?”

“Hardly,” I say bitterly. Defiant to the pull of my own emotions. “He’s nothing but an old wound.”

“One that won’t close or mend.” Kaelis is so confident, and I hate how right he is. I glance away, but my attention is drawn back as his knuckles graze up my arm, brushing against my cheek. “How many wounds do you have that you just let bleed, Clara?”

His words are little more than a whisper. The pad of his thumb grazes against my lower lip. I fight a quiver and lose.

“How many wounds do you have?” Turning the question back to him is a weak retort and I know it. As weak as my knees feel.

“Enough that I’ll remake the whole world to fix them.” His voice is deep. I didn’t expect him to answer.

From the corner of my eye, I see a figure appear in the doorframe. An all-too-familiar visage I’d know anywhere—from my sweetest dreams, my worst nightmares. Liam’s eyes are searching. He came alone, no doubt with endless questions that mirror my own. This could be our moment to air it all.

But what could he say that would make it better? There are no excuses.

Panic and anger race through me. Part of me doesn’t want to be seen like this with Kaelis.

Another part wants Liam to know that I don’t care about him any longer.

The nasty urge to hurt him like he hurt me wins.

I reach for Kaelis. My hand slips around his neck, and I pull him to me.

My lips find his in a sudden and fierce kiss.

Kaelis stiffens, and I grab his hair. Don’t you dare pull away, I try to convey with the grip I have on his waist that wanders toward his ass. But the prince surprises me by melting into the kiss. His hand falls from my face, and he envelops me in his arms. Pulls me closer.

I feel every inch of that hard body I caught a glimpse of earlier.

The ache the sight of it filled me with is palpable now.

It’s alive in me. I’m yearning for something to make me real after a year of cold captivity.

The touch I was so sensitive to weeks ago now overwhelms me.

Without my permission, the world falls away—and Liam with it.

There’s a clatter as one of the paintings falls. The easel topples over with it. My back hits the wall.

Kaelis’s tongue is in my mouth. He kisses me like he’s been waiting years for this. My leg rises to wrap around his upper thigh, my skirt hiking up dangerously high. The prince bites my lower lip with a low growl.

I can hardly breathe. He rolls his hips into me and I shudder. Fuck. I hate this. I hate how good it feels. How badly I want to be touched, and how I had no idea. But what I hate most of all is that it’s Kaelis sparking these sensations.

Kaelis finally pulls away, and I open my eyes to see him staring attentively down at me. We’re both breathless.

“He…Liam…” I desperately try to justify my actions to him, and to myself.

“I know. I saw him, too.” Kaelis tilts his head toward a mirror.

It’s positioned perfectly to give a view of the entry.

I wonder if Kaelis had one eye open the whole kiss, waiting to see when Liam left.

The prince’s eyes drag over me one last time, fingers following down my cheek, my neck, to my clavicle.

They pause, trailing on the wrapping just above my breasts.

My heavy breaths press into his fingertips—as if tempting him to go farther.

Tempting both of us. “Well played…I always knew you were dangerous.”

“More than you realize,” I whisper.

His eyes hold me for one last, long moment, and then Kaelis pulls away.

“Let’s make a hasty departure. Keep your hair a mess, your lipstick smeared.

” He runs his thumb over my mouth for emphasis.

“Our clothing stays askew. Let them all gossip about us to the point that there’s not even a mention of your lineage being suspect or anyone who escaped Halazar. ”

When I nod, Kaelis escorts me out. He doesn’t touch me again after we enter the carriage. Not even when we say a somewhat awkward, muted goodbye back at the academy. But I feel the ghost of his touch and the heat of his mouth on mine long into the night.