Page 102 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
Constance let out a low chuckle as she leaned against the doorframe. “Careful, Giselle, we don’t want to break her.”
Jevon strolled in as if on a breeze of wind and slowly slid into the violet chair. Always quiet, always assessing. Almost as if he believed that words were precious and only gifted sparingly.
Giselle plopped herself on the bed in a huff. “What happened, Quinn? You scared me half to death.” A tear stroked down her cheek. “I wasn’t sure if you would wake up. You were asleep for a day, and your entire tutu was soaked in blood. No human could survive a wound like that.”
Quinn sank onto the bed. “I have no idea what happened. The last thing I remember is auditions.”
Constance strolled over to the bed with the grace of a queen. A shock of heat sizzled up Quinn’s arms as Constance said, “It’s going to be okay. We will figure this out. All of it.” It sounded as if she were trying to convince herself of that fact more than Quinn.
“We’re here. No matter what,” Giselle added.
“You scared us.” Jevon steepled his fingers under his chin. “We thought you were dead. It was terrible.”
A flicker of emotion came behind his normally kind eyes, almost as if a different, darker version of him lurked underneath. His protective and dangerous side. A side she loved about him. Jevon was cinnamon cake, warm, gooey, and lovely, but he also had a piece of him fiercely loyal and pure iron.
“You don’t remember anything?”
“No.” Quinn rubbed her temples.
A flash of trees and icy wind crept into her head.The Nature District.Memories sliced through the lobes of her brain. Disorienting and sharp. Burning bodies and a river of blood. White ballet tutus and vampires. And an attack. Emrys andblood. So, so much blood.
The memories faded. Quinn gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth. Fear and shock cascaded and coiled in her stomach.
Rolling her shoulders back, she tried to shake the fear and stabilize herself.
“What is it?” Constance asked.
Quinn’s legs tingled as if her fear were a physical thing, piercing its talons into her entire being.
Upon her lack of an answer, Constance asked, “Are you okay?”
Quinn swallowed and passed the knot in her throat. “Yes. Where is Emrys?”
“Your uncle is blaming him for allowing you to nearly die,” Constance said.
“Like it was Emrys’s fault.” Giselle jumped up from the bed and started examining items in the room as if she were deciding which of them she was going to “borrow.” “I am pretty sure he is not responsible for every vampire.”
The grandfather clock struck noon, and a rattle went through Quinn’s bones as she remembered that she had to get to today’s Royalle Ballet auditions.
“Oh, no. Auditions.” Quinn rushed to stand but was stopped by Constance’s arms.
Constance pushed her friend down with a hand on her shoulder. “Oh, no, you don’t. You couldn’t even dance right now if you tried. Give it a day, at least. You nearly died.” Her voice shook as she said the last bit.
“But—”
“Emrys forced the Royalle Ballet Director to postpone yesterday, today, and tomorrow’s auditions because he thought it was disrespectful to the illusion ceremony or some nonsense.”
“He did what?”
Constance scrunched her nose and laced her fingers through the fringe on a throw pillow. “Our dearest prince canceled the Royalle Ballet auditions because you were unable to attend.”
“He did what?” Quinn said again as the door opened to the prince and her uncle.
The two looked disheveled and like they’d just gone three rounds in the boxing ring, but neither one spoke.
“You canceled Royalle Ballet auditions?” she asked, her voice dropping in shock.
Emrys’s mouth quirked. “Oh, yes, of course. The illusion ceremony is gravely important. Auditions cannot occur the day before or after it.” He winked.
