Chapter 35
Chapter 35
“Not yet,” the King growls, voice slicing through the ballroom. “I’m waiting for the girl I had my Beta chase p>
The crowd ripples with nervous laughter that dies fast. Music falters, then stops altogether. All I hear is the clink of crystal and the thump of my own heartbeat.
Alaric turns his head slightly, amber eyes locked on Cole. “Explain.” His tone is calm in the way a storm is calm right before it rips the roof off,
Cole–stoic, unflappable Cole–actually stiffens. “Your Majesty p>
“Don’t Your Majesty‘ me.” Alaric’s voice drops lower, the sound vibrating through the marble floor. “I told you the lead dancer. The gates are shut. So why the fuck am I still standing here without her p>
My stomach tightens. Heat crawls up the back of my neck.
Cole’s jaw ticks once. He doesn’t look at me, but I catch the tiny shift of his shoulders. Guilt.
Alaric notices too. His gaze sharpens. “Cole p>
I can’t help it. “He really did chase her, Your Majesty!” The words spill out before I think, loud enough that heads turn.
Alaric swivels toward me so fast I flinch. His stare pins me like a butterfly to glass. “But…?” he prompts, one brow lifting.
Shit.
“But–uh-” My brain scrambles. Say something. Anything. “She’s… slippery p>
“Slippery,” he repeats, deadpan.
“Yeah. Like, you know, a–uh–ferret. Greased ferret. Very aerodynamic p>
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The silence that follows is brutal. Someone coughs behind me. I’m pretty sure I hear a muffled snort from the crowd.
Alaric stares at me for a beat so long I want the marble to crack open and swallow me. Then–God help me he laughs.
It’s low at first, a rumble that builds until it’s a full, rich sound that rolls across the hall. Not polite. Not royal. Real. His head tips back slightly, teeth flashing under the chandeliers.
I blink, caught off guard. “I mean–ferrets are fast,” I mumble, because apparently I can’t stop talking when I should.
He wipes a thumb across the corner of his mouth, still grinning. “A greased ferret. That’s the excuse you’re giving me p>
I give a weak, nervous laugh. “Worked, didn’t it p>
His eyes flare gold for a heartbeat, amusement tangled with something darker. “I like you,” he says finally, voice roughened with the edges of that laugh. “Fine. Since you’re asking. Dance with me p>
Relief punches the air out of my lungs. “Right. Dancing. Sure p>
I risk a glance toward the far end of the hall. Wade is there, jaw tight, eyes burning a hole through me. His fingers flex at his sides like he’s imagining them around my throat.
Too bad. I’m not going anywhere.
I shift closer to Alaric, the scent of cedar and smoke rolling off him like a dare. Obligation or not, I’m officially glued to the most dangerous man in the room–and for once, it feels like the safest place to be.
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Chapter 35
Across the marble floor, Cole’s eyes meet mine for half a second. No emotion. Just that infuriatingly blank Beta stare.
I wink anyway.
Nothing. Not even a twitch.
Asshole. A good asshole, but still.
296
I can feel Wade’s fury burning from the edge of the crowd as I escaped from him earlier. For tonight, I don’t have to face him. For tonight, I stay exactly where I am.
Cole clears his throat behind Alaric, low and strained. “Your Majesty,” he starts, voice like sandpaper. “Once again, my apologies. I–uh–couldn’t catch the woman p>
I lift my chin, whistle a nothing tune toward the ceiling like I didn’t just make up a greased ferret to save my shoulders stay loose, but my pulse is a full–blown drum solo.
Alaric doesn’t laugh this time. The sound that slips out of him is closer to a growl, deep enough to vibrace ble under my shoes. He tilts his head slightly, amber eyes locked on Cole. “You had one job p>
Cole’s mouth presses into a tight line. “She was fast p>
“So am I.” Alaric’s voice is silk wrapped around a blade. “And I told you to bring her to me p>
I glance between them, throat dry. This is no longer funny.
Cole doesn’t move. “We’ll find her,” he says finally.
Alaric exhales through his nose, slow and lethal. “Not later. Not eventually. I want her found the moment we leave this room.” His gaze sharpens, narrowing to a point. “Track every alley, every roof. I don’t care if you have to drag half of Rome to me, Cole. Her scent-” He cuts himself off, jaw ticking. “It was familiar p>
My stomach flips.
