Page 34 of Seduced By Darkness
I pour my own.
“It was the woman, wasn’t it?” Thalia’s apparently scented blood, and she’s smart enough to put it all together. “The way you went after her—”
“It’sher,” I tell her.
There’s a moment where she doesn’t understand, and then the color bleeds from her cheeks. “Her? The one you saw all those years ago?”
I nod.
She clasps her hands over her mouth. “Mother of Night.” Thoughts race through her eyes. “Clearly, things went well between you…. And you’ve finally found her. I don’t understand what the problem is.”
“The problem is,” Eris says to Thalia, “that she’s fucking Asturian. Adaia’s youngest daughter, by the look of her. Lysander was supposed to watch Thiago’s back last night, and I traded in with him sometime after three so he could get some sleep.” She jacks her thumb toward me. “I didn’t realize who our prince was cuddling up with until this morning, when it was too late. Or I would have put a halt to it.”
“Asturian?” Thalia whispers in horror.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I snap. “I didn’t know who she was either, until I saw the tattoo down her back.”
“You didn’t think to ask?” she demands.
“Shelied. She said her name was Vi. For Violet.” It’s a troubling thought, because surely Vi didn’t know who I was. She would never have lain with me if she did.
But why lie about it?
Is it because her mother wouldn’t approve?
She was a virgin. She couldn’t hide that.
She also couldn’t hide the fact she’d been fairly determined to get rid of her innocence, because I was content to wait.
This is a nightmare.
If Adaia catches wind of this, she’ll have me murdered.
“Maybe you can use this,” Eris points out. “You were talking about kidnapping the younger princess, after all.”
I shoot her a glare. That was before I realized she’s the woman I’ve been searching for all my life.
“Or not,” Thalia says swiftly.
I tug the mask from my pocket, rubbing my fingers over the sequins. “Can you please—the both of you—just give me a moment alone?”
Eris slams the goblet down, bows her head and then vanishes.
Thalia, however, pauses before me, her eyes on the mask. “This doesn’t mean it’s the end of everything,” she whispers. “I know how much she means to you.”
“She means nothing.” My voice is raw. “Because she’s a stranger.”
Thalia kisses me cheek. “You’ve spent five hundred years wishing her to life. Don’t give up now, just because we’ve faced a brief setback.”
“We?” I can barely say the words. “I thought you were all for the alliance with Ravenal?”
Thalia sighs. “Fuck Ravenal. It was a good plan. But this is forever, Thi.” She steps away from me a little wistfully. “You don’t throw the god’s gifts in their face.”
“Even if they’re your enemy’s daughter?”
She bites her lip. “Maybe it’s time for peace? Maybe this is how we finally win it?”
I tap the mask against my lips, breathing in the scent of Vi. She’s all night-blooming Sorrow flowers and sweetness; moonlight and roses. “Maybe.”
