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Liliana breezed past me on her way to a table on the opposite side of the ballroom. I nearly rose from my seat to follow her, since she would know where Izidora was, but a purring voice to my right froze me in place. “King Kazimir, don’t you look handsome tonight.” Taya’s burgundy hair tumbled down her back, matching the color of the wine in her goblet. Like me, she had not put much effort into concealing her identity, and I wondered if she placed herself purposefully in my path.
My cock twitched against my dress pants at the memory of her lips around me on our first night in the Iron Realm. If her hair were only a little more brown, and her eyes blue instead of gold, she could have passed for Izidora. It was a much better fantasy than the one I’d attempted to play out over the years.
Lifting her hand, I brought it to my lips and planted a kiss on the backs of her fingers, letting my mouth linger for a moment after. “Taya, you look stunning.”
She batted her long black lashes at me before lifting her drink and sipping from it. “How fortunate I am to sit next to a king during the masquerade.”
“Fortunate indeed,” I replied. “Have you met High Lords Soma and Domon of the Day Realm?” With a dip of my head, I indicated the Day Fae seated across from us.
“I have not had the pleasure,” she purred. Both of the males introduced themselves to her, while she introduced the females surrounding us; some had mixed blood like her, given the variety of their features, while others were decidedly Iron Fae.
How long had the Iron Realm been up to this shit?
Sure, the females were pretty, exotic even, but the mixing of blood was something no reasonable Fae would want to do, even among the Fae races. It irritated me to no end that I was the only one of the Night Fae who took the slightest issue with what had been happening here. It was one thing when only Izidora was part Angel, but to see more and more crawling out from their hiding places set my teeth on edge. If we were going to win a war against the Iron Realm, these mongrels would pose a challenge none of us were prepared for.
Taya pulled my attention back to her when she ran her slim fingers along my arm. “I loved watching you win all those strength competitions,” she flirted. “Makes me think about all the ways you could throw me around.”
She definitely put herself in my path.
A sultry smile spread across my face as I perused her form. Her face was mostly covered by a glittering gold mask that matched her eyes, and the dress she wore gave her ample cleavage an extra boost. Her tanned skin was on display through various cutouts in the green dress, though it wasn’t like I hadn’t seen what was underneath the scraps of fabric already. “I might have an idea or two.”
Her eyes darkened with the lust in my tone. She bent her head toward me, the feathers on her mask tickling my cheek as she whispered in my ear. The words spilling from her lips went straight to my cock, along with her hand as she brushed it up my thigh.
But my attention was ripped away when chestnut hair floated through the air out of the corner of my eye. Ignoring the female creeping closer to me, I chased down those tendrils until I saw her.
Izidora and Ruslan appeared together in the middle of the space, making an entrance only after everyone had scrambled tofind a seat. The two were dressed head to toe in black, subtly flaunting their mixed blood status with the masks they wore. Ruslan’s was in the shape of a dragon’s head, with his eyes altered red to match his sigil, while Izidora wore a black lace mask with feathers arcing toward the sky, a black mirror to her own wings. She looked like a fallen Angel standing beside the heavily tattooed male.
I tracked them through the ballroom, those long locks spilling down her back and over a shawl that covered the skin there. She turned her head to say something to Ruslan, and my eyes locked on the shift of her hair and that fabric, looking for the circle I thought I had seen while she stood on the pedestal in the dress shop.
A frustrated growl slipped past my lips as I failed to certify my belief, too far away to get a good look at Izidora’s back. “Forget her,” Taya whispered in my ear, her nails digging into my thigh. “She can’t give you what you’re looking for anyway.”
“And you can?” I challenged, raising an eyebrow.
She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth before wetting it with her tongue. “Definitely.”
38
Béke Day Nine
Ruslan and I stood outside the grand ballroom doors, waiting to make our grand entrance. Even as we had walked down the hall toward it, the sound of revelry drowned out any conversation I might have tried to have with my mate. Raucous laughter, clinking glasses, and an undercurrent of music all pricked my ears.
I chewed my lip, twisting the rings on my fingers and adjusting the shawl around my shoulders as a mixture of anxiety and anger swirled in my belly. We’d stayed away during the pre-dinner mingling to avoid the stalking tendencies of Kazimir and because Ruslan needed more time to calm down. I spent a chunk of my magic working Ruslan down from a rage before we left because he wanted to murder Kazimir on sight. But our goals were bigger than Kazimir laying an unwanted hand on me, and we could not fail at bringing the other monarchs to our side. Besides, once Queen Viktoria heard of what happened, I had no doubt she would officially break away from Kazimir.
But logic and rage didn’t remove the fear lingering in my body, even after a few more sessions with Zuriel and reclaiming my stolen power, and I couldn’t convince myself I was safe so long as Kazimir was around to raise the hairs on my arms or send chills down my spine.
Thank the Goddess Béke ended in five days.
My heart pounded as the doors opened for us, and the moment we crossed the threshold, nausea churned in my gut. Kazimir’s eyes immediately found me from one of the lavish tables near the center of the room, and I felt them ghosting across my skin and leaving a slick trail in their wake.
I peered up at the male I was to marry on the last day of the feast, my chest warming as that thread tying us together hummed contentedly with our proximity. I slipped my hand into his as he sauntered to a table in the center of the room, where Liliana and Zuriel already waited. Drazen and a few of the Demons were at nearby tables, and I breathed a sigh of relief with the ring of protection surrounding me. I’d proven earlier that I could manage Kazimir with my magic, but knowing I wasn’t alone in my fight brought me more comfort than I could adequately express.
Ruslan sipped from a goblet of wine on the table before clearing his throat and tapping the metal with the flat blade of a knife to garner the attention of the room. A hush fell over the crowd, amplifying the sound of scraping chairs as people turned to give the king of the Iron Realm their attention.
“Welcome to the masquerade ball, honoring new beginnings for all of us. Tonight, there are no foes – only friends. It is my honor to have in attendance a number of people from far-flung continents who plan to make Északi their home in the future. It is my wish that you find them among the masked crowd and get to know them just as you would any other Fae in attendance. With that being said, please enjoy the meal and dancing oncethe food is cleared.” Ruslan lifted his glass into the air, and the thousands in attendance did the same before sipping.
A smattering of claps sounded through the space, softened by the hanging silks and plush furnishings. Ruslan pulled out my chair, and I batted my lashes at him before settling myself into it. He pushed me closer to the table before taking his seat beside me. I reached out to cup his face, my fingers brushing against the soft stubble lining his jaw. “We’re making progress.”
He turned his head into my palm, kissing it. “That we are.”
