Brilliant cherry-colored flowers, each with a small votive candle in the center, sprinkled down them. The petals had been painstakingly pieced together with stained glass.
“Quite a feat of engineering, wouldn’t you say?” I heard from behind me. “And I’ve not seen a single candle burn out. The staff must be going crazy replacing all those flames.”
I turned and my heart thudded wildly in my chest.
“Cassius!” I wanted to exclaim it, to loudly express the surprise of seeing him here, but my words came out with no more power than a breathless whisper.
He was dressed in a fine suit of blackest wool, impeccably tailored to his frame. A dark mask obscured his face from forehead to nose. Tiny jet beads sparkled at the edges.
He offered a quick smile. “Are you so certain? I am wearing a mask.”
Though he teased, I would recognize those blue eyes anywhere. Dark as the sea, with specks of silver, they’d haunted my dreams every night since our encounter on Selkirk.
“What are you doing here?”
“The same as you, I’d imagine. The same as all of them.” He swept his arm across the room.
“They’re all dancing,” I pointed out. I didn’t know if it was the anonymity of the mask or the opulent and seductive pull of the castle, but I’d never felt so brazen in all my life. I was practically daring him to ask me to dance.
“Are we not?” he asked, looking down at our feet as if surprised to find them standing still. “We should rectify that.”
My fingers slid into his outstretched hand like water over rocks. He led me out to the center of the room as a new tune began. I snaked my free arm up his shoulder and felt my breath stop as his other hand came to rest at my waist. A warm ribbon of desire unraveled inside me, and I dared to wonder what those fingers would feel like against my bare skin.
I soon found out.
It was a lively jig, full of complicated spins and twists. Cassius skillfully led me through the unfamiliar steps, his smile bright. As the song came to an end, he drew me in, so close I could feel the heat of his chest singeing my thin satin, before twisting me into a spectacular dip. His palm splayed across my back, supporting my weight with a deft grace. Behind the mask, his eyes burned down at me.
The crowd broke into applause for the orchestra, and I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“Ready for that dance now, Minnow?” Fisher asked. “Unless you’ve already made plans with…”
I inhaled deeply, catching my breath. “Fisher, this is Cassius. His father is a captain on Selkirk.” I turned back to Cassius. “Fisher is—”
“A family friend,” he interjected. He grazed my elbow, gently drawing me to his side. “A very close friend.”
They sized each other up, their glances heated and decidedly masculine. It was a strange sensation, being caught between the two of them. Though it was flattering, I couldn’t help but feel like a swimmer circled by two sharks, wondering which would strike first.
After a pause, Cassius shifted his eyes toward me, his face relaxing. “Save me your next waltz?”
“I’d be delighted—” I started, but Fisher spun me away as a new song began, and I didn’t know if Cassius had heard me.
Fisher’s hand at my waist was warm and sure, and he guided us through the steps with far more confidence than he’d shown at the triplets’ ball. Though we faced each other for most of the dance, his eyes never quite met mine, always resting just above my shoulders as if searching the room to make certain Cassius was watching.
“Fisher?”
His face broke into a triumphant smirk, and as we turned, I caught Cassius leaving the ballroom.
“What?” He laughed, seeing my raised eyebrow.
“What was that all about?”
He shrugged, then spun me out as the music built in a swooping crescendo.
“Fisher!”
“I don’t know. I saw you across the room, dancing with him, and I just…I knew I needed to come cut in.”
I paused. “Why?”
The tips of his ears flared red, and he looked away. “It’s hard to admit, Annaleigh.”
“We’ve always been able to tell each other anything,” I said, drawing his gaze back. “Haven’t we?”
“Well, yes, but…It’s just…” He let out a sigh of frustration. “I truly did not like seeing you in another man’s arms.”
My steps faltered, and Fisher rubbed his neck, looking exactly like the twelve-year-old boy I’d been smitten with.
“Is that strange to hear? It