Page 76 of All the Chaos of Constellations
He steered her away from Asher, guiding her toward the dance floor everyone else conveniently abandoned. At once, an alluring melody drifted through the air.
The bond between them was suddenly frantic. Asher’s magic clawed for release as he watched Drake lead her in a series of intimate spins and steps.
No.
He wouldn’t allow it.
“Nova…”He reached for her mind, calling her to him.
From across the courtyard, her gaze latched onto him. Drake spun her away from him in one fluid motion, then snapped her back into place beside him. All the while, her eyes remained locked on Asher.
“Tell me it’s not true,”he pleaded, more desperate to hear her voice than he realized.
“I’m sorry, my lord. The contract has been signed.”Her breath caught as Drake lifted her into the air, tossing her high, then catching her as though she weighed no more than a feather.“There’s nothing I can do.”
Sorrow hung from her every word.
“There has to be a way to get you out of this.”Asher couldn’t give up. He couldn’t let Drake win, not when Novalise was the one at stake.“I’ll speak to Ariesian.”
She bit her lips, a delicate sheen misting her eyes. “It’s too late.”
Damn it. If she cried now, every last thread of his control would come undone.
“No, it’s not. I will not rest. I will not fail you. I will stop at nothing to see you safe…with me.”Something wrenched inside of his heart, an unyielding kind of emotion he didn’t recognize.“Novalise, I?—”
Suddenly, it was Drake who cut into his line of sight. His eyes were cold and empty. Novalise’s bottom lip trembled.
“Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear the first time, Firebane.”
Asher clamped his mouth shut, stunned. It was impossible. There was no way Drake could interject his own thoughts between that of their bond. Such a feat was incomprehensible. Yet there he stood, pinning Novalise to him, as though he’d heard every word spoken. Novalise gasped, wincing as he hauled her into his arms. She shoved her palms against his chest, but he refused to release her.
“You had your chance.”The shadow prince’s voice exploded into Asher’s skull, scraping along his mind like sharpened talons. He gritted his teeth against the onslaught, and Novalise whimpered in response.“And now, she’s mine.”
Drake gripped Novalise by the chin, dragging her mouth to meet his in a severe and punishing kiss.
“Novalise!”Asher roared down the bond, but there was no response.
Nothing.
As though she couldn’t hear him, could no longer sense or feel him.
Alarm stole all rational thought from Asher’s mind, and for the first time in a long time, he recognized the emotion bleeding him out from the inside.
Fear.
Music faded into the background, the voices and conversations floating around him died. The only answer Asher received in return was dark, rumbling laughter echoing through the deepest recesses of his mind.
CHAPTERTHIRTY
“What did you do?” Novalise gasped as Prince Drake led her into another dance. Asher’s voice was quiet in her mind, as though the bond tying them together was somehow muted.
Drake guided her effortlessly across the makeshift dance floor of House Emberspire’s courtyard. “Nothing that won’t entice him to pursue you further.”
She went through the movements, the steps and spins, hating every second of it.
“But how?” she rasped over the hypnotic melody, plastering a practiced smile on her face. Other couples danced with them, around them, but the curious gazes of those who watched bored into her spine. “You intruded upon our bond, you silenced our thoughts. What sort of magic is that?”
Light played across his hardened features, but he moved with the shadows. “The dark variety.”
