Page 47 of Crown of Darkness
“Thiago,” Kyrian calls, greeting him with clasped hands. “You survived.”
“You doubted.” There’s a hint of reproof in my husband’s voice, though he returns the swift embrace.
Kyrian turns that dangerous stare upon me. “It’s not so much your wife I doubted, so much as the nature of true love.”
I snort. “Perhaps if you’d stayed to watch, you might have learned a thing or two about love.”
A slight narrowing of his eyes reveals that this is a point to me.
“You should have stayed,” Thiago muses, “if only to see the look on Adaia’s face when Vi defied her.”
“What’s that noise?” I ask.
We all fall silent.
The ticking continues and Kyrian looks down in surprise, before tugging a golden compass from his pocket. When he flips the lid open, the arrow is flickering between east and west, quivering as if some magnetic force draws it.
It finally comes to a halt.
And it’s pointing directly at Thalia.
Kyrian slowly looks up, his other hand falling to the hilt of his sword. “You’re one of the saltkissed?”
“So lovely to see you again, Prince Kyrian,” Thalia says, with a faint curve to her lips. “I can still hear the sweet ringing compliments you threw my way the last time we dined. And yes, my father was of the sea.”
“I knew there was a reason I disliked you.”
“What’s wrong?” Thalia demands, setting her hands on her hips. “Are you worried I’m going to ensorcel your heart? I’ve heard it’s too late for that. You gave it away, didn’t you? And you no longer have one.”
Kyrian takes a step toward her, his nostrils flaring, but Thiago stops him with one firm hand in the center of his chest.
“That’s my cousin,” he reminds the prince.
Kyrian looks like he doesn’t give a damn. He looks like he wants to shove Thiago out of his way and then physically cast Thalia out of the window. Their eyes meet, and I can see both of them battling their monumental pride.
It’s Kyrian who gives way first, his lips thinning as he turns to the ballroom. “I think I need a drink.”
“That’s right,” Thalia declares, with a vicious smile. “Run. The way you did last time.”
Kyrian stiffens, clearly thinks about answering, and then keeps walking.
“You said you argued,” Thiago growls at his cousin. “This doesn’t look like a mere argument to me.”
Thalia’s smile slips, and then she shrugs her shoulder. “You don’t need to know everything. Suffice it to say, Prince Kyrian and I have been at odds from the moment we met.” She straightens the lapel on Thiago’s coat and gives him a wink. “It doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to fuck me.”
“Mother of Night.Thalia.”
“What?” She gives him big, innocent eyes.
Thiago shakes his head and turns to follow Kyrian. “I need something to drink too.”
Thalia simply laughs.
* * *
There’s drinking and dancing,of course, and Lucere can barely hide her thrill at having a new dance partner. Kyrian sweeps her around the clearing in vigorous circles, though his smile remains cool.
He dances well though. There’s an athletic sort of grace to him that begs you to imagine him aboard a pirate ship, and while Lucere might beam in his arms, it’s quite clear he’s controlling every move of the dance.
