The Beauty of Darkness - Mary E. Pearson Page 0,74

cursory acknowledgment. I did the same. The rest of the dancers were already moving toward one another. We worked to catch up. She stamped forward, and I retreated. When it was my turn to move toward her, she didn’t retreat.

“Tired?” I asked.

“Never. I’m simply not fond of that step.”

We circled, my back brushing hers.

“Thank you for coming,” I said over my shoulder.

She snorted.

I reminded myself not to speak.

At our last overhead clap, just as our hands touched, the music immediately changed to the ammarra—the midnight dance of lovers. Someone was conspiring with Vilah. My hand squeezed around Lia’s, slowly lowering it, bringing it to my side. My other hand circled her waist, and I pulled her close—as the dance dictated. I felt the stiffness of her back, but kept my hold firm. I breathed in the scent of her hair and felt the softness of her fingers between mine.

“I don’t know this dance,” she whispered.

“Let me show you.” I tucked my chin near her temple and pulled her hips close to mine as I leaned her back, then swept her to the side, bringing her upright as we circled around.

The muscles in her back loosened, and she relaxed in my arms. The night suddenly seemed darker, the music more distant, and though the air was cool, her skin was hot against mine. I searched for something to say, something that wouldn’t take our conversation to places I didn’t want to go.

“Lia,” I whispered against her cheek. It was all I could utter, even though other words crowded my mind. I wanted to tell her about Dalbreck, its beauty and wonders, the people who would love and welcome her, all the things she would marvel at, but I knew, no matter what I said, it would lead her back to Morrighan, and for me it would lead back to the traitors and noose she would face there.

The music slowed, and she lifted her head from my shoulder. Only shallow breaths separated our lips for a long-drawn moment, but then her back tightened again, and I knew it was far more than a breath that lay between us. We stepped apart, and her eyes searched mine.

“You never intended to take me back to Morrighan, did you?” she asked.

There were no more creative dodges left in me. “No.”

“Even before you knew that your parents were dead. Before you knew any of your troubles back home.”

“I was trying to keep you alive, Lia. I said what I thought you needed to hear at the time. I was trying to give you hope.”

“I have hope, Rafe. I’ve had it all along. I never needed false hope from you.”

Her expression betrayed no emotion, except for the glisten in her eyes, but that was enough to hollow me out. She turned and walked away, the bones jingling at her hip, the claw and the vine on her shoulder glaring back at me.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

KADEN

I was in the middle of ruins.

Turning my head. Listening.

Something was there.

They were coming.

A high-pitched howl split the air, but I couldn’t move.

And then the world spun and I was flying through the air, tripping, stumbling. The fabric of my shirt cut into my neck as someone balled it into their fists. This part was real, not a dream. I instinctively grabbed for my knife, but of course, it wasn’t there. My eyes adjusted to the darkness. It was Rafe. He was dragging me from my bed toward the door.

He threw me out of the barracks, then slammed me up against the wall, the night watch stepping aside, ready to let him tear me to pieces.

Even in the darkness, his face glowed with rage. “So help me, if you so much as lay a hand on her, if you drag her back to that godforsaken kingdom, if you do anything—”

“Are you mad?” I asked. “It’s the middle of the night!” The fury in his eyes made no sense. I had done nothing. “I’ve never harmed her. I would never—”

“We leave an hour past dawn. Be ready,” he said between clenched teeth. There was ale on his breath, but he wasn’t drunk. His eyes were wild and bright like a wounded animal.

“You woke me to tell me that? I already knew when we were leaving.”

He glared at me, freeing my shirt from his grip, giving me one last shove against the wall. “Well, now you know again.”

He walked away, and I got my bearings. The rest of the camp was silent, asleep in their quarters, and