“The man who whistled at you, the reason you froze at the Pond. Did you tell anyone else about him?” Collin asked, power radiating from him.
My heart stopped. “How did you—what are you talking about?”
“Very little happens in this city that the Illum are not aware of.”
“Collin, please, tell me why I’m here.”
“You’re my Mate,” Collin said, his polished exterior gleaming, his face utterly impassive. There was not a single crack. “I’d ask you to trust me, but given our brief conversation at the Pond, that would be a waste of time.”
I stepped back, his words hitting me in the chest. “Collin—”
He whipped his head toward me. “Tabitha does not handle being made to wait. She instructed we walk in together. Your questions have made us late.”
Suddenly I felt the height of where I stood—how easy it would be to fall.
“After you,” Collin said. There was no warmth to his voice. Violet’s advice fell away at his austere tone.
“No beseeching my forgiveness tonight?” I asked. I wasn’t sure why I did. Maybe I wanted to know that the man who had chuckled at my indecent sounds was real. That the kindness, the tenderness with which he had kissed me, weren’t my desperate delusions.
Still think he’s different?Hal’s taunting voice found me.
Collin’s hand tightened on the door, his knuckles bone white. He didn’t meet my eyes as he gestured. “After you,please.”
I bowed my head and headed out. His voice was so low I almost missed the words, but the coldness slithered beneath my skin.
“I’m not foolish enough to ask for something no longer obtainable.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
OUR BREATHS WERE THE ONLY SOUND AS WE HEADEDtoward whatever made forgiveness unobtainable. My heart ricocheted off my ribs, leaving me breathless. The heavy scent of lilies was overpowering as we made our way into an identical hall that led to two double doors, guarded by two soldiers in dark green uniforms, one impossibly tall. I tried not to cringe away from them. The masks made it impossible to tell whether they had been at the Parting. They bowed to us as Collin captured my clammy palm in his steady hand. The doors opened, and we entered the room beyond.
It was a tremendous dining room, double the size of my birth parents’. There had to be at least thirty members of the Elite standing around the table, waiting for us.
My stomach hit the floor. Vincent stood at the table directly before me. I lifted my chin as Collin led me to the far end of the room. Countless tiny chandeliers hung from the ceiling, like falling stars hanging over the length of the dark table. The walls were paneled, and there were two obsidian heating hearths.
The décor couldn’t distract me from the faces I recognized. William and Nora. Phillip, Richard. I didn’t see Gregory or Helen. Very few women sat among the Elite. I wondered briefly what they had done to have a seat at this table.
We reached the head of the table. Collin pulled out the chair to his right for me.
“Be seated,” Collin stated. Chairs scraped across the floor. I took my seat, my spine painfully straight, the beaded gown too tight.
Halfway down the table, a man with long blond hair tied at the nape of his neck stood. Edward, the one who had approached us in the Garden—Nora’s first Mate.
He held a glass of bubbles. “On behalf of all of the Elite here, I wanted to raise a glass to the Illum and to this peculiar mating. We know you have your reasons.” Edward cast me a slimy smile, and several men chuckled around the table. “Many fertile blessings to the Illum.”
People raised their glasses to toast us. Collin didn’t. His hands remained folded on the table, staring at Edward.
Glasses hung in the air, waiting.
Collin finally grabbed his glass lazily, tilting his head at Edward like he was sizing up his prey. The contents threatened to spill at any moment. Collin flashed a dangerous smile before downing the contents and placing his empty glass on the table.
I reached for my drink, but without looking at me Collin shook his head just a fraction. I withdrew my hand. Phillip across from me hadn’t touched his either. A few glasses sat on the table untouched. When everyone had replaced their glasses, Collin’s eyes swept over every person who drank, marking them.
“Perhaps I misheard you. Peculiar mating?” The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. “Is that what you called this?”
Edward wrung his hands. “Yes, surely you understand. A member of the Illum stooping to a Minor contract.”
“So I am stooping now?” Collin drawled, shaking his empty glass. A man in dark gray rushed over, refilling it. Collin took a long sip, then turned toward Edward, that viciousness in his eyes. “Was it stooping when you ogled my Mate so thoroughly in the Garden?”
