Page 85 of Night’s Fall (The Four Realms #1)

Though, somewhere inside Cormac , he had to know, but perhaps due to all that was going on, he wasn’t tapping into it.

That said, Gayle felt it and…

Dang .

That had to sting.

“I’m so sorry, honey,” I whispered, reaching out to take her hand.

She squeezed it and said, “ Now , I don’t know what to do. I can’t be me, a huge nobody, and walk up to a prince that will one day be a king and say, ‘ Hey , we’re supposed to spend the rest of our lives together. You wanna start doing that now?’”

No, she couldn’t do that.

My attention drifted to the entrance to the alcove. “ Maybe I can talk to Aleksei .”

“No!” Gayle cried.

I looked back to her.

“I don’t… I want it to happen like…” She shook her head. “ He should figure it out himself.”

“But if Aleksei? —”

“Aleksei knew right away,” she reminded me. “ He called you to him, what? Maybe five minutes into us being at the club? And then you got Captain Jacques’s and after, all of this…”

She explained “this” by flitting her hand toward the ball, the Palace , and also my dress.

She ended with, “ I want that, Laura . All of it.”

I couldn’t say I blamed her.

“All of it” was danged awesome.

Still.

“Cormac isn’t Aleksei ,” I noted.

“Well, he better pull his head out of his magnificent, tight, muscular ass, or he’s going to have some groveling to do,” Cat decreed.

This was true, and in the romance novels, the groveling was the best part.

But Gayle looked no less miserable, which, of course, was why the male had to grovel. It just never occurred to me how miserable the female had to be to deserve it.

I didn’t want that for Gayle .

Alas, we could speak of it no longer, nor could I get into Tanyn with Cat , because Bash and Aleksei joined us carrying two piled-high plates between them, so we could all munch.

This we did, and it was good to have this fortification before Aleksei turned to me and said, “ I’m sorry, love, but our respite is over. I’m afraid we have to mingle.”

Ugh.

I nodded, bid adieu to my friends, and Aleksei helped me out of the sofa, onto my aching feet and guided me into the ballroom.

I wanted to tell Aleksei about Cormac and Gayle , but I found right away he was correct.

The respite was over.

Beings were no longer ignoring us. We barely got two steps out of the antechamber before we were descended upon.

Commence nearly three hours where I learned the different, excruciating levels of foot pain and hoped my face didn’t space out as my mind tried to figure out how mad Lancet and Nata would be if I didn’t send this gown to the Catalogues , and instead burned it in the courtyard.

It weighed a ton when I put it on, it began to feel like ten and growing as the night wore on.

Though, from the two-hundred and eleven (literally) compliments I had on it, and the number of pics taken of me in it by the varied royal and media photographers Germaine had working the event, it was a hit.

Making matters worse, I had to dance.

Doing it two times with Aleksei was sublime.

While he whirled me around the dance floor, my feet didn’t hurt a bit, and the gown felt like a cloud swirling around me.

He was an excellent dancer (of course) but having that alone time with him in a sea of people was a revelation. It was like a recharge to my flagging energy and the constant race to the limits of my endurance with the crowds, the conversations, the attention.

I made note of this too: be sure to take time with my mate, even if only a few minutes, just the two of us.

And then I could face anything.

The three times I had to dance with other people (a count named Hoyt who did business with Aleksei and also played in their ring ice league, a male I found I liked very much (he was also a vampire); an actor who laid it on so thick about how great my designs were, it was all kinds of sycophantic gross; and last, Sirk , who was another respite, because I was glad to see him, he was also an excellent dancer, and I was happy he didn’t seem too broken up about Gayle , since he was his normal gregarious, affectionate self and he’d brought a slyly elegant demon to the Masque as his date).

The receiving line had formed at eight, when the doors to the Palace were open.

And I’d been warned that the Masque could go until two or three in the morning.

But we were homing in on midnight, when we could remove our masks, after which there would be a magnificent, old-fashioned fireworks display that was so big, all of Nocturn would see it.

And I’d also been told by the highest authority ( Queen Calisa ) that I would be expected to remain at the Masque for an hour after, but then I could feel free to retire whenever I wished, which I would do after that hour was over.

