hat was that about? Do you have a death wish, sneaking off with Niethal’s newest treasure?” Mikal says as he slaps my back. “She is quite a beauty, though.”
The four of them peer over my shoulder at Grace.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I close my eyes and sigh. “Could youpleasebe a little less obvious?”
“Perhaps you should go back and rescue her from Niethal. He’ll do nothing good for her; I can guarantee that,” Thom says.
If only I could.
Niethal does nothing out of the goodness of his heart. There’s always something for him to gain. With Grace, I’ll bet it has something to do with Anaeris.
Liam chuckles and playfully shoves my arm. “She’s beautiful, all right. Just watch the flames there, Isiah. Wouldn’t want certain parts getting singed.”
Over Corren’s shoulder, I watch as Grace and Niethal walk hand in hand toward the crowded dance floor, and the orchestra plays a waltz. My hands fist at my sides, nails biting into skin as his hand slides over her waist, pulling her into his embrace, and she smiles at him. Without thinking, I step toward them, toward her. Every nerve ending in my body screams for me to go. But no, this isn’t the time or place for that political nightmare. Plus, we came here to do other things.
So, painstakingly, I pull my eyes away to focus on my brothers, who are staring at me.
“What’s that about?” Thom asks. “Is there something we don’t know?”
“It’s nothing,” I say hurriedly. But they give me a skeptical look. “All right, I promise to explain it after the ball. But now we need to explore while Niethal is distracted.”
They appear nonplussed by my evasion, but they’ll just have to deal.
“All right, where should we start?” Mikal asks as he steps closer to me. The others do the same, creating a tight circle.
“Break up into two groups and search the main floor; see how far you can get. If anyone questions you, say you got turned around from the ball, which isn’t too hard to believe since the castle is massive.”
Mikal snorts, displaying a wide grin. “I bet Niethal would love to hear you say how massive his castle is. I’m sure he brags about it to all the females just howmassivehiscastleis.”
Corren and Liam’s lips thin, holding in their laughter, but my focus stays locked on the others, completely ignoring him. “Once you’ve finished with the main floor, break up and check the higher levels.”
“Anything specific we should search for?” Thom asks from beside Mikal, who still grins like a fool over his clever play on words. Thom elbows him hard enough that he grunts and rubs his ribs, but not even that wipes the smirk off his face.
“Now that we know Grace is involved, anything you can find about her or Anaeris will probably be connected. I’ll stay here. His loathing towards my family may keep his attention off the rest of you. But be careful. Niethal is not known for his leniency with those who spy.”
“You be careful too, Isiah. Don’t do anything stupid like break Niethal’s face while we’re gone,” Liam says sarcastically, but the warning is obvious.
“Yeah, at least wait until we get back. I want to see that fight,” Mikal adds.
They break into two pairs and wind their way toward opposite sides of the room and exit.
With them gone, I once again face the dance floor and watch Grace and Niethal waltz. Thedamnorchestra hasn’t stopped playing once. Each song blends into the next. The worst part is it seems like she’s enjoying herself, and I can’t help wanting it to be me she smiles at.
Before I have even decided, my feet move. I cross the crowded floor and mumble apologies as I bump into dancing couples. My brothers asked me not to fight Niethal, and I won’t. But that doesn’t mean I can’t piss him off in the meantime.
As I draw closer to them, the music dulls in my ears until it’s no louder than a babbling brook. My heart thrashes in my chest as I tap her arm. “I was hoping for that dance now, Grace. I would apologize for cutting in, but,well…”
Niethal scowls at me, but Grace quickly responds, “Yes, of course, as I promised.”
I struggle to keep my hand steady as I reach for her. “Shall we dance?” A zap of energy passes between our palms as she slides hers into mine. She glances up at me with wide eyes.
So she felt that too.
Once we are a reasonable distance from Niethal, I pull her frame into mine until our chests nearly touch. Lifting our joined hands, I clasp my other around her lower back. I can’t resist sliding my palm back and forth over the lacy material of her dress.
“I don’t remember promising any dances,PrinceThorne,” she says as we waltz.
“Oh, you didn’t say it out loud, but I could tell you wanted to—and it’s Isiah.”