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T HE B ALLAD OF E YES WASN’T A SIMPLE BALL DANCE. T HE DANCERS didn’t face each other. The dranaic stood behind the acti, and neither was allowed to glimpse the other’s eyes.

Mirrors served as walls, boxing the dancing space and reflecting soft light on mortal and immortal alike. Three stunning chandeliers descended from the ceiling, their crystals hovering high above Kidan’s piled braids.

Susenyos slipped into the space of her shadow, fingers splayed on her stomach to pull her closer. The material of her dress was thin, and the ridges of his fingers imprinted distinctly. Her stomach contracted, heat flushing through her gut. She straightened her spine, careful not to let her back touch his chest. The awkward space between them could have fit another person.

“You kept my fangs?” he hissed for her ears only. “What is wrong with you?”

Her lips curved. “You have your treasures, I have mine.”

He gave a low, dangerous growl, making the hair on her neck stand. The orchestra began, and his hand seized hers from behind, again with crushing force, but she refused to cry out. He didn’t so much lead her into the routine as drag her like an annoying weight he was shackled to. It was slow at first, slow enough that she could keep her spine straight and away from him.

The tempo picked up, an explosion of furious violins and piano, and her feet faltered, barely grazing the floor as they turned and stepped and bowed. He spun her and her back slid, gravity throwing her onto him. A sound vibrated deep in his throat at the impact.

“I will never forgive you for this.” His voice swam with the chandelier lights. “I should have fed on you. Let you truly feel my fangs.”

He traced the curve of her neck, sending a new current thrumming down to her fingers. He pulled at the emerald hairpin, and her pile of braids cascaded like black waterfalls. He used it to conceal his face, lowering his mouth to fan her pulse point. Terror gripped her.

“Don’t,” she warned.

His voice was wet with thirst. “Why? Isn’t this what you want? To expose me as a monster in front of them all?”

The spins of the dance, mixed with the rush of adrenaline, made her head fog, and thinking became difficult.

“Why haven’t you left?” he whispered, fanning her ear. “Are you here to torment me? What else must I do to make you leave?”

His grip tightened, and a slash of power shot through her. She liked him this way, weak and wanting. It would be easy to use against him. Expose him.

“Do it,” she dared him, pushing her body backward and ignoring how the current between them became electrified. “Drink.”

His groan deepened with the music, building to a dizzying crescendo. They traveled in wide arcs until she could no longer tell where she started and he ended. At this speed, if he drank from her, no one would be able to tell them apart from the refracted lights. She needed to slow down. But they’d cut into a pocket of the universe where only their flesh and its desires mattered. And they had to hurry. The music would fall soon, and their minds would snap back into their bodies.

Hurry. Turn. Hurry. Turn.

Still, he didn’t bite.

She wanted them to see him for the monster he was. Vision swirling, she reached for his neck and drew blood first. Nails scratched his dark skin. His teeth grazed her neck. Sharp electricity shot through her. He was almost there. His restraint was fraying like a thread under fire. Any moment now. She closed her eyes, giving in to the delicious pain—

He twirled her with such quickness that she crashed into another pair before stopping in the middle of the dance floor. Their eyes finally met. One mirrored the ocean, dark with hatred; the other the desert, burning with heat. Head still spinning, Kidan couldn’t tell who was who.

He broke away first, turning and exiting quickly. Kidan breathed heavily, stepping out of the way as the dance continued.

Her heart pounded, her fingers strained, trying to find the right emotion to evoke.