I knew Aleksei would be all the way down with leaving with me, and I knew it because we’d already made this plan.

So when six uniformed footmen stood across each other at the entrance to each ballroom and blasted a tune on horns to get everyone’s attention, then called out in unison that guests who wished to unmask outside before watching the fireworks should make their way there, I knew we were closing in on the end, and I could not wait.

The night would be chill, but there were heat coils under platforms that had been laid outside so people could stand without sinking into the grass (or destroying it) and be warm.

But the royal family weren’t headed that way.

We went to another balcony. This one ran along the front of the Palace , and I’d only been on it during my tour.

Aleksei led me there.

When we stepped out, I found it too, fortunately, had heat coils snaking around the perimeter, which was good, since Queen Calisa told me the fireworks show would last for twenty minutes.

As they were royals as well, Dagsbrun , Delanta , Bainon and Anna also joined us there. As did Tanyn and Cormac , King Naill , Queen Laoise and Princess Rowan .

Arnaud did not, and I didn’t know if he’d even made it to the ball.

If he hadn’t, I found it odd, since he RSVPed in the affirmative, and Aleksei knew he was in town.

And odd with that male was concerning.

Queen Tatra had RSVPed no, which didn’t seem odd, since Queen Calisa hated her, and Aleksei told me she hadn’t been to the Masque since Riland brought her to her first. There was history there, I could tell, but Aleksei didn’t get into that.

We watched as the guests filtered out to the platforms erected through the gardens at the front of the Palace , until King Fillion moved to the balustrade, placed a small mic-unit to his throat, and commanded, “ It is time to show our faces to the Night God ! Unmask !”

Gratefully, I lifted my hands to the bow of the purple satin ribbon at the back of my head above my elaborate chignon that sat at the nape, but Aleksei murmured, “ Allow me.”

With a smile, I allowed him.

My mask loosened, my face rejoiced, he took it and handed it to me before he took his off.

“Don’t you dare throw that,” I warned as, per tradition, the rest of the congregation in the gardens—as was their wont as the richest of the rich, and the elitest of the elite—threw their ridiculously expensive, painstakingly crafted masks into the air with abandoned glee.

Aleksei’s head tipped to the side and a sexy smirk hit his face as he deduced why I wanted him to keep his mask safe.

And then the boom of the first fireworks exploded above our heads, lighting my mate’s glorious face in a burst of color.

He snaked a hand around my waist, pulled me to his side, and we looked up.

Drones were amazing. Truly .

But nothing beat a big ole vintage fireworks display.

We ooed and aahed at not only the spectacular show in the air, but the one that was for guests only that happened closer to the ground.

It was unreal.

I loved it.

I loved standing at Aleksei’s side watching it.

I forgot about my shoes, my dress, and just how taxing the evening was. About Cormac and Gayle , Tanyn , Cat and Bash . Errol . Arnaud .

I was rooted in that brilliant moment, marveling about how a life of living had turned into an extravaganza of fireworks and ballgowns and balconies crammed with royalty, standing close to the male I adored.

No, I wasn’t a huge fan of crowds, attention or small talk.

But this evening taught me something.

At Aleksei’s side, I could face anything, and eventually, it would be worth it, because he’d given me something beautiful.

These were my happy thoughts when I felt Aleksei tense beside me.

I turned to him, seeing the fireworks lighting his face, his frame, and all around us.

And I noticed how alert he was.

Really alert.

Hyper alert.

And his eyes were cast down to the garden.

He released me and moved closer to the balustrade when I heard the first scream pierce the sound of the detonations in the sky.

On the heels of that scream, like a wave, the confusion washed over us, then the tsunami of fear as I watched Aleksei tear off his tuxedo jacket while flipping off his shoes.

He turned to me, his eyes glowing purple, and thundered, “ Inside ! ” before the studs of his shirt went flying as he pulled it off.

He didn’t bother with his trousers before he put his hands to the balustrade, leaped over it, and the slap of his dragon wings extending hit me like a physical thing.

His dragon soared over the rushing, frenzied beings rushing frantically toward the Palace .

The king’s dragon followed Aleksei’s .

Timothee’s dragon followed the king’s.

And I stood still and staring in the direction of where they were heading.

Because I could not believe the sight that met my eyes.

Trolls .