Page 12 of The Devil In Blue
When red silks were unrolled from the ceiling, I was hypnotized. Even more so when two women in black bodysuits skipped gracefully through the crowds like pixies, their suits studded with white gems that made them look like they were shrouded in the night sky. They took hold of the silks and began to climb, their legs and arms gracefully hooking the fabric as they ascended. The crowds began to clap and nod in approval at the beautiful dancers as they began a perfectly synchronized dance above the floor.
“What a strange dance to include,” Lucien commented. He looked around to see that many had left the dance area, opting out of the waltz. “Well,” he said. “If I know men, and I do, the count included this dance as a challenge to us modest folk of Cragborough.” He held out his hand to me, not even looking at my face. “Let us accept the challenge.”
I took his offer, but I wasn’t particularly keen on dancing the Peros with him. It was a long dance and I was still suspicious of his condition.
He escorted me onto the dance floor and we took position beside each other, shoulder to shoulder. When the music changed tempo, it was delightfully slow, setting the pace for something to be savored. I raised my hand up to meet Lucien’s palm and we walked carefully around each other before switching partners to do the same thing. My blood froze when I found myself palm-to-palm with Father Eli. He was masked now in his long-nosed visage lined in gold, but it did not help the bugs from crawling under my skin.
“What a gift to find you here, so adapted and obedient,” he said before I spun to partner with Lucien again.
As soon as Lucien’s hand met mine, that woman with the skull mask caught my eye as she walked the outer edge of the room, staring. Seeing her stole the chill from my blood that Father Eli had left behind simply because I was so curious. She was far away, but I just knew she was looking at me and it caused me to lose a step. When I met up with Lucien again, he was looking at my feet.
“Are you well?” he asked, more out of embarrassment than concern. I knew he wanted to make a good impression on the count, wherever he was.
“Yes, sir,” he said. “My toe caught my skirt is all.”
We continued through the dance when I saw Lucien shake his head as if to brush off a bout of dizziness. The beat of the music picked up, which included more twirls and spins and I was beginning to wonder if they were getting to him.
Halfway through the song, it was clear Lucien was not well. I kept on, unsure whether to tend to him or not and risk embarrassing him when he was so clearly invested in impressing the mysterious count.
But his condition only seemed to worsen. I leaned in as we spun across the length of the dance floor behind a long line of others.
“Are you alright, Lucien?” I whispered.
He didn’t like me to call him that, but at the moment, I doubted he would notice much.
“Do not speak,” he said. “Just da—“
He could not finish his sentence.
Lucien finally succumbed to whatever it was he was feeling and hunched, clutching his stomach. He shoved me back, slapping a hand over his mouth as he darted off the dance floor and shoved through the crowds.
He’d never left me like that. He’d never abandoned me to the mercy of a crowd of strangers and now he’d done it twice in one night. I would have been alright navigating the party alone for a while more if Father Eli’s white figure had not immediately caught my attention. He saw me alone and began to move in my direction, sewing threads of discomfort down my spine. I was so confused and caught off guard, standing without a partner in a sea of people when the dance had not finished.
Before I could think of a way to escape, a body moved up behind me, pressing lightly to my back. Father Eli immediately diverted to another partner, skipping into the steps of the waltz and away from me. Time slowed to let me feel the body behind me. His chest was hard and warm and when I whipped my head to the side, I could see dark fabric over broad shoulders. His hand slid down my arm, gloved in thin, black leather with those silver talons on the ends. His fingers coiled around mine, lifting my arm out to take a position in the dance where Lucien had left it empty.
“It seems your partner has abandoned you,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
The stranger spun me, rejoining the dance. His other hand slid around my waist, his palm pressing to the middle of my stomach. I slid my hand over the top, my fingers sinking between his. Stepping slightly to the side, I was able to see his elk mask, but his eyes were swallowed by shadows. I could see nothing of his real face.
“I know you saw me from across the room.” His whisper was a caress.
Staring into the crowded ballroom, I tried to call on every ounce of my practiced composure only to feel my control slipping through my fingers like fine sand. The stranger twirled me to face him as the music changed tempo again. Our palms pressed together as we waltzed in a careful circle in time with the others. Still, I could not see past the darkness veiling his stare. I wished to, though. Desperately.
This man made me feel small, but not in the same way Father Eli did. As we moved, I let my eyes roam the length of his form. He wore knee-high boots in dark leather. His pants conformed to his long legs, and the black material covering his body was littered with designs in a dark blue brocade. I could see no trace of his skin. All I could see of him was the long, smoke-blue braid of hair that slithered down his back when we both spun. But even that might not have been real. Everyone, including him, was in costume for a reason.
The man canted his head. “What is your name, beautiful little bird?”
“Beautiful?” I said, finding my voice. “You cannot see my face.”
He leaned in. “I do not need to see your face.”
I smiled under my mask at the sultry tone of his words.
I pivoted again until my back was to his front, following the intricate steps of the dance. Dipping his head, the man continued to talk to me, his hot breath escaping through thin slits in his mask and tickling my neck.
“Tell me,” he said. “What drew your eyes to me when you spotted me by the hearth earlier?”
“Your mask,” I admitted. “It is terrifying.”
