2

In the ballroom, everyone twirled in time with the music. The gowns flowed out around the girls, shimmering and swaying in the light. They linked arms with their dance partners, using their free hands to hold the masks in front of their faces, while the spectators on the fringe watched with fascination. It all seemed a little too entrancing, and Lux wondered whether a spell from Scelestus had anything to do with their fervent interest.

He stood at the edge of the room, debating what to do, and he couldn’t believe he was even debating. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Scelestus sitting at the head of the room, next to her husband. Lux had been hoping that the Lord would sense something was amiss, but he watched the dancing with the same foolish grin as everyone else. As if what they were doing were magic instead of a glorified waltz.

Lux’s real focus was on Lily. As soon as he’d walked into the room, he’d spotted her, his eyes drawn to her. She tried to stay hidden on the far side of the room, all but pressed up against the wall. Her eyes were on the dance floor, but her expression had a blank faraway look, as if her thoughts were elsewhere entirely.

No matter what he decided to do, Lux couldn’t stay away from her any longer. Something inside him seemed magnetized to her, and it was exhausting fighting it. He plummeted into the crowded ballroom floor, clumsily pushing through the dancers to get to the other side. Going around the sides of the room would be easier, but it wouldn’t be as fast.

As he pushed people to the side, they swore at him, and he created a small scene. His gaze still fixed on Lily across the room, he noticed the instant she saw him. Her eyes widened, her lips parted, and an embarrassed shade of crimson highlighted her cheeks. She looked like she wanted to run but hadn’t mustered up the nerve yet, and Lux quickened his pace to get to her.

When he finally made his way out of the crowd, to the empty space on the side of room where Lily hid, he stopped. She was only a few feet in front of him, and he took deliberate, slow steps to her. By the sounds of the dancing behind him, everyone had forgotten about him already. Lux and Lily were alone, without an audience to witness or care what they did.

“You’re not dancing,” Lux said when he reached her.

“Neither are you.” She tried to keep her voice even, but the heavy rise and fall of her chest gave her away. It’d be easy to mistake her reaction as fear, but when he looked into her eyes, he saw an emotion he was far more familiar with.

“I didn’t have a suitable partner.” He smiled at her, and she lowered her eyes again.

“I’m sure you could find one.”

“I think I have.” Lux held out his hand to her, not that he meant to dance with her. He had no idea what he meant to do, but he’d feel better once he had her hand in his.

She shook her head demurely and didn’t take his hand. “I don’t dance.”

“You don’t like dancing, you don’t like parties. What is it that you do like?” He smiled and moved closer to her, so she could feel the imposing sense of his body. “You’re unhappy here. Why don’t we go somewhere that you can be happy?”

“Where?” She looked up at him, her eyes unabashedly hopeful, and it pulled at something inside him.

“We’ll decide when we get there.”

Lux offered her his hand again, and this time, she took it. Her hand felt small and cool in his, her skin softer than satin. He would’ve been content to simply stand there and hold her hand forever, and that thought frightened him into motion. This time, he couldn’t risk a scene, so he stayed to the sides of the room, walking along the walls until they could slip out the doorway.

She followed him without question, and her naivety upset him. Normally he liked anything that made his job easier, but anything that innocent wouldn’t last long with Valefor. He pushed the thought from his mind and quickened his steps. She hurried along behind him, lifting the length of her dress to keep from tripping.

When he stepped outside through the front doors, he signaled the valet to fetch his horse, and it startled him how cold the night air had gotten. He looked over at Lily, her bare shoulders dimpling from the chill, and he nearly offered her his jacket before he stopped himself.

His slick black horse rounded the driveway in front of them. Lux let go of her hand to help her up onto the horse. He’d expected to feel some relief at that, but instead he felt pain at the separation. He was already looking for an excuse to touch her again.

It occurred to him after he’d climbed on the horse with Lily’s arms wrapped tightly around his waist and he’d sped off down the road – this all had to be some kind of spell. Maybe Scelestus put one on him to make him more dutiful.

But that didn’t make sense, since he had the urge to protect Lily from his master, and that was the opposite of what Scelestus wanted. Maybe Lily had done it.

When her arms tightened around him, his stomach swirled with something warm.

Yes, that had to be it. She dabbled in the same dark arts as her step-mother, and she concocted a plan to protect herself. She kissed Lux and put some kind of spell on him, so he’d want to save her instead of taking her to his master.

That didn’t explain why Lux felt drawn to her the second he heard her speak, or how innocent and uncertain she looked. If she had put a spell on him, why bother with the pretense? She could drop the act and simply order him to help her, and he’d follow.

“Where are we going?” Lily asked, her soft words in his ear.

“You can drop the act,” Lux blurted out, hoping to startle her into admitting she cast a spell on him.

“What?”

“I know you put a spell on me.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lily stammered and her arms loosened around him. “I’m not sure what’s happened to you, but I’ve had nothing to do with it. My step-mother might know something about it. Maybe she will help you.”

“Drop the innocent act.” He rolled his eyes, trying to hang on to some anger and irritation, but he didn’t have any. At least not for Lily. “You kissed me the second you met me and then ran off into the night with me. That’s not something a virtuous girl would do.”

“You’re absolutely right.” Lily lowered her head. “I have no idea what came over me. I’ve never kissed anybody before.”

“You mean you’ve never kissed anyone like that before.” Lux slowed the horse and felt a strange ache inside him because he was upsetting her.