Page 15 of Seduced By Darkness

“Thalia.”Just give me a fucking moment.

Her face brightens into a wide smile. “Here they come. Paste a smile on your face. Picture Adaia sipping on shepherd’s rot, if that helps. Be smooth. Be charming.” She gives me a look. “I know you have it in you.”

Too late to make an escape. I square my shoulders. So be it. Let’s get this over with.

But my steps are slow, my heart like lead in my chest, as I start toward the Ravenal delegation with Thalia on my arm.

They see me coming.

A young woman straightens abruptly as if she sucks in a sharp breath. She wears white from head-to-toe, and her long, raven hair is bound into a glossy mound atop her head. Not a single strand of it dares hang loose.

Regal. Beautiful. Daring.

Princess Lucere.

I swallow the hard lump in my throat and force a smile to my lips. “She looks like an ice princess.”

“She’s… reserved,” Thalia admits.

“And how are you all going to get along with her?” There’s a camaraderie within my court that feels like home. To throw this walking icicle into their midst will dash away those careless smiles, and teasing tones.

It’s my one respite.

The one place I can simplybe.

“If you can manage, we can manage. Now, is that your best smile?”

I shake my head. She’s incorrigible—

And just at that moment, the dancers part anda woman appears as if she’s stepped directly from my dreams.

Her.

My breath catches in my chest and somehow I can’t move.

A woman gowned in starlight. Her skirts are of the darkest blue, with diamond chips woven through the gauze so it almost seems as if she glimmers like the night sky. A silver mask gleams with gemstones, catching the light as she tilts her face to the bonfires.

It’s not the dress that captures my attention.

It’s not the mask.

It’s not even her beauty.

It’s the shape of her mouth and chin—

The same mouth that’s been haunting my dreams for centuries.

I can’t move. I can barely breathe.

Is it a mirage?

Is ither?

Is she the promise of light that Maia sent to me so long ago?

I have to know.

“Thiago?” Thalia’s voice is distant behind me as I plunge through the dancers, searching for the woman of my dreams.