Page 54 of The Scarlet Star

He burst out laughing.

His laughter was deep and coarse, the sound pebbling Ryn’s skin. Like last time, people whirled, slapped their hands over their mouths, whispered to their neighbours. Those nearby leaned in like they wanted to hear what his laughter sounded like.

“Not a chance,” Xerxes said through chuckles. “You’re mine, Maiden. Fair and square.” He shook his head and nudged her into a twirl. He caught her when she came around.

“It’s not fair for me,” Ryn pointed out.

Xerxes’s smile fizzled away. “Do you still want to leave?” he asked. His hand tightened slightly on her side.

Days ago, Ryn would have had an easy answer to that question. But Kai had abandoned her to this place, and Geovani wanted to use her to fight the gods. Ryn would miss Heva anyway. It was a strange mix of emotions.

“If you want to leave, I’ll let you go.” His voice was steady.

Ryn’s gaze shot up. Xerxes’s expression was serious.

She realized they’d stopped dancing. Cool air sailed into the ballroom and brushed across her back as Xerxes adjusted his hand, slipping his fingers between hers and holding her palmtight against his. He leaned in, staring at her with all the seriousness and authority of a ruler.

But the ever-so-slight twitch at the corner of his eyes left her wondering…

He was lying.

Ryn huffed a laugh of disbelief and relaxed her shoulders. “You’re a monster,” she said. For a moment, she really thought he was going to let her go.

His grin returned. “The sooner you realize it, the better.”

Xerxes pulled her in until her cheek fell along his collarbone. His arm wrapped her shoulders like it was the most natural thing in the world. But nothing about the way Ryn’s heartbeat picked up speed was natural.

She couldn’t remember the last time someone really hugged her. It was unlike being held by Kai, not that Kai had hugged her much. She could hear Xerxes’s heart beating through his jacket. She could smell the fragrant soaps his clothes had been washed with. Her throat grew thick, and she held her breath.

The last person who had held her like this must have been her mother.

“Maiden.” Xerxes’s voice was raspy. He started dancing again, slower than before. When she stole a look up, she caught him glaring at an approaching organizer. The organizer quickly turned around and scurried off.

“I thought you liked calling meRyn,” she said.

He paused. Then, “Ryn. I know you heard my voices the day of the Initiation Ritual. Out in the courtyard.”

Ryn moved to pull away, but his hand found her back, keeping her pressed against him. Keeping her from looking up at him. Like he wouldn’t be able to speak if she did.

“You told them to be quiet,” he added in a lower voice. “And they obeyed.”

It occurred to Ryn that she hadn’t tried to hear his tormentors since. She hadn’t had a reason to.

She cleared her throat. “Well, since you think I’m a witch—”

“I don’t care what you are.” His tone cut through her lighthearted joke. “I don’t care if you’re a sorceress, if you’re here to cast me under a spell, if you truly do have the power of the gods themselves. I don’t care if youarea god. If you’re a goddess of wrath here to trick me and other mortals.”

Ryn tugged herself away. She cast him a wild look, but the expression on his face made it clear he hadn’t ruled any of those things out.

He said it again, “I don’t care what you are.”

I don’t care.

What you are.

The claim turned itself over in Ryn’s mind. He didn’t understand what he was saying to someone like her. And what was he thinking, inviting in a goddess of wrath? Legends of men doing that never ended well.

“Are you out of your mind?” she blurted.

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