Page 70 of Blood and Roses

"Hello, are you enjoying the ball?" she asked politely, her hazel eyes not recognizing him.

"It's me, Balthasar," he lifted his mask. "Don't you know who I am?"

"Not at all, but you have a very handsome face. Would you like to be my friend? I have made so many today." She smiled beautifully. Balthasar gripped her tightly and sped her off the main floor and to the back wall.

"Rosa, snap out of it. I'm here to rescue you," he said as he touched her face. She looked about her, surprised and shaken that they had stopped dancing.

"We have to get back out there. The queen commanded me to dance, so I must dance. Imust," she insisted.

Balthasar held her firmly. "You have to remember me. You fought with me when you were drunk. I painted you. We made love all night, and I kissed you over and over." She looked up at him, confusion clouding her face.

"I'm sorry, sir. I think you have me confused with someone else. Perhaps your lady is still a part of the dance."

"No, my lady is right here in front of me." He leaned down and whispered, "Remember me, my Rosa."

Before she could protest, he kissed her with all the emotion he was feeling. She struggled before her hands gripped his arms and deepened it. She touched her lips, and her eyes flickered open. She looked up at him, studying him longingly for a moment before she pushed him away.

"What the devil took you so long?"

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Heat ranthrough Rosa's numb soul as Balthasar laughed and kissed her again, "I can taste faerie magic in you, but I don't care." She stopped him after a few agonizingly short moments of his lips on hers.

"Later, Bal. We need to get out of here before one or both of us loses our minds," she whispered, and his hand tightened on hers.

"Don't worry, Rosa Wylt. I'm going to get us out of here, and then I intend never to have you leave my side again," Balthasar swore. "Now keep smiling in your lovely way. We need to get to the doors on the other side of the room."

"How do you know? Have you been here before?" Rosa asked with a frown.

"I might have eaten a few fae on my journey to rescue you." He smiled mirthlessly. There was a feral gleam in his dark eyes, and instead of being afraid as she was the night she was taken, she was now pleased to see it.

"Turn the lot into cocktails for all I care," she muttered. "How long have I been here?"

"At least five days."

"Is that all? It feels like I have been trapped here for a hundred years." She smiled dreamily as they walked, getting Balthasar to turn her now and then. "If I never have to dance the waltz again, it won't be long enough."

"I've always preferred tangos anyway," Balthasar said, watching her with a less than innocent look.

"Stop that. We are in enemy territory," Rosa chastised, fighting the itch to slap him again.

After drinking the queen's cursed wine, she had felt all that she was melting away until only doing what would please the queen remained. She wanted to scream.There will be a time to grieve later. You need to get out of here.

"Hold onto me, my love," Balthasar whispered, and she stepped up onto his feet, gripping him tightly around the waist. The room and corridors bled around her as they moved with lightning speed to the tunnels. Balthasar slowed and opened a large door.

"I think the stables are through here," he said, leading her down a dark passage. She couldn't see the horses but could smell them—animal heat and grass. Three guards appeared, and Balthasar shoved her out of the way as an arrow flew past her head. Balthasar launched himself at the bowman, ripping his throat out as the others drew their weapons.

Rosa's eyes couldn't follow what happened next, but one minute he was grabbing a dagger, opening his attacker's throat before twisting to bury it deep in the skull of the other. Rosa didn't turn away as she watched him drain one of his victims. When he was done, he took her hand, and they kept going.

"I'm sorry about that. I need to keep feeding, or they will detect my blood," he explained. As if he manifested it, alarms sounded through the palace. Rosa gripped his arm tightly. "Don't let them take me again. I can't be like that... I can't forget..."

"I'm not going to let any of them hurt you. I failed you once. I will not fail you again," Balthasar said calmly. "Come on. We need to keep moving."

Rosa jogged alongside Balthasar as he followed his memories to the stables. He opened the gate to a red mare, letting it smell his hands before he led it out.

"Give me your dagger," Rosa said. He handed it over without hesitation. She stuck it into the skirt of her dress and cut a long split before putting the dagger back in its hilt and sliding it down the front of her bodice.

"I need to give you knives more often," Balthasar teased.

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