Page 122 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
She bit the inside of her cheek and averted her eyes, watchinganything but the prince. She wouldn’t like him. She couldn’t want him because he’d never want her back. He’d never want only her—only one paramour.
You shine more when covered with elegance than feathers and sparkles, he said.
Why am I here, Emrys?she asked, still refusing to look at him.
He grinned and placed a hand on the small of her back—his touch electrifying.Because the world needs a distraction from the truth, from bodies with vampire markings and break-ins, and broken mirrors, and the papers have always been obsessed with me.
So, I am a distraction?She gulped, and an unfamiliar feeling raged in her bones.What’s your purpose for me being here?
Tell me a secret, Quinnevere,he said, changing the subject.
“No,” she breathed and finally opened her eyes to his.
I'll tell you a secret, not about who or what I am, but about me.His chestnut eyes glistened and reflected the dancing fire.My secret is that I don’t want to want you. I’d prefer to have no feelings or desires altogether.
Confusion clenched her stomach. What did that even mean? Was he confessing to having feelings or just promising that he never would? Her palms grew clammy, and her mind fell into a spiral.
Anger prickled at her spine. He was using her—always using her. And she shouldn’t have been surprised. He was a vampire, just like Seren. He used people for pleasure, for company, for answers, for a distraction. Quinn was no different.
She’d never be different.
And he’d used her earlier in the night, too. He brought her to the lion’s den instead of taking her to Constance’s room. He brought her to the vampire blood smuggling operation because he wanted answers from Constance. Emrys Avalon didn’t care what Quinn wanted.
He only ever cared about himself.
If he was going to be cruel, then she didn’t have to be friendly either.
I would also prefer to feel nothing for you.Her nose flared, but she didn’t pull away from him.
“I know,” he whispered into her ear, the touch of his lips sending shivers through her body. “Your feelings for me are written all over your face and in your words. You like science. You desire to experiment with me, but you’ll never desire me.”
“Good. We understand each other perfectly,” she said, focusing back on the festival.
When they were safely inside the palace after the festival and out of earshot of everyone except Giselle and Jevon, Quinn rounded on the prince. “You can read my mind?”
“No,” he said, a wicked and frustratingly arrogant smile lingering on his mouth. “I can hear the thoughts you project at me and vice versa because I marked you.”
“And you thought instead of warning me or telling me you can do that, you’d surprise me in front of a public audience and news crews?”
His following six words were simple and made her want to murder him. “I wanted to see your expression.”
Oh, she was angry. He’d used her, tricked her, and paraded her in front of New Swansea just to satiate some sick need of his to get a rise out of her—to play with her. And now she would be bonded to him for all eternity. This condescending, haughty, devilishly handsome prick. Nothing he’d done in the past few days had truly changed him. He only helped her solve Jane’s murder for selfish reasons.
Always just about the paintings and the vampire agenda.
Emrys Avalon always was and always would be the arrogant, roguish prince. And she was so foolish to have let his stupid kisses soften her feelings towardhim.
He chuckled softly. “Well, at least you think I am devilishly handsome.”
“You heard that?” she asked, a vicious snake coiled in her stomach, waiting for the right moment to strike. And Quinn wanted to strike him.
“I can’t help hearing it when you’re shouting at me.” He leaned against the wall and slid his hands into his pockets.
Quinn stepped in, about to confront the prince, when Giselle cleared her throat and reminded them of her presence. “As much fun as it is watching whatever this is”—she waved a hand at the prince and ballerina—“I need to set up the confetti bombs in the decorations along the walls and the lever release packages on the ceiling and the ignition spots, which could take me all night long. I need someone to help me do that.”
Emrys wiped off his lapels. “We can help you.”
From the shadows at the edge of the hall, appeared Teagan as if she had been summoned by magic. Given that Emrys could talk to his marked from mind to mind, she probably was indeed summoned.
