Page 188 of Bride of the Midnight Prince

I dart forward and kiss him before he has time to guess what I’m about to do. It’s a short kiss, because he pulls away immediately. But that contact is enough. Even glamoured, our lips know each other.

His eyes go wide as moons, a storm of horror overtaking the brief flash of delight. He grabs me by the shoulders, his grip almost painful. “Kat? What are youdoinghere? What—what is this glamour? Great Kings, how did you get here? Tell me what is happening! You’re in grave danger!”

He instinctively takes up a protective stance, moving his body between me and the path that leads to the rest of the party.

It hits me then. He doesn’twantme to be the Ivy Mask, so if I give him enough of a reason, enough excuse, he will believe me. Because he is too afraid of what it would mean if I am the person he hunts.

The Starborn Prince claimed I must be especially clever to evade a hunter as skilled as Rahk. That is hardly true. My cleverness only took me so far—his own willful refusal to see the truth has done the rest.

The lies spew out of my mouth, giving him that excuse, desperately trying to save the lives of the people I’m supposed to be getting out of here right now. I coat the lies with so much frantic truth that maybe, just maybe, the saints will forgive me. “I came to tell you that I love you. I just had to see you one more time. I had to tell you that I made a mistake. Please come back home, Rahk. Please be my husband again.”

Hope flares across his handsome features. It quickly vanishes. He tightens his grip on my shoulders, his attention shooting to the celebration behind us every few seconds. His voice is laced with panic. “Where did you get this glamour? Tell me right now.”

“I made a bargain with a fae, and he gave me this glamour—”

He spits a vile curse. His fingers dig into my collarbones as he brings his face close to mine. “What fae? What bargain? Tell me the exact wording of this bargain.” When I hesitate, he snaps, “At once!”

“I—I don’t know!” His panic is contagious. I check my pocket watch only to realize I have a measlytwenty minutesbefore my glamour vanishes. How is that possible? I have only been here for half an hour at most! I need to get out of this celebration. Now. “It was just some creature I’d never seen before. He said he would take me to you and disguise me so I could see you.”

“What did he want in exchange?” Rahk demands. “Tell me the exact words.”

“He wanted me to lead the captives out of Nothril and into the human world, but he didn’t say which ones. I figured he’d bring them to me or something when it was time to leave. Do you know what he was talking about?”

Can I fool him into thinking my life will only be spared if I get the captives out? Will he help me then?

Rahk’s face twists in perplexity. “What would he get if you didn’t fulfill this?”

I swallow. “My life.”

“Katherine!” Rahk covers his face with his hands, releasing me. “You must remember the wording!”

“I just wanted to see you again.”

“I wanted to see you too!” he snaps, rounding on me. “But I want you to bealive,you foolish girl! Tell me the wording of the bargain!”

I flinch at his tone, and it’s entirely genuine. “I have to get out of this ball, Rahk, before my glamour vanishes.”

“How long until it vanishes?”

“Eighteen minutes.”

Rahk lets out a wordless growl of frustration. “Why didn’t you say that at the beginning? I cannot believe someone as clever as you would do something as tremendouslystupidas this is! Especially after your mother!”

I flinch again.

He gentles his tone very slightly. “Listen, this is what we’re going to do. You are going to leave first. I will trail behind you. You are to go to the table of refreshments and pick up a drink—but don’t youdaredrink it—then you will slip out of the celebration. I will follow you and make sure you get out. Then we are going straight to my rooms to discuss how to fix this mess.”

He places his hand on my low back and pushes me ahead of him down the path. Right before I step back around the bend, he leans down to my ear and whispers, “Pretend like you thought you were going to get a tryst and are disappointed after getting rebuffed.”

“That won’t be difficult,” I reply darkly.

As I step into the throng again, my mind spins with how I’m going to get out of this one. Iknew betterthan this. My own stupid heart might not just cost me my own life, but the lives of the people I’m trying to free.

If I cannot get them out of here, I will never forgive myself.

I give once last glance toward Pavi, who sits silently near her mother. I cannot get her out.

Chapter 61

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