Page 73 of Snake

Nim

”Oh...my...God.” Romi turns shell-shocked eyes on me.

I frown at her. “I bet you Eliza said something mean to him.”

Romi frowns hard, pulling me away from the balustrade so she can whisper to me in private further back on the balcony where we were watching Mason and Eliza dancing. “No, Nim, you don’t understand. This dance is held in honor of the Harts. You don’t piss them off on a good day...but during the Feast of Ashes?” I swear, her face is losing color.

“Yeah, but Eliza is a bitch.” I have no clue why I’m defending Mason, other than I’ve been at the receiving end of Jackson’s tricks myself. “She’s got a massive chip on her shoulder.”

Romi looks at me like I just crawled out of a spaceship and asked her to take me to her leader. “Since when you do have a Ph.D. in Cinderhart politics?”

“Since Jackson started pulling rank about me being with Mason.”

“Oh.” My roommate nods a few times. “I guess...I guess this is just her making a statement. But still, Mason shouldn’t have—”

“Nim, may I speak with you?”

Romi’s teeth click when she slams her jaw shut. She steps back before I can even agree to talk to Knox, and I scowl at him when he leads me away from her. A glance shows Silas has disappeared, and Knox’s sisters are huddled together at the edge of the balcony, peering into the crowd as they gossip furiously behind cupped hands.

I narrow my eyes at Knox. “I had nothing to do with this.”

“There’s no way you could have.” Knox sighs and looks away for a second, massaging the lids of his eyes. “It wasn’t meant to turn out like this.”

“Then how?” I cross my arms as I wait for his reply. I’ll be honest—I’m not miffed at him. I’m nervous. For the first ten minutes after we arrived, I kept looking over my shoulder for Eliza, but when there was no trace of her, I started relaxing...until now.

Now all I can think about is what a spiteful bitch she is. And if that’s what she had in store for Mason...just what the hell is she planning to do to me tonight? I can’t handle any nasty surprises. Unless me watching her dance with Mason was her surprise. It was certainly nasty enough for an official Eliza Jackson prank.

“Me and you, we should have been crowned the King and Queen of Ashes,” Knox says.

My stomach plummets. “Oh.”

“Then I was going to dance with you.” Knox hesitates, and then slides his hands around my waist, drawing me a little closer. When I don’t resist, he moves us around in a quick circle.

I feel lightheaded, but not because of the twirl. I watched Mason and Eliza dance, and I swear I was jealous as fuck when I wasn’t fuming. I couldn’t help it. Mason moved like he was born in a dance studio. I never thought someone his size could look graceful, but he made me wish I was Eliza...and that’s saying a lot.

“Well, that sucks,” I mumble as Knox lets go.

“Then I was going to let Silas dance with you. And Mason. We’d all take a turn.”

Something’s wrong with my head. Or maybe Knox just put me under some weird spell or something. Everything in his last words makes me just a little more turned on. Just a little...wetter.

Let youdance with Silas.

We’d take turns.

Fuuuck, it’s hot in here.

“Um...” I lick my lips, give him what I hope is a brave smile, even though it doesn’t feel like one. “You...I mean...you still could.”

Knox frowns at me. “It wouldn’t be the same.”

“No, it wouldn’t. This time, you’d be dancing with me because you wanted to.” My heart bangs inside my chest as I hold my breath.

It’s stupid. Why the hell do I even care? It’s just a silly dance. Yes, I’m dressed like a goddamn princess. Yes, the Serpents look hot as fuck in their tuxedoes. And yes, the thought of dancing with them—all of them—has me feeling all sorts of horny.

But I’m being ridiculous, aren’t I?

Yes. Yes I am.

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