Page 33 of Queen of Ever

I drew back, lip curled with disgust.Imogen wouldn’t be in that crowd.She wouldn’t be drawn into watching that sort of game.

Finding a break in the throng of mingling fae, I took a breath, tried to settle my mind and reach for that ever-present, invisible bond.It felt like the magic in the masks was permeating even that, making it feel like there was more than one thread and they were pulling in different directions.But if I concentrated, I thought I felt a stronger draw in one direction over another, so I followed it.

The space opened out again, large enough to encase a whirl of dancers, bodies packed too closely together to track a ribbon on a wrist.I should have just gone to her beforehand, the way Ethan had.Fuck the ceremony and the rules and playingendearing.I should have just found her, picked her up and taken her somewhere no one would come looking for us.Everything else could be sorted out later, when we had time to fuckingtalk.

And then I caught sight of a woman hanging back, standing at the edge of the room, arms folded tight, appearing more uncomfortable than any seasoned fae would in a party like this.Dressed in swathes of gold, she was clearly marked as Seelie in a party supposed to be dedicated to blurring the boundaries between the courts.She was looking around, eyes scanning the room through the narrow strip of white fabric serving as her mask, but her gaze slipped over the dancers with seemingly no intention of joining them.She looked like she was passing through, perched on the balls of her feet, ready to move on.Searching for something.

Searching for me?

I stayed close to the edge of the room, dodging the worst of the crowd, watching her.She reached out to accept a glass of wine from another woman.There was a loop on her wrist, clashing with her gold dress.A slip of silver.

I waited for her friend to turn her attention to someone else before I drew close and stepped in behind her.Caught her hand where it had been dangling by her side.

‘Got you.’

She jolted, spilling her wine, whipping around, eyes darting over me.‘Tarian.’There was no question in it.The resonance in the feel of her skin against mine, the relief, the feeling of beingright, would have settled any doubts.‘What do—’

‘Not here,’ I said, cutting off her question.‘Come with me.’

‘Why?’

‘So we can talk without being interrupted.’

‘Maybe I don’t want to talk to you,’ she said, defiant as ever, but her words lacked conviction and I knew there was still a chance to convince her.

‘Please.’

She swallowed, her gaze flashing to her companion, but in that moment of hesitation I was already leading her away.And if her mind wasn’t ready to follow me, it seemed her feet were.

As we drew towards one of the shadowy halls leading away from the heart of the feast, she extracted her wrist from my grasp.She didn’t slow her pace, so I let her, though it made me flex my hand with the need to hold on, to keep touching her.

I only led her as far as that hallway and through an opening where the wall had given away completely, revealing a narrow, vine-covered stretch of outside between one wall and another.Shadowed.Inconspicuous.Empty.

She took only a few steps beyond the opening and stopped, arms wrapped tightly around herself again, eyeing me warily.What I wanted to do was cage her against the wall where she couldn’t slip away, kiss her until her hands were on me instead of wrapped so protectively around herself, and remind her exactly what she’d run from until she regretted running in the first place.But, judging from that stance, her feelings towards me hadn’t changed since our last meeting, when she’d knocked me unconscious and accused me of selling her out.My more impulsive, selfish emotions weren’t likely to win this battle.

So instead, I said, ‘It’s good to see you.’

‘Are you sure?You didn’t look pleased to see me when I arrived.’

‘I wasn’t,’ I agreed.‘Not to see you with the Seelie Court.’

There was a loaded pause while I tried to pick the right words to use next.I had so much to say to her, but standing here now, with her guarded stance and her face still hidden with magic that made her unrecognisable, the words were difficult to grasp.

‘I didn’t know if I’d see you,’ she said finally.‘I thought… the attack… I didn’t know if you were alive.’

‘You’d probably feel it if I wasn’t.’

She coloured, shooting her gaze down with a frown as she rubbed at her wrist.The one that bore a mark matching the one on mine.My attention caught on the thick band she wore there, like a gold shackle hugging her skin.Hidingher skin.

‘I wasn’t sure,’ she said.‘I guess I still don’t really know much about this…’ she trailed off, like the wordbondhad gotten stuck in her throat.Like it had caught on all that word meant, on the memories attached to it.She still wasn’t looking at me.

‘Neither do I,’ I admitted, and was rewarded by her glancing up to meet my eyes, maybe even the barest twist of a smile shadowing her mouth.But it vanished as quickly as it had come, replaced by a harder expression.

‘You wanted to talk,’ she said, lifting her chin.‘Say whatever it is you have to say.Marietta will be wondering where I’ve gone.’

‘Solas has her tracking you?’

‘No.’Her tone was hot.Defensive.‘She’ll just worry if I vanish.They’re worried I’ll be attacked again.’

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