Page 63 of This Monster of Mine

Disquiet crawled through her at the memory of the luminous ballroom she’d glimpsed earlier. “These conviviums, are they always at Delran Tower?”

“They used to be at Sidran Tower.” Sarai’s heart plummeted. “The space was rented to Guildmasters and so forth for their escapades, but the practice was discontinued after the Sidran Tower Girl.” Mistaking her frozen face for surprise, Anek explained. “Apparently, there was a convivium up there the night the girl fell. No word on who the organizer was, but everyone in attendance swore they didn’t know the girl.”

She almost couldn’t speak. “Can the average person obtain an invitation to a convivium?”

“They’d have to be very talented or very desperate.”

I know which one I was. Jovian’s theory that she’d been invited to Sidran Tower was looking increasingly plausible. She clutched her empty glass like an anchor.

An invitation. A secret passage into the Academiae that took me inside. A party with Edessa’s wealthiest. A man who’d drugged my drink. And stormfall after I fell. But who had brought her there?

A commotion at the entrance diverted her attention. Exchanging a look with Anek, they both rose on tiptoe, trying to make out who was causing all the fuss. She fell back on her heels at her first glimpse of a pair of piercing eyes.

Anek’s jaw dropped. “But Cassandane said henevercomes.”

Kadra emerged from the darkness of the hallway, passing by curious conversants with disinterest.He’s wearing his robes. And suddenly, she couldn’t be gladder that she’d done the same.

“Would you look at that?” Harion popped up by her elbow with a sneer. “You match. He wears it better.”

She dug an elbow in his ribs, right as Kadra turned and spotted her. The world stopped for a moment as the lines bracketing his mouth relaxed. The broad line of his shoulders grew less rigid.He was looking for me. She made to go to him when Signet Ring’s sister stepped into Kadra’s path, looking excited.

Ice built in Sarai’s chest.What am I doing?Hating herself, she veered to where Cisuré stood by a pillar instead. “Doing alright?”

“Much worse now that he’s here,” the other girl slurred with a glower at Kadra. Her eyes looked a little too glassy for Sarai’s comfort.

She plucked the wineglass from her hand, holding it out of reach when Cisuré reached for it. “Isn’t there a dance later on? Imagine stepping all over Tetrarch Aelius’s feet.”

That quieted Cisuré. She slumped against a wall, fanning herself. “Quite the night, isn’t it? Though I don’t know whyhehad to come.”

“I wish you’d tell me why you hate him.”

“He’s Marus. Don’t you see?” Cisuré’s face sobered. “It’s all there.”

Is it?She knew the flat of Marus’s hand and the violent eruptions of his temper too. She hadn’t found either in Kadra.

Across them, Signet Ring’s sister gave Kadra a coquettish smile, angling her impressive cleavage into his line of sight. The ice in Sarai’s gut cracked.Enough of this. She raised her head, forcing herself to see Kadra’s reaction. She nearly choked.

He looked right through the woman, features perfectly polite but so utterly devoid of expression that the woman began to falter. After a few more minutes of chatter, Kadra met her eyes and held them. The woman froze, blanched, then turned on her heel and raced for the wine table.

Sarai stifled a snort. Mood much improved, she turned to Cisuré only to find her regaling a group of nobles with stories of the north.

“And that’s how snowgrapes are harvested, but Sarai would really know best. She’s done it for years.”

Sarai shrank back at the dawning curiosity and derision on the listeners’ faces.

Not seeming to notice, Cisuré slung an arm around her. “And that’s not all she could do with a harvesting knife, if you’ll believe it. I pitied whoever faced her down in Arsamea.”

A dark figure at the edge of her vision paused at the words.Of course he passes by now.

Sarai determinedly avoided Kadra’s curious glance. “Cisuré, I really don’t think—”

“If anyone dared trouble her, she’d find a way to get revenge. Once, a few girls decided to break into her little shed while she was working at the tavern. They turned the whole place upside down. Over the next few days, she drugged their meals, crept into their homes and shavedtheir heads as they slept!” Cisuré choked, wiping a tear. “The girls knew it was her, of course, but they couldn’t never understand how they’d slept through it.”

Kadra was looking more amused than she’d ever seen him. Awkwardly clearing her throat, Sarai nudged her friend.

“You’ll have everyone thinking I’m deranged,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Never.” Cisuré waved a hand airily, knocking a wineglass out of a passing Guildmaster’s hands and onto his robes.

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