last of his champagne. Lottie’s remained untouched, her fingernails tapping slowly against its shape. “Speak of the devils.”
The atmosphere of the room shifted in a blink. Heads tilting up and the chatter softening into hushed murmurs. A sudden stop, to which Daron looked up.
She stood at the top of the grand stairs, Aaros and the Conquering Circus at her side in all their finery. An absolute explosion of color, the lot of them. Like the bursts she sent into the sky when the circus first opened, spiraling across a dark canvas.
For once, Kallia didn’t even seem to notice the attention. Beaming, she took in the whole of the party the way a sailor looks at the sea—a wistful expression, edged with a quiet excitement of coming home to something familiar. Even she wasn’t impartial to the grandeur, nudging Aaros to look at the rows of chandeliers lining the ceiling, pointing at the vases of blooming flowers that reigned at every corner.
Their eyes met across the crowd. There was no change in her expression, except the slightest curve of a smile. Not once did her gaze leave his as she gave a brief farewell nod to her escorts before descending the steps in a slow saunter. Wordlessly, he excused himself from Lottie and Erasmus to meet her halfway, his focus thrown by every step she took, mouth growing dry. The sleek red fabric of her dress rippled against her legs, revealing whispers of skin, down to her black heels.
He didn’t even try to stop staring. It was impossible when she traveled as if a spotlight followed her everywhere, especially in that dress. So different from the full-skirted gowns the other guests wore, the color of crushed rubies spearing through the clouds of neutral colors most people sported in their attire tonight.
And yet, Kallia looked like she belonged in this world—a life of parties and ballrooms, of shows and magic dipped in extravagance.
“Perfect,” she said, once she made it down the stairs.
Daron’s heart stuttered out of beat. “What is?”
“Your face. I’ve been imagining what it would look like once you finally saw me in this dress.” She toyed with the rosebud pinned to her bodice, a teasing smile tucked in the corner of her lips.
It took everything in him not to pull her in, breathe into the crook of her neck and stay there. For all to see and whisper about, he didn’t care what they said. This was not a game anymore. It stopped being one for him a long time ago.
The closest he could get to her was offering his hand. “Dance with me?”
Kallia arched a brow, as if she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or not.
“Come on.” He flourished his fingers, waiting. “I’ve been taking dance lessons from a fine teacher. Might as well try out the moves in a setting that calls for it.”
“Stop it.” She threw him a stern look, begrudingly taking his hand.
“Stop what?” He let his thumb rub across her fingers, leading her to the floor where other couples had already started spinning to the swell of music.
“Flirting. Everyone can see.”
“Let them,” he said as he bowed. “We’re dancing, not committing a crime.”
With a reprimanding sigh, Kallia rose from her curtsy. She, who’d thrown fire in the faces of the judges, scandalized dinner parties without batting an eyelash, stolen the stage again and again. And yet Daron had never seen her look so rattled before.
“Now you stop it,” he parroted back.
“What?”
“Looking nervous. It doesn’t suit you.”
She attempted to iron out the bemusement from her expression, but the littlest cracks emerged. Her masks, paper thin when it was just them.
“One dance,” he spoke as they came together. Hand in hand, one to her waist while hers met his shoulder. “Then I’ll ignore you for the rest of the evening.”
“Well I don’t want that, either.”
He pulled her closer, whittling their distance to just a sliver.
One dance. One dance was polite, expected of them from those watching around the floor. Normally he never cared what other guests thought, but he was glad for the excuse.
“Demarco,” Kallia said warningly. “You look entirely too happy.”
“I can’t help it.” He stole glimpses over his shoulder. “This is new.”
“You like people watching you?”
“I like being here, like this, around everyone.” He pulled her to him, just a little closer. “It almost feels like…”
Daron couldn’t finish the thought, it felt too big for words. Too big to fit in just one sentence. His temple dropped to hers and his mind clouded entirely, unwilling