Page 97 of Glow of the Everflame

He shook his head, eyes glittering, the words in them clear—I was always telling the truth, and you know it.

For once, he didn’t call me on my bullshit. Instead, he dragged the hand on my back slowly up my spine and curved high on my nape. His fingers twined in my hair as his mouth slid into a half smile, his face so ruggedly handsome I could barely breathe.

His hand curled into a fist, tugging at my hair—gently, but enough to pull a gasp from my lips and an arch from my back. He leaned into my ear. “If a kiss is the reward, my Queen, I’ll get on my knees for you whenever you want.”

He released me and gave me a wink before slipping into the hallway and closing the door behind him.

I waited until I heard his footsteps fade away, then turned my back to the door and slumped to the ground, a warm pulse between my legs and a single thought dominating my mind.

I’m in very big trouble.

ChapterTwenty-One

For the next several hours, I convinced myself of all the reasons I shouldn’t attend the dinner.

I would be intruding on a private family event. I would surely become the focus of the dinner, and I’d had enough of being in the spotlight today. I would almost certainly say or do something that would get me in trouble.Again.

And Luther would be there. I hadn’t decided whether that was a mark in favor or against.

I had done such an effective job that by the time the hour struck to depart, I was curled up in my bed, three fingers of whiskey deep and surrounded by silver platters of half-eaten chocolates.

I heard the clock chime and glanced at Sorae, who was laying outside on her perch, head raised skyward with eyes closed as she relished the evening breeze along her feathers.

“Do you think I’m a fool for not going?” I called out to her.

She gave no sign that she’d heard me beyond a lazy swish of her tail.

“You do. You think I’m a coward.”

More silence. More half-hearted tail flips.

“You think I should go.”

She cracked one golden yellow eye and turned it my direction.

“Sorae, you know I’ll find some way to embarrass myself, and then I’ll come back up here and wallow in self-pity all night.”

Her gaze shifted to the crystal decanter hanging from my chocolate-splotched hand.

I frowned. “Fine, maybe I’m already wallowing.”

I slipped out of bed and cleaned myself off, then opened my wardrobe, eying the medley of ethereal fabrics. “Even if I did go, what would I wear? After this morning, it would have to beperfect.”

I pulled three long dresses from the wardrobe, all in muted colors of dark grey and navy. “What about these?”

Sorae looked at the dresses, then at me, then turned her head back to the evening sky, her eyes snapping shut.

I groaned and tossed them aside. Two more caught my eye, both in brighter colors but modest silhouettes. “Better?”

She huffed disapprovingly without even bothering to look.

“Let me guess, you want me to pick something like this?” I reached for the most inappropriate item I could find, an emerald satinthingthat was little more than a scrap of fabric held together by golden chains.

Sorae’s head swung all the way around. A flicker of pale blue flames danced out from between rows of dagger-sharp teeth.

“This?Really? For a family dinner?”

She blinked slowly.

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