Page 66 of A Fate Everlasting

“Hugo seemed to know about my mother. Suggested that yousaidsomething.”

“Enough, Davenant. Enough with the questions, just for tonight.”

“That’s not an answer, Dorian.”

The waltz dipped, and he turned me fluidly, breath stirring at my temple as he pulled me closer. “Maybe you should stop looking for answers you won’t like.”

The words sent a chill through me. “That’s not fair,” I said quietly, my fingers tightening against his shoulder. “I deserve to know.”

Dorian didn’t answer. His hand traced a slow circle againstmy spine, so lightly I wasn’t sure if I had imagined it. He wasn’t just staring at me now, but truly looking.

Dorian’s hand lifted, brushing against my jaw, the back of his fingers tracing over my cheek, slow enough to unravel something I didn’t know I had kept wound so tight. “Arabella,” he murmured.

The music swelled, and the world tilted, sending a rush of something through my veins. His eyes flitted between mine, searching for something. My pulse kicked against my ribs, skin burning in the wake of his touch as anticipation curled tight.

“You know for someone who pretends not to care,” I whispered, “you sure act like you do.”

He didn’t respond. He just looked at me with that impossible stillness. I tilted my chin upward. It would’ve been so easy to brush my lips against his…

But I felt the Thread, the weight of it returning, tapping against the edges of my mind.Angry.

I gasped as I jerked back. “I’m sorry.”

Dorian’s fingers lingered, desperate to close the gap that had formed between us. “What is it?”

I tore free, swallowing against the cold that rooted itself deep, settling into the marrow of my bones. Dante had norightto intrude on me like this.

“Nothing. I just need a moment.” A lie. A poor one. I turned before he could follow, disappearing into the crowd, trying to steady my mind.

“Just leave me alone tonight!”I screamed down the Thread.“You promised.”

A low, velvety chuckle echoed in the depths of my skull. Sweetly it whispered,“As you wish.”Another. Damned. Lie.

I needed a drink.

31

The bar stretched along the far end of the room, dark mahogany gleaming under the candlelight. Bottles of rich amber and glistening ether elixirs lined the shelves, their contents shifting.

I slid onto the velvet stool, pressing my fingers against the cool wood, grounding myself. The bartender barely spared me a glance before sliding a drink toward me—deep, luminous violet, swirling in a crystal-cut martini glass. The liquid shimmered as if stirred by unseen hands, tiny flecks of gold flickering like dying stars on the surface.

I frowned. “I didn’t order this.”

The bartender polished a glass with an old rag, utterly unfazed. “I know.”

My grip tightened on the stem of the glass. “Then who?”

He inclined his head slightly, dark brows knitting together. “Someone left it for you.”

The room tilted slightly beneath me. “Who?”

He shook his head. “Didn’t see their face.”

The purple liquid rippled like the surface of a wind-swept lake. Then I saw it, a note was slipped beneath the base. I slid itfree. The parchment was smooth beneath my fingers, the ink slanted in elegant, hurried strokes.

Want to know who your mother really was? Meet me in the Hall of Mirrors. Come alone.

A crude map had been sketched beneath the words, a winding path leading away from the Astralis Ballroom, down the eastern wing of Evermore. I hesitated. Ruby would call this reckless. I swallowed the drink in one.

---