Page 90 of Moonmarked

A mask of silver shimmer hid away his face, leaving open only his mouth, just like most masks of the people here. His dark hair was sleeked back, shining almost blue under the soft golden lights floating near the ceiling. I knew every inch of him, the width of his shoulders, the size of his hands, the way he held the glass filled with dark red liquid in front of him, the way he held his other hand in the pocket of his suit pants. Black velvet, possibly the simplest one in the room, with silver threads around the hems, and a silver shirt made out of silk underneath. His tie was black, too, and it suited him so well my knees were weak, my lady parts on fucking fire.

Fucking hell, how was he even real? I hadn’t seen his face at all, but even the mask looked like it washappyto be touching him, just as happy as I would have been if I were by his side. If my hand was in his, in that pocket. If thoselips beneath his mask were mine to kiss whenever I pleased.

Mine, mine, mine,some primitive part of me insisted, and I didn’t even try to get myself in order.

Lyall said something but I couldn’t even understand his words because, even though Rune was far away and I couldn’t really see his eyes through the slits of his mask, I knew he’d seen me. I knew he was looking at me. And it didn’t even matter if he wasshockedat the sight of me in this dress or not—I just prayed with all my heart that I would get to see him, touch him, kiss him before this night was over.

The way Ifelthim was insane. The way I couldn’t even tear my eyes from his face was ridiculous.

Then something echoed behind me, and Lyall filled my vision. The slow, haunting melody coming from the flutes stopped abruptly, together with the sound of chatter and laughter and people walking about, mingling.

The chandeliers on the ceiling went off, leaving only the fae lights floating in the air. A single limelight came on from somewhere I couldn’t see and revealed a band of three fae. One man sat in front of what could have been drums, another in front of a piano, and a woman had a golden harp between her legs, her dress made out of the same color so that it looked like she was one with the instrument. They were all wearing masks as well—and then the music began.

It was different than the flutes, not haunting but somewhere along the way of cheerful, though not fully. Then people bowed in front of others—fae men in front of their dates, just as Lyall bowed in front of me, hand raised, waiting for mine.

Around me, the women put down their drinks on the floating trays that were everywhere now, and empty,waiting. One appeared right at my side, too, and I put the untouched drink over it instinctively. Ahead, Rune’s eyes locked on mine as he stepped back, closer to the wall, deeper into the shadows.

My hand fell on Lyall’s.

“I…”want to go to Rune,I was going to say, but thank God I never got the chance.

Lyall was suddenly in front of me again, his finger over my lips. “Shshh…”He leaned close to my ear. “The Whispering Ball has begun, beautiful Nilah. May I claim the first dance?”

He whispered with barely any voice, but I still heard him. And the masked fae around us were already dancing.

Nobody was talking—people were suddenly only leaning close to each other’s ears, whispering. The only sound in the room was the music and the footsteps.

I nodded, unsure what the hell to do next, searching for Rune with my eyes where I last saw him, but he wasn’t there. The people moved about us, the crowd bigger now that everyone was dancing, and Rune had disappeared, possibly into those shadows that the lights didn’t quite reach near the walls.

Then the prince took my hands, placed one over his shoulder, held the other tightly in his as he pulled me closer. His hand locked around my waist, and he was smiling, his lips visible under his golden mask.

He leaned in to whisper in my ear again, “Have you ever danced like this before?”

I only shook my head.

Goddamn it, where the hell was Rune?!

“Follow my lead,” Lyall whispered.

And then he began to move, to dance, to follow the rhythm of the music that was both heartbreaking andhappy at the same time somehow. My body moved, too, even though I had no clue what I was doing, and I was overwhelmed, and Ireallyjust wanted to hide in the shadows with Rune somewhere while these people danced.

But this was the Whispering Ball—whatever the hell that might mean—and I had the feeling that Lyall was not going to let me go anytime soon. The night had only just begun.

thirty

The fae dancedlike they’d practiced these movements since the day they were born. I always thought I was a good dancer—when I danced alone in my room or with Betty. I could absolutely move, but these people? Oh, they humbled me really quickly with their graceful spins and those moves that had you considering whether gravity applied to them the way it did to you. I couldn’t move like that if it killed me, wouldn’t know how, and I was relieved when Lyall asked me if I wanted to stop and walk around for a bit a few minutes in.

Hell, yes, I did.The music was indeed wonderful, and it sometimes felt like the melody was chasing the movement of the dancers, not the other way around. This waseverythingI pictured in my head when I thought of the wordmagical—but I most certainly did not belong here.

Rune.Fuck, I needed Rune to feel grounded, to feel like I wasn’t in way over my head here, which I was. He would take my mind off it, make me comfortable in my own skin, except Rune was nowhere to be seen.

Doors had opened in the walls as I went with Lyall, andthe people whispered in each other’s ears—just walked over to others and said things nobody else could hear—and moved on.

We walked past the first doors, and it wasn’t what I expected at all. I thought they would be extensions of the Whispering Ball, but this one was full of mirrors that reflected light everywhere, and I walked closer to it without even realizing it.

Lyall’s lips were right next to my ear and he whispered, “The Chamber of Dreams. Do you want to see?”

That definitely sounded like something I wanted to see, so I said yes.

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