Page 59 of Taken By Shadows

I didn’t know who these people were, but luckily, Gavrin noticed the confusion on my face.

“Kaed, here, insulted the Lady Pearl recently by rejecting not one, but both of her offsprings’ hands. I think Daeghan is a smart male, though. He saw he’d be wasting his legacy on you.”

Kaed elbowed Gavrin in the side, and a solid “umph” crashed out of him.

I swapped my escort then.

Gavrin wasn’t exactly at ease with taking my arm, but the look on Kaed’s face was worth the trade. I was glad of the space from Kaed’s eyes penetrating mine.

“Two proposals, you say? Both rejected.” I leaned into the scandalous nature of it, and by the time we reached the centre of the party, Gavrin was bellowing a laugh into the skies as he told me about the awkward exchange with Lady Pearl and Lord Daeghan.

“We should meet our hosts.” Kaed came up beside me and took my arm. Firm. No mistake in the reminder that this was his game. And I was to play along. He speared a look at Gavrin as he took me back.

It was easy to forget he still thought of me as his toy in all of this. So easy to forget when he looked like that.

“Are you coming?” I shot to Gavrin as Kaed pulled me farther into the enchanted embrace of blooms and light.

“Is Audrie—Is she with you?” Gavrin looked feverish as he asked after her.

I almost felt bad for the beast of a male. That tiny woman would drive him demented.

I just laughed in response. Audrie might have enjoyed this type of thing. But it was clear this was a fae-only event, judging by the patrons in attendance with pointed ears.

I suddenly felt very exposed. Did any of them know I wasn’t truly fae? That I had no magic? I couldn’t even conjure the orbs of light that dotted the scene before me.

And then I distantly wondered who’d sacrificed their magic for this gathering. To throw a party like this was expensive by anyone’s standards, but magic cost people too. I had witnessed that firsthand. Did conjuring this beauty cost someone?

I blinked back the thoughts.

“You haven’t given me a backstory, dearest.” I tugged his arm to slow his progress.

“You haven’t exactly given me time.” Kaed whirled on me. “We were preoccupied with ensuring you didn’t bleed to death.”

My eyes narrowed at him in indignation. “Well, that aside,” I bit. “You can’t tell them you kidnapped me. Can you?”

Through the revellers, someone was coming our way.

“Make something up. Something believable.” I grinned as the woman entered our sphere.

Copper and silver.

“Celeste.” I beamed. The same long strands of hair were still pinned neatly in a bun. Her rose gold dress billowed as she walked to us.

“Lovely to see you again, my dear.” She clasped my hands in hers, warmth radiating from her. It wasn’t sweetness like with Audrie. It was goodness.

What had Audrie said? Healing was about channelling the feelings of peace and compassion.

My body felt that all over. Where every wound had been, there was only her healing there now.

“Thank you. For everything. What you did. I can’t repay you.” A chasm inside me cracked at that admission. The price she’d paid with her power to heal me without hesitation.

“No need, my dear. The debt is not yours to pay.”

Both of us looked at Kaed.

“We need to speak.” Celeste guided us to one of the darker corners of the botanical enclave where prying fae ears wouldn’t overhear. “Gavrin may have stopped you from burying yourself in a worse mess, Kaedian.” She said his name with stern familiarity. “But it seems someone saw …”

Kaed ground his jaw so tight I thought he would break it. “Saw? Saw what? Saw a female being attacked by three men? She was bleeding. Beaten.” His voice shook with outrage. And something else. Something possessive?