Page 83 of Cruelly Fated
He arched an eyebrow. “Are you alone?”
“No, Valor brought me—I mean—I’m with Valor… I’m his date tonight.”What in the actual hell, Allie?
Torian’s gaze lingered, amused. He extended an elbow. “While Valor’s away, allow me to keep you company. Singles are frowned upon, and as luck would have it, I’m without a date tonight.”
I returned his smile, albeit warily. “But you’re the king’s son. Shouldn’t you—?”
“Stick to my circle?” he finished, voice low. I’d meant to phrase it more delicately, but he got the gist. “Funny. I doubt you offered the same warning to my brother.”
Heat crept up my neck. He was right. Tonight, I planned to ask Kyon the very opposite. Perhaps I was selfish.
Torian took my hand and looped it through his arm. Slanting his head down, he whispered, “Your secret is safe with me.”
He knew? I gulped the rest of my drink and placed the empty glass on a tray drifting past. Kyon must have told him. Orperhaps Torian simply saw right through me. Either way, Kyon trusted Torian with his life, which eased my initial discomfort around him. I could trust Torian.
“Do you know where he is?” I asked.
“He had a rather heated exchange with our father before the ball. So he’s probably cooling off somewhere. Don’t worry, he wouldn’t skip an event thrown in his honor.” There was a note of bitterness in his voice, but I couldn’t make sense of it. He snatched a glass of scotch from a server, gestured for the man to stay, then tossed the empty glass back at him. The poor guy barely caught it, juggling a tray in one hand.
Unease prickled down my spine. Something was off—his energy, the tension rolling off him like smoke. As if sensing my hesitation, Torian tightened his arm against mine, making it impossible for me to slip away. Panic flickered through me. I searched the crowd, desperate for Valor.Where are you, stoic vampire?
Torian led me toward a wide marble column.
“Let go of me,” I hissed, finding my voice.
He scowled but relented, loosening his grip. I stepped back quickly, reclaiming my personal space.
Torian huffed through his nostrils, tendrils of smoke lifting in the air. “I only wanted to spare you from seeing this.”
He turned and strode around the far side of the column. Applause broke out in the ballroom. I bit my lip and edged after him, heart racing. The crowd thickened, eager and breathless. Torian, tall as he was, had a clear view. I, however, saw nothingbeyond the bodies pressing in. But I could feel the new charge in the air. The center of attention had arrived.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Kyon and his fiancée entered the ballroom,” Torian said, his voice brittle.
I felt blood drain from my face.
No… Had I come all this way to witness his betrothal?
But he’d told me we would talk. He gave no sign that our conversation would be a goodbye. If anything, the pull between us had only deepened, even when we weren’t talking.
“You think I’m lying,” Torian said with a hollow scoff. “See for yourself.”
I would.
I maneuvered my way through the crowd, my heart pounding in my ears. Two rows back from the center aisle, I stopped, frozen. Kyon stood with his back to me, facing his parents. Beside him, a slender brunette draped in a silken gown leaned into his side. He tilted his head toward hers, an unconscious response like muscle memory. She glided her hand over his arm, then his back, and whispered something close to his ear, the gesture so natural.
The world blurred at the edges.
A high-pitched laugh to my right dragged my attention. The same girls who’d sneered at me earlier huddled together, gossiping.
“…you saw the ring, right?”
“Rumor is he forged it himself—out of his own scales, molded in his fire.”
My neck nearly broke when I swung it back to the woman’s hand, marking her territory—my territory. I shook my head. No, he wasn’t mine. Her hand rested lightly on his back, fingers splayed for all to see. And there it was. The ring. Emerald green—the same shimmering hue as Kyon’s scales.
I covered my mouth with my hand and stepped back, putting as much distance as possible between the scene and myself.
