feels strange to say. All my life I thought of you as a sister…a sometimes exasperating but always beloved little sister. But when I came back to Salten and saw you so grown up and beautiful…I didn’t want you to feel like a sister any longer.”
“Oh.”
I should have said more, I could feel him silently begging me to say more, but the words weren’t there. Fisher stood frozen in a crowd of swirling couples. His eyes swept over me, worried amber fervently searching for something in mine. But they didn’t find what they wanted, and he abruptly left the dance floor.
I trailed after him, my stomach in a twist of fluttering knots. As a girl, I’d dreamt of this moment, wished and prayed for its arrival, but now that it was here, it felt flat. Even after his admission, I longed to search the room for Cassius instead, worried he might have overheard.
“Fisher, wait!” I exclaimed, following him to the outskirts of the room.
“Forget it, Annaleigh. Just forget I said anything.”
I grabbed at his hand, forcing him to stop. “Where are you going?”
He waved his arm, freeing himself from my grasp. “Anywhere but here. Don’t follow me.”
“You…surprised me.” My words fell out, feeble and weak.
He raked his fingers through his hair. “I should have stayed quiet—especially after everything Camille said about that watchmaker.”
“What does Edgar have to do with anything?”
Fisher tilted his head, incredulity sharp across his face. “You’re not going to end up with a Keeper of the Light. I know that. I knew that. But when I saw you in that dress tonight…” He reached out and pushed aside a loose curl behind my ear. His thumb traced across my cheek. “I just dared to dream otherwise.” He shook his head. “Forgive me. I’ve made a mess of this evening. I just…I need to just…” He turned and raced out of the room.
“Fisher!” I called after him, but he was gone.
“Lovers’ quarrel?” A stranger loomed over me, impossibly tall and gaunt. His tailcoat had been cut from a gorgeously thick emerald silk. Embroidered across the lapels was a three-headed dragon, claws raised as if to attack. Its eyes seemed to wink in the strange floral candlelight, but it was the man’s mask that wholly disconcerted me. Made of a clear resin, it covered his entire face, hiding the man beneath. Enormous eyes were painted across his own, allowing visibility only through tiny pinpricks in the false irises. Their brushstrokes were full of jealousy, mad with want.
“Not exactly.”
“Excellent. Then if you’re not otherwise engaged…” He held up an unusually long finger. “A dance?”
I glanced back toward the door Fisher had run out of but saw no sign of him. Feeling miserable, I accepted the stranger’s arm.
“It’s a lovely evening, don’t you think?” the dragon man asked after a long moment of silent dancing.
“I’ve had better,” I admitted.
He laughed. “Come, come. Cheer up. This is a party, is it not?”
“I suppose you’re right,” I said, following him through a series of steps. “Who do I have the pleasure of dancing with?”
He raised up that long finger again, shaking it with a dark smile. “Ah, ah, ah. The very delight of such an evening is being your complete self with a total stranger, don’t you think? Spilling your innermost thoughts—ones too dark and deep to ever speak in the light of day, confessing sins of passion and pleasure, maybe even misbehaving, and none of it matters, because if you don’t know who you’re toying with, then what’s the harm in it?” His arm snaked up my back, flush and exposed, pulling me against him. “Tell me, pretty lady, what are your darkest secrets?”
Though I couldn’t see his actual eyes, I felt them crawling all over my body.
As the song wound to an end, a string on one of the violins broke, ending the final note on a strange chord. I used the moment to squirm free of the dragon man’s grasp.
“I’m afraid I must go find my friend,” I stammered.
After a tense moment, he chuckled as if I’d said something amusing. “I’ll be back for you later.” He tapped his long finger against my wrist. “Count on it.”
I wanted to watch where he went, to keep track of him, but there were too many shades of green, and he melted into the crowd, gone in an instant. The orchestra rifled through sheets of music before finding a cheerful fox-trot.
“There you are!” Cassius exclaimed, suddenly at my side. He offered