Page 152 of Moonmarked

I smiled so big my cheeks hurt. “It’s literally painful to look at you,” I breathed. “But, yes, you look very handsome tonight, Mr. Moody.”

He gave me a full smile only for a second, and I about melted into a pile of goo at his feet. He reached out his hand and I put mine over it, and thoughsomethingwas going on somewhere behind him, beyond the open doors, I didn’t pay it any attention. Not yet. I just focused on his eyes, the way they sparkled, howalivehe was when he leaned down and kissed my knuckles. I swear his lips sent electricity jolts throughout my entire body.

“I wish I could take you away right this second and take that dress off you with my teeth, but we have to get thisover with first,” he said, slowly stepping to my side, putting my hand over his forearm.

And I thought,this.This was exactly how it should be, my arm laced around his.Togetherfor all to see. It felt exactly right.

“It’s almost over,” I whispered and finally looked ahead, at the open doors in a wall painted with golden flowers and birds. I saw what was beyond them, where the music was coming from.

It wasn’t like the Whispering Ball at all. This room was bright, with so many lights coming from both the lanterns on the wall and the golden fae lights floating close to the domed ceiling, which was also covered in paintings of half-naked Seelie fae.

The room wasn’t as big as the ballroom had been, either, and there were tables covered in golden cloths on every inch of space, the marble underneath almost completely white with golden specks, the long windows on the walls framed with curtains that could have been made out of shimmer.

The strangest thing, though—there was another set of doors on the side opposite where we were entering, anda lot moreguests were coming through. Half the tables were already taken, but when Rune and I went through the doors, the magic that hung in the air nearly suffocated me.

By now, I knew exactly what that meant—we were locked in an illusion. At least this part of the room was.

We were standing on a platform, higher up than everybody else, with a long table in the middle, and high-back, golden chairs on the side, looking out into the room. This was the same kind of magic that had been around the box when Lyall took me to see the game in the Hollow. The fuckingslaughterhe called a sport.

It was the same kind of magic, and all my instincts fired up at the same second. I stopped walking and Rune stopped with me. I realized none of the guests who had sat down or were still coming in were looking this way at all. Like we were invisible to their eyes.

Yes, definitely illusion magic, and so much of it I was going to fucking choke.

“Good evening, and welcome to the Crown Prince’s special feast!”

Ahead, a few feet away, a woman holding a golden bowl was greeting a couple who had gone through the same doors we had, and they were almost at the edge of the platform.

“So much magic,” I whispered, as the couple dipped their fingertips into the bowl that woman held, and I felt so goddamn uncomfortable in my skin so suddenly that I was seriously debating running right back where I came from.

“It’s the illusion. He wants to make a dramatic reveal. Nothing to worry about,” Rune whispered in my ear, his hand over mine.

“They can’t see us,” I said because it was obvious that nobody was looking our way at all.

“No, they can’t. But we will be sitting down there, too. Look.” He nodded ahead at the couple who’d arrived before us, and they were descending the stairs at the side of the platform to go sit at one of the tables in the room.

Someone else was coming through behind us, two fae women, both Seelie, with impeccable dresses and their chins raised high. We were right in front of the doors, so Rune pushed us slightly to the side to let them through.

“Good evening,” they chirped, nodding their heads at Rune, who nodded back as he mumbled the same words. Easy to see the lust in their eyes as they scrolled downthe length of him. They didn’t even glance my way, but at the moment I couldn’t even find it in me to be jealous.

They went ahead to the woman holding the golden bowl, who was welcoming them to thespecialfeast.

Meanwhile, I was trying to stop my hands from shaking.

“Something’s off here, Rune,” I whispered, and maybe I was exaggerating things, but fuck, I hated the feel of this magic. I hated what it reminded me of. What had comeafterit the last time I’d felt it. How it had stopped me from accessing the energy in my own body, how it hadlockedthe warmth and the cold away.

“It’s fine. It’s just a trick. Breathe, Wildcat,” Rune whispered.

“Where is he? Why isn't he here? What…”

“He’ll be here any second.” Rune stepped in front of me, held my hand between his. “And even if he has something planned, we can handle it.”

My God, that was actually worse. “You think he has somethingplanned?!”

“I don’t know, but knowing Lyall…” He shook his head, closed his eyes. “Whatever it is, we can handle it. We’ll get through this night one way or the other. Just breathe with me, Wildcat. We’re safe.”

I clung to those words and I closed my eyes, and I focused outward instead of in. I focused on the people coming through the same doors as we had, and the sound of that woman’s voice as she greeted them.

“I’m okay,” I said, and even if it was a lie, I was faking it until I actually made it. Because Rune was right—this was a feast and a lot of people were here, and we could handle anything anybody could throw at us.

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