Page 73 of Realm of Nightmares
Maeve counted in her mind at first, it had been so long since she’d waltzed. Around they went, as the music poured into her, lifting her soul. If Rowan was wonderful, then Aed was magnificent. His solid frame never faltered as he spun her with him, guiding them into turn after turn, spin after spin. The god of death was the epitome of elegance as they floated on every rise and fall of the rhapsodic melody. She found herself unable to look away from him, and when he smiled, she returned it with one of her own.
Her blood hummed, and a familiar warmth spread down her back.
She was dancing on air.
Wings of ivory with rose-dusted tips billowed from behind her, sending her soaring, and the god of death rose with her.They twirled through the air, their movements a whisper on the gentle breeze created by the beating of her wings.
Above them, the faerie lights flickered and flared in a wash of ruby and gold. They were dazzling orbs that swung and swayed to every climatic refrain. The effect was incandescent, like stars caught on fire.
Gradually, the music softened, and they made their descent to the glistening ballroom floor. They landed gently and Maeve’s wings fluttered, shimmering. Aed spun her out once, then pulled her back toward him. In one fluid movement, he tucked one hand behind him as the other slid to the small of her back. He dipped her dangerously low, so that her wings spread, the tips of them just brushing the floor, and her hair tumbled back from her bare shoulders. She leaned into the dip, letting one arm float out above her head with flowing poise.
Effortless.
The waltz ended, and again the room blared with applause and whistles of appreciation.
Slowly, Aed righted her, his silver eyes blazing bright.
“Well done, Dawnbringer.” He tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow as other dancers made their way back out onto the floor. “Are you enjoying your birthday so far?”
“Yes. Very much so.”
It was the closest she could get to the truth. Yet unlike the music drifting through the ballroom, she felt off-key. Like she was missing something.
“But?” he prompted.
Her brow knit together. “But I feel like I’ve forgotten something.”
“I see.” He nodded, mulling her statement over. “Walk with me, Your Grace.”
Aed led her toward a set of glass doors, and Maeve stole a quick glance over her shoulder, just in time to see Laurel dancing with Rowan.She wasalmostsmiling.
They strolled out onto a balcony perched outside the ballroom, overlooking the whole of the Ether. Though there was never a clear night in the Ether, she could make out the city below them, its lights glittering like twinkling stars. To the east were the snow-capped mountains where she’d found Cahira, and to the west was the foreboding outline of the forest that made her stomach drop and her palms sweat.
A shiver of unease raked down her spine.
“Do you know why I brought you here?” Aed asked, his hands gripping the railing of the balcony as he looked out over his realm.
“Yes.” Maeve swallowed down the bubble of nerves causing her stomach to flutter. “I was part of a deal.”
“A partial truth, yes.” He drummed his fingers along the bronze railing. “Though there are other reasons.”
“Are there?” Her interest must have inflected her tone because he turned away from the night to face her.
“Yes.” His face was impassive. All hardened lines, chiseled to ethereal beauty. He gave nothing away. “You remind me of someone I lost a long time ago.”
A lover, perhaps.
“Did you love her?” Maeve pressed her lips together. “Or him?”
“Her.” He was looking at her and yet his gaze seemed to move through her, lost in a past to which she was not privy. “And yes I did, very much.”
There was a twinge in her heart, an ache she understood all too well. “What happened to her?”
“She was taken from me.” His words were cold.
Taken.
Maeve wondered if she was stolen away from him, for it seemed impossible that Aed, the god of death, would lose anyone he loved to…death.
