Page 13 of Promise of Darkness
I’ve never been afraid of man or immortal, but I feel a moment of trepidation as I realize the black cloak eddying behind him isn’t fabric, but a pair of batlike wings that hint at his impure heritage. He calls himself Seelie, but my mother claims he has impure blood. And the wings betray him, for no Seelie bears the features of a beast.
I blink, and the wings vanish. There’s only a man before me, draped in a black cloak.
But I swear I saw them.
A mirage. Or was it?
Our gazes lock, and I force my spine to straighten. To become steel.
You are an Asturian princess, and you will not yield to the Prince of Evernight.
“Princess,” he says, searching my face with a heated gaze that shivers over my skin like a liquid caress. The way he looks at me makes me feel as though nothing else exists. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
All night, I’m sure.
It’s time to play the game of crowns and prove I can survive anything my mother or the Seelie Alliance can throw at me.
I tip my chin up. “Prince Thiago, you honor us with your presence.”
His gaze drops, the faintest flicker of—is it disappointment?—marring those dangerous eyes. “The pleasure is mine.”
Why, then, do I feel as if I’ve somehow failed some test?
Perhaps he thought I’d be more welcoming.
If so, then he’s a fool.
“I don’t believe pleasure has anything to do with it.”
His eyes sparkle as he lifts my hand to his mouth, his lips ghosting over the back of it. “Yet.”
Oh, so that’s the way he means to play.
I tear my hand free, though I can’t deny a shiver runs down my spine, and the sensation of his caress lingers. “Ever.”
“Did your mother not warn you?” I’ve clearly amused him. “I’ve never met a challenge I’ve failed to surmount.”
“But you’ve never met me before.”
“Haven’t I?” Another mysterious smile. “We’re to spend the next three months together. Be careful with your challenges. I always play to win.”
“Ah, but what precisely are we playing for?”
“Hearts, perhaps.”
It steals a laugh from me. Oh, he’s so polished, he’s practically gleaming. “You think to steal my heart?”
“I don’t think that at all. I think you’ll give it to me.”
“Never in a thousand years.”
The prince leans closer. “There you go again, Princess. Opposing me. Daring me. I think I’m going to enjoy the next three months. Very much so.”
Of course, he will. He’s the one with the power. “Perhaps. You might regret them instead.”
“Regret meetingyou? Never. Dance with me,” he says.
My temper boils. Time to prove I’m no mere pushover. I press my hand to his chest. “But you didn’t say please.”
