A shiver swept Kara’s body, and she quivered in his arms.
“In that case—” His voice shifted, the accent falling off, “Are you asking for me to fuck you,Kara?”
The blood froze in Kara's veins. Her heart started to clamor in her chest, alarms sounding in her head. He knew her. She’d been found out. Who was he? She reached up and ripped the wolf's mask off by the snout.
Logan Vakarian stared down at her, a cruel smile on his lips.
Kara stumbled away from him, stunned. “Logan?”she whispered. He was tanned and bearded, his hair grown out, but it was undeniably him. She was a fool.
His mask fell from her fingers. Several people around them turned to look on, tittering behind their masks.
Heat coursed up her cheeks. Of course it was him. Who else would inspire that kind of reaction in her? She hated him in that moment. For tricking her, for lying. For putting on that fake accent. How dare he be angry. The urge to leap into his arms and kiss him warred with the desire to slap the malicious smile off his face. The latter won. Her hand hit him with a crack. Her palm stung from the force of it. He could have stopped her; he saw it coming. He let it happen—didn’t even flinch. A red mark in the shape of her hand bloomed on his cheek. His beautiful, sun-kissed cheek. Kara wanted to make him bleed. She’d have to do it with her words.
“In answer to your question,Melbourne. Anyone but you.”
His eyes went amber, and his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
A trumpet played from the large stairwell that spilled into the northern end of the room. The princess had arrived. Kara stepped backward into the crowd of bodies surrounding them. Logan reached out to grab her, but he, for once in his godsdamned life, was too slow.
The crowd compressed as people moved, en masse, towards the stairs to await the princess. Kara began shoving people out of her way, muttering, “Excuse me, pardon me.”
The officiator cleared his throat, and the music died. “I’m honored to announce the return of our beloved Princess Ariana to Lerathil, the city of stars.” The crowd began to clap.
Kara glanced back. Logan was moving towards her, but he was getting trapped behind the crowd. He couldn’t barrel through them without injuring someone and making even more of a scene. People shoved at Kara, trying to get closer for a better look at the princess. She was hot inside her mask. There were too many people, too much noise. She was trapped. She had to get out of here. She kicked off her heels, leaving them in the middle of the crowd.
Dimly, outside the buzz and rage of her thoughts, she heard the officiator say, “We have the Stygian Brotherhood to thank for her safe return.”
Kara stilled and slowly turned towards the stairs.
A petite woman in a sprawling midnight blue gown descended the steps. Her ash blonde hair fell in a curtain down her back, and a translucent veil trailed the ground behind her. She twinkled when she moved. Small diamonds had been sewn into the fabric of her dress and veil, and a sparkling silver diadem crowned her head. She was captivating, iridescent. If Kara was the night sky, she was the stars.
She was…familiar. Then the man in front of Kara stepped to the side, and she got her first good look at the princess’s face. She wore a half-mask fashioned to resemble a swan’s wing, leaving the other half of her face bare. It was the woman from the lover’s bowl. The woman who’d kissedher manand moved to straddle his hips.
Kara’s nails bit into the palms of her hands, drawing blood.The princess? The fucking princess she was supposed to be protecting?Claws raked through her soul. She was going to kill him.
The princess reached the bottom of the stairs and continued to move forward. The crowd parted like the sea in front of her. Kara caught Logan’s eyes with her own. He stared at her with naked intensity before turning away. Ariana came to a stop in front of Logan, and Kara’s stomach sank like a rock.
Logan bowed low for the princess, then took the thin-boned wrist she offered and kissed her white-gloved fingers. Kara was unraveling. She couldn’t watch anymore; she wanted to vomit. She wished she had her shoes back. Logan wasn’t here for her.
She resumed pushing her way through the wedge of humanity, heading towards one of the servant’s entrances at the side of the room. She needed to get out of here. If the Brotherhood had escorted the princess here, there’d be Stygians all over the palace. She flashed back to the moment she’d first spotted Logan and the man in the lion’s mask.Jon?Their builds were similar. Did they know she was here? Would she run into Thomas lurking in the dark hallways, looking for revenge? It was clear she no longer had Logan’s protection.
Kara madeher way back to her rooms, anger seething in her breast. The evening was ruined. She’d discovered no information for the king, and Aidan would be disappointed she hadn’t danced with him. The dancing would continue late into the night, but Kara couldn’t trust herself to return in this state. She’d be liable to blow her cover. Gossip about her slapping ‘Lord Melbourne’ would already be spreading like wildfire, and she’d be expected to explain herself.
She slammed her door behind her and yanked her mask out of her hair, wincing when the clips ripped several hairs free with them. She began struggling in vain to yank the tight dress off her body.
“Need a hand?” someone asked.
Kara whirled. Jon lay on top of her bed, tossing an apple she’d left uneaten earlier in his hands. His clothes confirmed his identity as the golden lion from the ball. He looked much the same, bright eyes and gleaming copper hair, though he’d also grown a tan.
“Jon.” It felt like a lifetime since she’d seen him last. It’d been before her reckless prison break for Wesley. Emotion swelled in her chest, and tears threatened.
“Wanna trade rooms?”
He was joking with her, just as he’d always done. He wasn’t angry or accusing; he was justJon. Tears spilled over her cheeks.
Jon rolled out of the bed and strode over to her. “Why the tears? I’m an expert at undressing women. Though you do look ravishing. I told you red was your color.”
Kara gave him a half-hearted shove, and he pulled her in for a tight hug. “Missed you, Ace.”
