Page 162 of Taken By Shadows

As Gavrin walked us to the ornate ironwork building, I saw there were also hundreds of tiny fae lights dotted amongst the foliage in varying shades of icy blue. They twinkled as they hid amongst the leaves and fronds that bobbed gently in the breeze. Luscious floral scents hung in the air, and I felt drunk on the heady pollen that sang to me.

Gavrin stopped abruptly as we were approaching the door. A chill shot down my back, and a ripple of panic swam into my veins.

“What is it?” I whispered, a smile plastered to my face so no one would take notice.

Gavrin actually growled beside me, and his eyes remained fixed dead ahead and through the glass doors. I couldn’t see what he saw. Fae sight right about now would be very helpful.

I nudged him. And he finally looked at me.

“It’s nothing—Nothing. I’m fine. I—Will you be okay for a moment?”

And before I could answer, he’d stormed off.

Would-be celebrators approached me and then kept moving; patrons threw the occasional glance to see why I was standing alone. And for the first time, the stares, the glances, they fell differently. Did they all see I was Auroran? Had they always seen that? I tried not to fidget with the hem of my sleeve as eyes lingered on me.

Warm air of the glasshouse hit me as I found my way inside, cocooning me from the chill of the night.

If I’d thought the jungle-like hot house had been densely packed with foliage and flora when I’d seen it first, now it was like a floral explosion. There were boughs of flowers like rainbows made real. I passed under an arched structure built entirely of stems and petals. It felt like walking through a door to another world. The railing of the same wrought-iron spiral staircase was entirely covered in orchids in every shade of purple and silver and white until it looked like a tree trunk of blooms. Overhead, waterfalls of night-blooming jasmine and moonflowers trickled down, caressing my face as I passed them.

But the most stunning sight was the dozens of floating flowers. They were the colour of amethyst and blue chalcedony, like moonstone but warmer. And they were floating. Everywhere. Tiny beads of fae light seemed to cling to them like pollen clinging to a bee, and it was causing them to bob and bounce through the air like they were fire lanterns drifting into the inky sky above.

I looked around for Kaed amongst the kaleidoscope of petals. I saw councillors, wives and husbands, humans and fae. All in beautiful dresses and ornate tunics that danced in the fae light as they moved.

Sparkling wine fizzed around me on trays carried by neatly dressed staff.

But no Kaed.

The hem of my sleeve was between my fingers again as I passed amongst the revellers. There was such finery here, such wealth. I didn’t really belong here. Kaed’s presence, his touch, sometimes made me forget that. But when he wasn’t around, the truth of how much I didn’t fit into this world forced its way back into my thoughts.

I found myself backing up against a wall of greenery, watching as people mingled and sipped on pale golden wine. Their chatter rose and twined with the stringed instruments hidden somewhere in the curated garden room.

Just as I was about to step into the fray again, something caught me by the hand and pulled me backwards.

In the confined space of the hidden canopy, I found myself face-to-face with Kaed. Or rather, chest to face.

The heat of the hothouse couldn’t compare to the heat I felt at Kaed’s nearness.

He pulled me closer to him, his fingertips skimming the bare skin of my back. His metal rings felt like ice kisses to my warm body.

“Where have you been?” I reprimanded him.

Kaed’s finger landed on my lips, and I stilled, but my heart thundered beneath his touch. “Shhh,” he murmured. “I pulled you in here for privacy, and you want to announce to everyone we’re here?” He laughed in a whisper.

“Where have you been?” I said again, matching his whisper.

But I didn’t care about the answer because I finally took in the sight of him. Kaed was dressed head to toe in black. So black it seemed to devour the light. Everything was cut perfectly to show off every hard line of his chest, the angle of his shoulders and that seductive tapering where his abdomen disappeared into his belt. Across the shoulders of his tunic were hundreds of glass beads. They looked like stardust. His lashes looked as though they were darker too. Kohl maybe? And his hair fell in soft folds around his temples.

I couldn’t stop my hand as it reached to swoop his hair away from his scar.

My fingers traced the line from his brow to his cheekbone. I had wanted to touch it before. But tonight, I didn’t stop my fingers as I finally allowed myself to trace the line.

The scar had been bad enough to mark a fae. Remembering how I felt about my own scar, I dropped my hand with shame for touching his.

Kaed clutched my hand as I tried to pull back.

“Does it bother you?” Tension vibrated in his voice, a strained cord as though he’d felt that before. Like if I said yes, something might crack. Of course, it didn’t bother me. Scar or no scar, he was beautiful.

I shook my head. “I like it.”