Page 21 of Tasteful Anarchy and Tangled Auras
Adi exits her closet and I stare. A white top that dips off both shoulders—probably hides her damn blade too—and makes me want to kiss each and every one of the markings that stretch from her neck to hide inside the right sleeve, some flowery ribbon passing over her forehead and holding back her coppery-brown curls, and a rich yellow skirt that flows and drapes all the way to the ground. My eyes come back up and lock onto her collarbones; they could be carved of marble, yet another location on her body I want to explore the valleys of with my tongue. Seeing my eyes on her, she does an adorable twirl.
“What do you think?” she asks. Then her eyes take me in and she adds, “Damn, you lookgreat. Better than the men I saw at that time.” She walks up to me and reaches. “Though your hair should be longer,” she adds softly as she gently pushes my hair behind my ear.
“What do you mean ‘at that time’?”
She laughs. “The theme is the 1970s. You ready to hear some Led Zep?”
“I have no idea what that means.”
She throws her head back and laughs uproariously. By the time she manages to stop and wipe the tears from her eyes, I’m grinning down at her.
Adelaide
BRYN LEADS US TO THEmain ballroom. It’s dim and loud already, as dinner was separate. I smile at the blaring music. It reminds me of my time in Cali. I wonder who Grandmother’s event planner is these days. I spot a couple of orange crushed-velvet couches and an enormous hooka in the corner and decide they need a raise.
Bryn leans over. “Are we expected to dance to this?”
I laugh again. “No. Fuck, maybe.”
He raises his eyebrows but doesn’t say anything for a long moment. “Can I get us a drink?”
I nod and turn, looking for the twins. A male approaches but I can’t come up with his name. His hair is strawberry blond and long and loose. He’s on the taller end for a nymph. That hair pins him as a descendant of Epona, I’d bet. Just what I needed. A male with a chip on his shoulder.
“Princess.”
And then he says nothing. Just stares at me. I amsonot in the mood for fuckbois. “That’s me.” I smile. “And you are?”
“Cian ab Cefyll,” he says, sounding astounded that I didn’t know.
Oh yeah. This’ll be fun. I simply raise my eyebrows in response.
He caves first, of course. “I was hoping I could have this dance.”
I chuckle. Comfortably Numb is playing. “No, thank you.”
Bryn walks up, saving me from this stimulating exchange. He gently presses a wine glass in my hand, then puts his hand on the small of my back. I warm at the simple yet protective touch. “May I help you?” he asks frostily.
“Your consort looked bored. Nay,unsatisfiedeven,” Cian taunts baldly. “I thought I’d ask her to dance.”
“Hmm. And she said?” Bryn’s voice is soft and venomous.
I’m honestly shocked that this male doesn’t recognize Bryn for the predator he is. I shiver.
“She said she’d prefer to talk.”
I decide to let this play out, especially since I can sense how weak-willed this male is. Bryn's smile is ice. “And did she say with whom?”
Cian looks apoplectic. I get the feeling he’s not normally spoken to with anything less than deference from anyone besides his sisters. He leans towards me. “Adelaide, I was—-”
And then, out of nowhere, Bryn snaps, but I feel no anger. This is cold. He grabs Cian’s shirt and pulls him in. “You will call her Priestess or Princess. Keep her name out of your mouth,” and he lets go of him.
Cian quickly decides to hightail it, which is the best decision he’s made so far tonight. I turn to ask Bryn what that was about, but before I can, I see someone in a pale pink babydoll dress and white leather knee boots approaching. Her blond hair is coiffed in a small beehive style, then loose, falling down her back. VeryAustin Powers. I stifle a laugh and a sigh at the same time. I almost wish Cian would come back.
“Cousin Eira. How are you doing?”
She frowns. We were never close. She, like her mother, resented me for my position in the Temple. She also resents how close I am to her brothers. But she grew up spoiled and pampered and protected, waited upon as the baby of the royalfamily—and in line for the throne—and was allowed to be pretty aimless. It’s really not her fault she’s a bit of a twat.
“Adelaide,” she says as though it were a species of a particularly creepy insect.
