Page 32 of Daughter of the Ninth Line: Part Two

The atrium was overflowing with people making their way down to the beach, and I could already hear music in the wind. Something smelled amazing, and I wondered if the Third Line had managed to convince the cooks to serve dinner down on the rocks. If anyone could convince the curmudgeonly kitchen staff to do something against the rules, it’d be Hayle.

“I can’t wait to dance,” Viana said, shimmying her way between her two boyfriends. I was beginning to think herboyfriends were also boyfriends with each other. I mean, it made sense, in a weird kind of way. At least then no one felt left out then, right?

As we walked, people’s eyes lingered on me. I pushed my shoulders back, like wearing this beautiful dress was an everyday occurrence for me. I was the Heir to the Ninth Line. They couldn’t know that our Barony was dirt poor from my father’s excessive drinking and bad choices.

The dress itself floated around me like a midnight storm cloud, and I was truly in love. I mean, not as in love as Viana, but definitely in love.

There was a small line down to the beach as we all hurried, and we had the unfortunate luck to be behind Ephily from the Fifth Line. She took one look at my dress, her eyes narrowing. “I wonder if my cousin Liliana knows her creations are being put on a pig?”

That would have hurt once upon a time, but now, I just smiled at her with too many teeth. “Give her my compliments. This dress is beautiful.”

She opened her mouth to say something cutting and cruel in return, but Vox appeared, and his eyes were filled with equal amounts of wonder and lust. “Avalon, you look like a dream.” He leaned closer, until his lips were beside my ear. “A wet dream.” Standing back to his full height, he nodded respectfully to Viana and Acacia, then glared at the girl from the Fifth Line. “Ephily.”

Then he surprised the fuck out of me by gripping me around the waist and pulling me tightly to his body, kissing me with so much authority, there was no doubt it was a claiming. I kissed him back, clinging to his shoulders as warmth consumed me. It ran through my veins and burned in my chest.

Finally, when my lungs were on fire and my thighs felt like they were made of pudding, he pulled back. “The image of you in this dress is going to be etched in my mind forever. Every timeI close my eyes, I’ll picture you this way,” he murmured against my lips. Then he uncurled to his full height and moved his hand down to grip mine.

As he dragged me down to the beach, I realized I was a fool of the worst kind.

I’d gone and fallen in love with Vox Vylan.

I was in love with the one person in this world I couldn’t ever have.

Twenty

Avalon

I’d never been to a real party before. When Father had banquets or balls, I’d been confined to my rooms. Sometimes, I’d sneak out to watch the men drink and the women flirt. No one danced in the North—it was a frivolity that we didn’t really ascribe to—but people knew how to get drunk and fuck in dark corners.

That seemed to be the version of partying that Boellium was fond of too, because in the short walk down the beach with Vox, Shay, Acacia, and Viana, I saw at least four couples fucking. Well, three couples and one quad. My feet stuttered as I watched the group have sex behind a large boulder that wasn’t quite private enough, especially considering the sun had barely dipped below the horizon.

“Would you like a drink?” Vox asked, and I nodded as I dragged my eyes away. We walked to where a kid I vaguely recognized as being part of the Third Line was playing bartender. He was having a good time at least, mixing drinks and pouring them down someone’s throat with a funnel.

Shay snorted. “Fucking Lucio.”

The person drinking through the funnel was indeed Hayle’s second-in-command. I snorted a laugh, but instinctively lookedfor the Heir of the Third Line. There were at least a hundred people on the beach, though I couldn’t see him anywhere. Maybe he was in the shadows with someone else too?

The thought of Hayle with his body wrapped around some random Upper Sixer made my blood turn to ice in my veins, but I pushed the jealousy away. Who Hayle fucked, married, or loved had nothing to do with me. I had Vox, and he was all I needed.

Hell, he wasmorethan I needed. And if I was honest with myself, Hayle was as out of reach to me as Vox was. No, I should be happy with what I had, and when it was all over, I’d be glad that I got to experience this freedom at all.

“What would you like?” Vox asked close to my ear so he could be heard over the band, which was playing something heavy and melodic and made me wish I really did dance.

I shrugged. “Whatever you suggest.” I knew even less about fancy Upper Six alcohol than I did about dancing.

Lucio slid close to Shay, already swaying slightly with a goofy grin on his face. “If it isn’t my favorite ball-crusher,” he teased, and she rolled her eyes.

“I stood on your balls once, Lucio. Get over it.” Her eyes shifted quickly to Acacia, then back to him, and Lucio tilted his head, his alcohol-hazed mind picking up the vibes of the group quickly. His grin got even wider, if possible, and something nearly imperceptible passed between them. An understanding, maybe.

He slung an arm around Shay’s shoulders. “You know, I’m okay if we make our little duo into a ménage, Shay-Shay.” I wished I understood the dynamic between those two, because his words were more teasing than lecherous. Almost like a performance, he seemed to be saying what he knew the people around him expected to hear, but didn’t actually want to follow through. Shay also didn’t move his arm from her shoulder, and Acacia was watching them shrewdly.

Finally, Acacia shrugged. “You’d both be so lucky,” she said snarkily, throwing them a wink and flouncing off into the crowd. Soon after, both Shay and Lucio disappeared, and Viana and her guys left to dance.

“Then there were two,” Vox murmured softly, leading me away from the bulk of the crowd. The liquor was sweet and high quality, and strong. So fucking strong. “Fuck, you look so beautiful tonight, Avalon.”

He stepped closer to me, out here in the open where anyone could see. While he’d never outright said we should keep our rendezvous secret, he hadn’t exactly walked me into the middle of the the atrium and announced he was fucking the nobody from the Ninth Line.

Right now, though, he may as well be shouting it to the rooftops. Especially when he leaned down and kissed me softly, reverently, in front of hundreds of eyes.

---