Page 50 of The Court of Secrets
“Brothers.” He looked from Niam to Lucien. “I hope you’re not causing trouble.”
“Never, brother.” Lucien gave him a look. “Now that she’s here, you won’t need us around.”
The way he spoke of me sounded like it left a bad taste in his mouth. Lucien pulled Niam away who mouthed good-bye as he and Crawn were taken to the drinks area.
“Sorry about him. He believes he knows things.” He took my hand and led me onto the dance floor where a string quartet played. The scents of pine and evergreen filled the room—Florence’s doing, I was certain. “You have outdone yourself with this ball.”
I gazed upward. “It was Florence, and wait, what foolish ideas does he believe?”
He twirled me around, then pulled me far too close. “He thinks you’re a risk to Niferum.”
“Why would he think that?”
He smirked. “He believes you have my heart.”
I scoffed a laugh. “Right.”
“He thinks it.” He shrugged, and his expression changed.
“You can’t give your heart even if you want to,” I said, though I wondered how different our lives would be had he not worn the Crown of Discieti. He’d have been capable of love and would likely have a fae queen at his side.
He pulled me tighter, until I could feel every fold of him against me.
“People will talk,” I scolded.
“I don’t care.” His eyes glinted, and I held my breath. “We are king and queen. I hold no care for their opinions.” His moves were scandalous. He did it on purpose. “Have you forgotten about your sparkly pet yet, love?”
A pang of pain shot through my chest. “I’ll release him once we findthe Objects.” I eyed those dancing around us. “We shouldn’t discuss it here.”
“Not here,” he said in agreement. “I want to enjoy tonight while it lasts.” He leaned down to whisper in my ear.
“While it lasts?”
“For now, you’re being receptive.”
“What’s gotten into you?”
“Like I said, I realized some things when you left.”
“Yes, that the…” I lowered my voice. “Object was stolen, and you needed to get it back.”
“I said I needed to retrieve what had been lost to me. I’ve sent our people to find the Dagger, so now one of the things dear to me is about to be returned, I’m working on earning back the second.”
My heart skipped a beat. I could barely catch my breath between spins. “The second…”
“Don’t play coy.” His expression hardened. “It turns out, even with the curse, I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“You told me before you can’t feelthatway about me. The curse makes it so.”
He paused, then dipped me and brought me back up, close to his lips. “When you died, my heart broke.”
“I didn’t know you had one,” I teased, but my smile was faint.
“We both know that isn’t true.” He looked down at my dress. “I must say, I have excellent taste. You in that is going to get me in trouble.”
Someone cleared their throat. I was so focused on him, I hadn’t even seen her approach us. Blaise sighed, then looked Darlina up and down. Her moon-stricken eyes glared into mine.
“Yes, Darlina?” Blaise asked.
