Page 121 of House of Lilith

He doesn’t wait for my reaction. He slides his phone into his pocket and starts leading his new friend to the bar.

I turn to Dahrian, who’s giving me a self-satisfied little smile.

“Isn’t feywine, like, super strong?” I demand.

But I already have his hand on my lower back, and he’s practically pushing me in the direction opposite the one everyone else went in, down the rickety wooden stairs leading off the plateau.

“Hey,” I say as I throw a glance at him over my shoulder.

But I’m already getting off the lowest step and down onto the ground.

“There,” he says as he appears in front of me, staring into my eyes from up close. “Isthisbetter?”

And he gives my bow a little tug. “Anyone seenthat?”

And the tone of his voice is making my stupid skin flush, but I roll my eyes at him and I take a step back. “I don’t care.”

He gets even closer, his body practically pressed against mine, does another little tug and when I raise my hands to push him away, he grabs me by the waist and asks, “How aboutthat?”

I shoot him a look that makes him let out a little laugh, let go of me and take a step back, raising his hands in defense.

“Come on,” he says as he motions at the lake, “take a walk with me.”

I find myself hesitating, but then I give him a smile and motion for him to lead the way.

“So, how was the dinner?” he asks when we start walking side by side. “Any attendees I’d know, besides your brother and cousin?”

The question makes me frown a little, but I dismiss it. “You wouldn’t believe it,” I say, a touch of frustration in my voice, “but my mother actually dared invite Max.”

“Yeah?” he asks, all serious all of a sudden.

“Fortunately for everyone there,” I continue, “he had to excuse himself to go to an urgent audience with the King.”

“So let me get this straight,” he says, a touch of mockery in his voice, “you arenot, in fact, begging him to take you back?”

I don’t stop walking, but I do turn to throw daggers at him.

He shrugs. “Had to, sorry. Just heard the rumor, it’s fresh in my mind.”

“Yours and everybody else’s,” I snap a little.

There’s a moment of silence before he asks, “But seriously, how was the dinner? Come on, paint the peasant a picture.”

That makes me blow a laugh through my nose. “Easy,” I drawl, rolling my eyes at the very thought of it all. “Bite-sized food on enormous plates, forced smiles and talk of politics that never seems to go anywhere simply because, well,” I say, finding myself in the middle of a rant, “that would mean the scum actuallycaresabout stuff, now wouldn’t it?”

He laughs. “Why don’t you do something about it?”

“Yeah, I should just kill them all and be done with it, right?” I say pensively, thinking about a certain Vasilisa andhermethods.

“Well, didn’t have anything likethatin mind, but…”

“Well, it’s either that or playing bytheirfucking rules, which… is just...”

“Just what?”

“It means a lot of things I don’t want.”

“Like what?”

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