Cole catches it. “Familiar how?” He knows exactly how it is familiar.
Alaric’s eyes flick past
the crowd, almost like he’s chasing the memory in the air. “Warm cedar. Rain on stone. Faint silver.” His fingers curl against his glass. “It smelled like…” He stops again, the silence sudden and heavy. “Sorin p>
The name hits me like a thrown dagger.
Cole freezes, his entire frame locked. “Your Majesty,” he says carefully, “you saw the body yourself. The Woodridge report p>
“I don’t care about a burned corpse and a signed paper.” Alaric’s voice drops to a dangerous whisper. “My woman is alive. I felt it the second that lead dancer brushed past me and I smelled her. Don’t try to reason me out of it p>
The air thins. I can’t breathe.
Cole studies him, unreadable as ever. “And if it is her p>
Alaric turns fully now, the gold in his eyes molten. “Then she’s done running p>
My throat tightens.
“She left once,” Alaric continues, softer but somehow sharper. “I won’t let her leave again. If I have to chain her to the fucking bed to keep her breathing in the same house as me, so be it p>
The words slice through me, heat and terror in the same breath. Is he fucking serious right now?
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Chapter 35
Cole’s brow furrows. “You can’t p>
“Watch me p>
He says it like a vow, like a death sentence p>
I take a tiny step back, heart hammering so hard I swear he can hear it. My palms are damp. Every nerve screams move, but I’m rooted, a statue in borrowed silk.
Cole finally exhales, slow and deliberate. “And what if she doesn’t want to be found p>
Alaric’s smile is a knife. “She doesn’t get to want p>
My lungs seize.
as if
The string quartet picks that exact moment to strike the first note of the next dance. The sudden swell through the room, startling me so hard I nearly jump out of my skin. Conversations start again in cautio the entire crowd felt the tension and decided to pretend they didn’t.
The priestess glides into the center of the floor, her white robes catching the chandelier light. “Lords and ladies,” she calls, voice lilting and serene, “the Moon’s Blessing requires us to dance. Partners, please take your places p>
I blink, the sound of her words slicing through the fog in my head. My heartbeat is still a thunderclap.
Alaric turns back to me like nothing happened, a lazy predator reset to charming. “Our dance isn’t over p>
My voice barely works. “Apparently not p>
His amber eyes flare, catching the light as he offers his hand. “Stay with me, little ferret p>
My fingers tremble when I place them in his. Heat licks up my arm at the contact.
Cole’s
gaze
finds mine from over Alaric’s shoulder, sharp and unreadable. He knows. He knows.
I look away first.
The music swells. Alaric pulls me closer, one broad palm at the small of my back, the other guiding my hand to his chest. His heartbeat is steady. Mine’s a damn earthquake.
“You smell nervous,” he murmurs, breath hot against my ear.
“Maybe I don’t like being hunted,” I manage, keeping my tone dry.
His low chuckle vibrates through my bones. “You’d like being caught p>
I swallow hard, every sense sparking–cedar, smoke, the faint tang of wine on his breath. What does that fucking mean?
Across the hall, Wade’s glare is a wildfire I refuse to acknowledge.
Alaric leans closer, lips grazing my temple. “When I find her, she’ll never run again p>
The world tilts, music bending into a slow, haunting rhythm. My chest tightens. “Yes, Your Majesty…” I whisper.
His hand slides just slightly lower on my back, a silent claim. “Dance,” he whispers, voice a dark promise.
I force air into my lungs, my mind a blur of panic and something I don’t dare name.
Because he’s talking about me.
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Chapter 35
And he doesn’t even know it.
And so I dance. In the hopes nothing reveals who I am.
The priestess‘ bell chimes again, sharp as a gunshot.
Everything stops.
Alaric’s head snaps up. His eyes narrow, gleam catching the light like a wolf’s in the dark.
A sudden crash echoes from the grand entrance–doors slamming open hard enough to rattle the crystal scores. C. d night air knifes across the marble, carrying a scent that makes his entire body go still.
The music dies mid–note.
Alaric releases my waist, every muscle taut, eyes locked on the shadow filling the doorway.
The crowd parts in a collective gasp.
And I-
I can’t breathe.
“Sorin-” I quickly turn to him. “What p>
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