Page 3 of Blood and Fate

Satori peered into the sunroom that the entrance led to. It was blissfully empty, thank Shala. She could enter here and reenter the Great Hall, and maybe no one would notice she’d been gone.

She closed her eyes and pulled in a deep, cleansing breath, but her calm was shattered as a shiver shot up her spine. The sensation was so sudden and strong that she startled, and it left behind a feeling of unease as her throat began to close again.

Her attention was drawn to a sound at her feet, and she glanced down just in time to see a small stone go skittering past her. Then the cold was replaced with a feeling of warmth that started at her head. She spun to find herself face-to-face with the tall man from the Great Hall. Up close, she could appreciate his deeply sun-tanned skin and the waves of dark hair that curled softly at his forehead.

Face-to-face was, of course, not entirely correct. The man was so tall she was actually staring at his breastbone. The feeling she’d had when she was inside was back, but here, standing so close to him, it was a hundred times amplified. Goosebumps rose on her arms at the same time that the warmth seemed to seep over her. She took a step back away from him, then another, uncomfortable with the reactions he elicited from her.

The only move he made was to tilt his head to the side as he observed her through slightly narrowed eyes. When he spoke, his voice was low with a pleasing accent, indicative of Evandor.

“Do you feel that?”

She couldn’t have answered him even if she had wanted to. Words would not come; there was no air in her lungs. All she could do was shake her head in a quick lie of denial and hope he would go away. She glanced around, over his shoulder and then over her own, looking for anyone who might be near, for any indication that she was not alone with the enemy.

He didn’t move save for his eyes as he scanned the area along with her. “I do believe we are alone, Princess.”

Her heart skipped. Princess. He knew who she was. Bad, this was very bad.

He moved half a step toward her, and she jumped again. “You don’t need to be afraid. I asked, ‘Do you feel that?’”

Yes. No. Maybe? Didn’t need to be afraid?

Words finally formed. “I don’t know what you mean,” she lied. “If you’ll excuse me, I must get back, or someone will miss me.”

She tried to emphasize the last part, hoping to dissuade him from any unseemly idea he might be forming.

She stepped forward, and his arm shot out so quickly she could barely track it. His large hand slapped into the stone beside him, level with her neck, easily blocking her way.

She gasped, barely containing the yelp that pushed its way up her throat.

He inclined his head toward her. “You must know what I mean.”

She turned, looking up to meet his gaze. His dark brown eyes bored into her own. She could feel her body begin to tremble, and she cursed her limbs, and these men who made her feel powerless, to Helias. She swallowed and was sure the gulping sound was audible, along with her erratic heartbeat.

His head tilted, his brow furrowing.

“There’s no need for you to fear me,” he repeated the words he’d said earlier, but it was of no comfort to Satori.

She dredged up every bit of defiance she could and forced her words not to shake, “I am not afraid of you.”

He pursed his lips. “You are a beautiful liar.”

Satori broke eye contact, focusing instead on the arm across her vision. It unnerved her that he knew how she was feeling. A lucky guess, no doubt, but still correct on both counts. She was afraid, and did feel something between the two of them. Something was there, like a knot in her stomach and a thread stretching between them. It was terrifying.

She pulled a slow breath through her nose and blew it out through barely opened lips. “If you will please excuse me, I need to return to the ball before I’m missed. Please?”

She could feel his scrutiny on her, could feel it like a breath on her cheeks. Slowly he removed his arm. She tried not to show her relief, but still, a shudder coursed through her body. She didn’t look at him again, she simply left as fast as she could without actually running.

“Where have you been?” Tessa hissed the words into her ear, momentarily drowning out the music.

Satori jumped and cursed herself silently. Why was she so jumpy tonight?

“Satori?”

“I just needed some air, that’s all.” It wasn’t a total lie; she had needed air. She simply omitted the part about the man she had met. “I went for a walk.”

“Your father’s been looking for you.”

Satori glanced at Tessa and then scanned the room. There was no sign of the man from outside. She didn’t even know his name, although that was fine with her; she had no need of his name. She took a quick breath and moved to the raised dais at the front of the room to join her father, snatching a glass of champagne off a tray as she went.

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