Page 120 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“She is a vision,” objected Dio, looking offended on my behalf as he frowned at his fellow council member.

“I want to dance with you,” said Riordan, and he lifted my arm so he could place a kiss on the inside of my wrist. Glancing up at him, I suspected he had not taken his eyes off me since I reached him.

“But mother wanted to—” Rhea began to object.

“Mother has had ample time to see Amira, and this is our night,” he reminded his sister, breaking his admiring gaze away from me to frown at the former Griffin Queen. Then he pulled me back with him as if to break away from the group without another word.

I was shocked when his mother shot forward, and her hand clamped down on his arm so hard it looked painful.

“I did not know if you would go through with this or if you would finally come to your senses after being home. Why would I waste my time?” she hissed, and then she seemed to realize that she was being offensive when her son glowered at her even harder. “Her people harmed us for generations and one of them killed our rightful king. How can you expect me to forget that?” she asked as if looking for his understanding.

“Iexpectedthat one conversation could have cleared up any lingering doubts that she was some cruel creature,” Riordan retorted. His face did not show it, but I was sure her words “rightful king” had stung when he bristled.

“I made several attempts!” Andromeda protested with an accusatory glance at me that made my heart sink.

“Disingenuous and half-hearted ones, I have no doubt. Excuse us,” Riordan bade the others and then jerked his arm out from her grip so he could lead me away.

I clenched his arm, my heart pounding in anguish for him as we strode rather quickly toward where some of his guests hadstarted to dance. At this speed, I was glad that my dress was only long in the back and not at the front or I might have tripped.

“Are you—” I tried to check in with him.

“We can speak about it later. I just need to…”

He trailed off, but I easily understood that he needed to calm down. I could feel his anger quaking beneath my hands and vibrating through the air.

“Well, then this may not be the best time to admit that I’m a terrible dancer. Sofia tried really hard,” I admitted, feigning an apologetic wince. I was relieved when it made him laugh, and the tenseness melted from his body as if he had taken in a deep breath and let go of all his anger.

“You’re a natural dancer,” he disagreed, reminding me of all those mornings when he would watch me making breakfast while he was a griffin.

“Shaking my ass around my kitchen is not the same as what they are doing,” I insisted with a nod toward the very refined and very sensible dancers.

“I will guide you,” Riordan assured me and pressed a reassuring kiss against the side of my head. I was not sure what that meant, exactly, but I trusted that he would not allow me to make a complete fool of myself.

We reached the dance floor, but before we could take our places, Sofia appeared at my side. I glanced around to see that Helena and Ares were behind her, and Orion stayed apart from them but also monitored our position.

Before I could ask her what was wrong, Sofia picked up the train of my dress and lifted it up behind me to button it on my lower back. She adjusted the layers of silk this created until it looked as if this was the way the dress was meant to be worn. But more importantly, the new style freed my feet for ease of movement.

I smiled at my handmaid thankfully as she backed up and then turned to Riordan eagerly as he guided me out onto the dance floor. Luckily, the dancing was not terribly complicated, it was more about knowing which way to spin because the whole floor moved all at the same time. Going in the wrong direction could spell disaster.

True to his word, I felt Riordan’s magic swell around me as we began to move with the crowd. A subtle guide that helped me remember the right way to step and twirl. His hands were also on me more than they were supposed to be, but they did not feel intrusive or threatening the way that others had felt in the past. Dancing with him felt so natural, the steps came more easily to me as if my body had become a marionette. And once my nerves wore off, and the rhythm of the dance became a secondary thought rather than consuming my focus, I felt so free. The dance was fast paced, my heart was thumping with excitement, and seeing Riordan so happy felt like a precious gift.

“Amira, you are so beautiful like this,” he whispered when I came closer during a spin. He sounded almost as if he were out of breath, even though I knew he couldn’t be, not after seeing the way he trained. But it reminded me of the morning after our first kiss when he’d told me that he loved to see me uninhibited. When he expressed a hope that I would come to feel comfortable enough with him again to share more of that side of myself.

“So are you,” I admitted honestly, because he really was gorgeous when he was smiling like this.

“I have been dreaming of you. Of this night,” he said, his voice so deep and rough that it made me tremble.

I whirled away along with all the other female dancers, my eyes wide and my lips parted by a sharp inhale.

“Believe me, the feeling is very mutual,” I assured him when I came close again.

His eyes drifted from my mouth to my neck, his pupils blown wide, as he watched my breathing and my pulse beginning to race. I thought he might kiss me.

But the moment was abruptly shattered when his smile instantly disappeared a second before he seized me closer with his massive wings curling around me protectively. Screams erupted from behind me a second later, and all of the dancers began rushing off the dance floor. After a few moments, I was able to see that Orion had tackled a man to the ground right behind where I’d been standing.

A man with an enormous knife clenched tight in his white-knuckled fist.

Chapter thirty-four

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