Grave Destiny (Alex Craft, #6) - Kalayna Price Page 0,81

hair writhed like it was alive—were in deep conversation as they passed us, and they didn’t so much as glance up. I strained to hear what was being said, but the conversation must have been hidden by magic, because while they passed close enough that I could have reached out and touched the fabric of the auburn-haired fae’s topcoat, I couldn’t hear a word.

I remained tucked against Falin after they rounded a group of revelers and moved out of sight, not because I was afraid they would suddenly turn and spot us, but because it was warm in his arms, comfortable. I was considering the fact that it might well be worth the Winter Queen’s ire for one more kiss when a flash of gold caught my attention. The hooded and cloaked figure I’d seen Lunabella talking to earlier rounded the corner. I couldn’t tell exactly where he was looking as no part of his face showed under the deep hood, but it seemed like he was following Lunabella and the other two fae. He hesitated as he drew nearer, and I swore I felt his gaze on me. It felt . . . hostile. He pulled the cloak closed tighter as he passed us, and the skin on his exposed hand was a sickly gray shade, but it glowed as if he were Sleagh Maith. Or maybe I was wrong and the glow signified he was light court? Had he entered with them? I’d been focused on Lunabella, and I couldn’t remember noticing him with any court.

The gray hand vanished inside his cloak, emerging a moment later with a fist-sized yellow stone. Topaz? Or maybe a yellow citrine? It was large and uncut, and yet it glowed with golden light. He bent his cowled head over it, muttering something. I caught a syllable or two, but it sounded like he was speaking in that lyrical fae language I probably needed to learn. A deep red light flashed from the jewel, seeming to blot out the entire clearing for a moment, and I jolted. Falin’s arms tightened around me.

“What’s wrong?” He breathed the question into my hair.

“What was that light?”

We were pressed too close for him to turn to look at me without pulling away, but I could all but feel his puzzlement. He hadn’t seen the nearly blinding flash of red light. A glance around the other nearby fae revealed that no one else had been startled either. As if no one else had seen what I had.

I focused on the golden-cloaked figure again. He was still bent over the large stone clutched in his thin hand. The bloodred light was gone now, the unpolished stone glowing a gentle honey yellow again, but at the center of the stone, I caught sight of a swirling cloud of darkness before the fae tucked the gem into his cloak once more.

I cracked open my shields, hoping to catch a look at the fae. Nothing changed. The cloak was real, not glamour. Without another glance in my direction, he shuffled by, moving with a distinct limp.

I shivered after he had passed. He was involved with all of this. I was sure of it.

“Are you quite finished?” a deep voice asked beside me after the cloaked figure had vanished among the crowd.

I turned to see Dugan watching us. He didn’t sound jealous that his theoretical fiancée was in another man’s arms, just disappointed.

“No, far from finished,” Falin answered, looking up to give the prince a meaningful smile, but I was already stepping back.

“Did you follow her all night?” I asked, stifling a yawn. I’d thought I was exhausted before, but now I felt close to falling asleep on my feet.

“Yes, and it’s been a waste of a revelry.”

“The shortest day has barely started. You can still go . . . revel.” Was that a word? I rolled my head on my neck and eased back my stiff shoulders. I couldn’t catch my yawn this time.

“I could,” Dugan said slowly. “If someone else is going to note her contacts. She’s horribly boring, but rather well connected. She appears to be friendly with nobles from nearly every court.”

“Winter?” Falin asked.

Dugan shook his head. “Aside from my own, the only other court she hasn’t stopped at to converse with some courtier or another.”

Considering the only noble present in shadow besides himself and the king was one militaristic Sleagh Maith, I wasn’t surprised she hadn’t met with any shadow fae. I was more than slightly disappointed she