Page 115 of The Chains You Defy

Instead of dignifying me with a reply, Dion changed his step pattern. We’d swayed on the spot before, but he altered our course and steered me to the left, dodging other couples with ease. Determination had settled onto his brows, and no matter how hard I tried to dance in the opposite direction, he hauled me with him.

His arms were unyielding like steel, and so was the expression in his eyes. Nerves exploded in my stomach,a premonition hitting my soul. Tensing my muscles in a last desperate effort to escape, I fought against my living restraints, but Dion was relentless. In the end, that he didn’t throw me over his shoulder bordered on a miracle. Still, he was whisking me off to whatever place he had in mind.

He held me so tight that my face was smashed into his chest, his scent of pure masculinity, of rain, shadows, and forest, dizzying my senses. He was a male on a mission, and I’d rarely experienced such a powerful urge to flee from a situation. Nothing good could happen on a night like this, one that had already started on the worst possible note.

But I didn’t have a choice.

A crisp aroma mingling with the pine and petrichor filled my nostrils, and only when the air became colder and we’d somehow stepped outside did I realize how irritating the sweet oppression of plentiful perfumes inside had been. And despite my rising panic, breathing him in settled some of the broken shards in my soul.

Dion’s grip relaxed a fraction, and I lifted my head, noticing he’d brought us onto a small balcony overlooking lush emerald fields.

To my surprise, the living shackles around me eased, and I advanced to the railing, gripping the cool stone until my knuckles turned white.

The night sky in Galanta was pure poetry; there wasn’t any better way to describe the spectacle. A myriad of stars sparkled in the endless plane, the moon full and glowing like a fae’s eye, and stripes of turquoise, pink, purple, and green danced over the dark canvas. Transfixed, I stared at the shimmering display, forgetting why he’d brought me outside in the first place.

Silk rustled as Dion appeared beside me, and the thorns piercing my heart, which had been pacified by the beautiful sight, reminded me of their presence once more.

“Have you ever seen an aurora before?”

Dion’s voice was gentle, so different from the angry snarls and harsh edges from minutes ago, and I swallowed around the lump stuck in my throat. “No, never. I read about the phenomenon but dismissed the description as fantasy. Although I’m glad that this view isn’t pure imagination. This might be the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my life.”

“Yes, there’s nothing more stunning in both worlds, nor will there ever be.”

Reverent notes layered in the prince’s cadence, so full of emotion. I turned my gaze to him, and all my movement ceased in an instant. He wasn’t viewing the aurora—no, he had his eyes locked on me, head slightly canted, his expression unguarded like nothing I’d ever witnessed in him before. My breath caught, my lungs refused to cooperate as my cheeks filled with blood at his implication.

His hand reached out, and before I could dodge, he feathered a wayward strand of hair behind my ear, ghosting the pads of his fingers along my skin, leaving fire in their wake. He traced the blush on my face, and once again, I was trapped in his snare.

The moment broke as I reminded myself of where we were, who we were. We stood way too close, way too intimate, and if someone spied on us, our whole cover would be blown.

Opening my mouth to protest about our precarious location, I closed my lips again as Dion came to the sameconclusion as me—and engulfed us and the balcony in a bubble of absolute darkness. Damn.

Dropping his hand, resolution settled into his amethyst gaze. “To answer your earlier question. Yes, Nayana. Now. I spent an hour of my life discussing with an entitled female why she has to leave me the fuck alone. And instead of concentrating on getting my point across, all I could see was how everyone stared at you, plotting to steal you away.”

“Cantarlann isn’t planning to kidnap me. We shared one dance, princeling. One measly dance on the first ball of my life.” My argument sounded weak, too tinted with the relief of how good his explanation had been about why he’d danced so long with Danartha.

“You flirted with him, winked, and beamed. That male is worse than Thain.”

“Given they share a common background, and with Thain growing up around Cantarlann, I’m not surprised.”

Apprehension dominated the imposing sight of the fae prince. He wrung his hands and shook his head, as if to dislodge something unpleasant from his mind. “You have to stop dropping names of other males. I’m on the edge of what I can endure, Nayana.”

A glint of something I couldn’t place flashed in his expressive eyes, burning with an intensity I wanted to shrink away from but didn’t, as he continued. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to allow you to remain sitting in a corner, humiliated and miserable, when you should be the guest of honor on my arm? Are you aware of how fucking beautiful you are? How everyone is staring at you?”

His gaze became more intense by the second, and I squirmed, his focused attention on me almost unbearable.

Gods, how could I distract him and change the direction in which this conversation was heading?

“Dion, even though I’m clueless about why you’re spiraling, I can reassure you that you’re wrong. The last days put a strain on you, and now you’re seeing things that exist only in your head. If people stare at me, it’s because they’re disgusted to have a human in their midst.”

“You’re a novelty at a place frozen in ennui and hedonism. That alone makes you desirable to everyone.” Dion’s jaw worked, and his hands, which he’d buried in the pockets of his crimson coat, stretched the material dangerously as he clenched and unclenched his fists. “If only one more of those fuckers wonders or has the audacity to ask me if I’m open to whoring you out for a night, I won’t be held accountable for the massacre about to follow. Yes, Nayana, while I attempted to cut out the festering growth that is Danartha, more than one fucking courtier approached me in hopes that I would be fine with them fucking you.”

My face fell, and shock rattled my system. “What?”

“Yes. As much as everyone despises humans, using the prized possession of their future sovereign? Possibly breaking a piece of her soul, showing her where they believe her place is?”

“I—”

“As I’ve told you, I was already on the edge of what I could take before you danced with that peacock, smiling and winking at him. My entire vision was tinted blood red, and I was inches away from strangling him with my bare hands for everyone to witness. So no one doubtswhat will happen if they dare to approach you with ill intentions—or acknowledge you at all.”