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Istood in front of the floor-length mirror and stared dully at my appearance. I looked amazing, really. The gown my mother had sent me had been made of crimped, seafoam green chiffon, and the neckline plunged down between my breasts where the bodice had been cinched in to give my straight frame more of a waist. The long, cape sleeves were slitted at the shoulder and fell in gauzy waves down to the floor, their intricate, hand-sewn beads glittering. I looked like a jade statue.
A perfect addition to Jonathon’s collection.
I shivered just as Kael softly entered my room, and his eyes caught mine in the mirror as he approached. He was wearing a black shirt under a gray vest and matching pants, and he looked breath-catching. Then again, everything he wore stole the oxygen from my lungs. He also had a shoulder holster on to hold his gun up by his ribs, and it only made him look more dangerous and enticing. My modern pirate, displaying his tattoos with rolled up sleeves and wearing a thick leather bracelet in a way no other man I knew could pull off.
He came to stand just behind me, and his hands landed gently on my shoulders. “Can I veto this dress? You look way too fucking good in that.”
I unearthed my pluck from under my apprehension and gave him a wink. “The better to distract them all.”
“Hm,” he hummed, bending down to drop a kiss on my neck. It sent a delightful tickle down my spine. “Yes, you’ll have them all ogling you, and something about that makes me want to put that atrocious blanket hoodie over you before we go.”
I laughed. “I would do it if I didn’t think it would screw up our plan.”
Sighing, Kael straightened. “It would, I guess.”
“Yeah, you’ll just have to let me be a bombshell,” I grinned.
“You ready, then?” he asked. It was such a simple thing we were doing—broadcasting images of their wrongdoings to the assembly so there was no doubt that they’d been dirty. But I couldn’t help but feel something was off. Something was wrong. I was missing something important, but I didn’t know what.
Kael would be with me, and he knew everything now. I’d told him everything I could remember, giving him the gory details and running over every interaction I’d had with Jonathon to be safe. Kael felt confident. Everything would be fine.
I reached over and grabbed my silver, beaded clutch. “Let’s do this, hitman.”
“Not a hitman,” he replied wryly. “But keep saying it. You’ll get all the punishments you’re after, I’m sure.”
I shot him a cheeky grin over my shoulder as I left the bedroom. “Oh no. Not that.”
I met my parents in the lobby after exiting the elevators, and my mother beamed at me, folding her hands in front of her champagne-colored, beaded gown. It had been accented with tufts of pale, pink feathers along the skirt and lining the long, sheer sleeves. With her blond hair tightly swirled against her scalp, she reminded me of an ostrich. My father wore a simple, black and white tux, and his eyes danced over Kael behind me before landing on me. “You will behave, Matilda,” he said.
I smiled placidly. “Of course.”
Kael put a hand to the small of my back, and then he joined me in our luxury SUV while my parents rode behind us in their own car. Once the door had shut, Kael took my hand in his, glancing down at me. “Are you nervous?”
I stared at my other hand as it rested on my clutch. “I guess I’m nervous, yeah.”
Kael hooked his finger and gently guided my chin up to face him. “I’m here, Mattie. I’m with you, and I’m not going anywhere.”
My heart tripped all over itself, sputtering out an uneven rhythm. This morning felt like a fever dream. It felt like I’d fallen down the rabbit hole with Alice again, and when I woke up, none of that would have been real. But it had been real. His kisses, his assurances, his palpable anger after I’d told him the truth—it had all been real. “I know you are.”
“No, you don’t.” He smoothed his thumb over my chin in a way that made me feel safe. Precious. “But I’ll show you. You’ll believe it eventually.”
My throat closed up, and I skated my gaze all over his features, taking in the straight nose, the high cheekbones, and the dusty blue eyes. I memorized this expression—the one that looked equal parts serious and adoring in ways I had never seen reflected back at me before. “You better not let the bad guys know how good you are.”
Kael got a predatory glint in his eyes as he brought his lips closer to mine. “No one on my bad side thinks I’m good. And I intend to keep it that way.”
I leaned into him, angling my lips to meet his. “You’re crazy for not running the other way from this, Kael. Batshit.”
“You do make me crazy,” he murmured with a little smile. His lips pressed against mine, firm and warm, and I relaxed into him as he caressed my mouth with a gentle kiss. When he pulled away, he brushed my curls into place over my shoulder. “Everything is going to be fine.”
I sighed, sitting back. “I know that now. I wish I had trusted you earlier, but I think I was afraid to speak the words out loud. Like… I don’t know. Like saying ‘Bloody Mary’ three times in front of the mirror, you know?”
Kael’s eyes darkened dangerously. “Because the monsters might be real?”
Oh hell, he’s scary. I fucking love it. “Yeah,” I agreed weakly.
Our car came to a stop outside the Hunter College MFA building where they had rented a luxury loft space for the event. Kael glanced around the slow-moving traffic and milling pedestrians outside our car. “Your monsters are alive and well, Mattie” He turned back to me and snagged my gaze. “But not for much longer.”
I swallowed hard. “I change my mind. You look very bad right now.”
