Page 132 of Insolence
“Just Maida. And fine, you’re correct. Doesn’t mean I’m going into details with you. Elodie has assured me she’ll explain everything eventually.”
“‘Eventually,’” I huff. “It’salwayseventually with her.” Fingers wrapped around my onyx pendant, I hunt for the fleeting contentedness I felt not so long ago.
Behind Maida, Ghisele and Enid are whispering vehemently back and forth, glaring at me now. Ghisele’s green eyes widen at whatever salacious gossip Enid is filling her in on.
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but you’re going to have to trust us for the time being. Now!” Maida clasps her hands, pulling my focus back. “Come along. There’s more celebrating yet to come.” She spins on her heel, checking to make sure I follow her back to the festivities.
Ghisele and Enid stare when I pass. Shivering, I hug my cloak tighter around myself and weave around the dying fires, scanning for Elodie.
The courtyard is sparser now, with far fewer betrothed girls milling about.Strange. They must have sent themselves to bed.
At 23:30, the guardsmen give up their perimeter posts in favor of patrolling.
Movement catches my eye in the shadows cast by the Archive’s facade. It’s the quiet moaning that brings me to an immediate halt.
At first there’s nothing but a tangle of limbs melded with darkness. I look harder, my brain struggling to make sense of the flurry of shapes and shadows, until two betrothed girls come into focus.
They’re close to one another… Very close.
No. Not merely close; they’reembracing, and not in a platonic way.
Heat flushes my body while one of them grabs the other behind her neck and kisses her there passionately—to the point that the other woman sags against her, a look of pure ecstasy on her face.
Like when I was with Sadrie and the monster took over…
Out of nowhere someone grabs my elbow, spinning me around. “What thehell, Ghisele?” I cry, my heart in my throat.
“Enid heard something interesting about you,” she says, standing too close. “I thought you might like to know.”
Good gods, what now?“I don’t give a damn what anybody heard, first of all. Secondly, I don’t care for your company, so I’ll be on my way if you don’t mind.”
The redhead turns a blistering glare on me. “Be as flippant as you want, but they’re keeping secrets from you. Secretsaboutyou.”
“Who?”
“Elodie and Maida.” Her slow smile is predatory when my posture goes rigid. “Enid might have accidentally overheard Maida mention a juicy little tidbit. She was talking about a ‘Succubus and her Thrall.’ In reference to Elodie andyou, Tiss.”
My next breath refuses to dislodge from my lungs.
The handmaiden in question lingers near the refreshment table, watching our conversation with unconcealed interest.
“And what, exactly, is a Succubus?” Words cannot convey how much I despise feeling like an idiot in front of Ghisele.
“Something unnatural. A dark force,” she shrugs, a touch too casually.
“You don’t know either, do you?” I bite out, wanting to scream. “You’re stirring trouble about something you don’t understand.”
“Fine. I don’t know what a Succubus is. I know exactly what the word ‘thrall’ means, though.”
As do I.
“It’s a state of being under someone’s control or power,” she continues, needlessly. “Like aslaveorcaptive.” She plays idly with one of her amethyst earrings, her sharp gaze passing over me. “You’re falling in love with her, aren’t you? I can read it all over you.”
There’s no question she’s alluding to my aura. The burgeoningfeelingsfor Elodie I’ve scarcely acknowledged myself.
Despite being overdressed and bundled up, I feel suddenly exposed, defenseless, and on display. “This conversation is a waste of time. Hasn’t anyone told you howtediousyou are?” Brushing past her, I resolve to find Elodie and ask her about this Succubus and Thrall business directly.
But will she give me answers?
