Page 74 of A Lie so Pretty and Poisonous

“Does it hurt?” I grimaced and scrunched my nose. My eyes roved over his mountainous form. His military uniform made him less rugged and more devastatingly handsome.

Darragh blinked, and his brow creased.

“Not wearing all black for change. How bad does it pain you?” I tilted my head and smirked.

He rolled his eyes but wore a big smile. “I may not survive the evening.”

“Tragic. You do look quite sharp, though.”

“Thank you, my lady,” he jested. “You’re looking much better today.

“I was hoping to look a few steps above the pale, bloodied, wide-eyed, concussed woman you saw yesterday. Though the blood would have matched my gown,” I joked.

Darragh leaned back and took in my whole dress. “I think you nailed it. Quite a bit more than a few steps, I’d say. How are you enjoying the ball?” He looked over my head and back to me.

I shrugged. “Much like a human ball, it is boring, full of self-importance, and everyone consumes way too much alcohol for their own good.”

He huffed out a breath. “You couldn’t be more right.” His gaze dropped to the floor, his amusement falling with it. “Rory, I need to tell you that I am sorry for what happened in the sparring room a couple of days ago. We never got to talk about it, with Gabriel trying to set us on fire and the chaos of yesterday’s bombing. I have been thinking about it, and I should have been firm in my conviction of not having you in such a compromising position.”

I shook my head. “What are you talking about? You saved me…again. Gabriel could have killed us both with his outburst.”

“Had I not allowed the lesson to continue that far in the first place, you wouldn’t have been put in a dangerous position.”

“Allowed? Darragh, I would’ve continued practicing with or without you. I have been practicing what you taught me in my sitting room when Cora isn’t around. Plus, I wore you down. I am persuasive when I want to be.” I winked.

He refused to take my bantering bait. “Still, I should have stopped it.”

“Is this about training or…something else?” I let the meaning of my words linger between us.

His eyes widened, and his nostrils flared. I conceded a shy smile, looking down and fidgeting with my fingers for a moment.

“Anyway,” I pivoted the conversation, “I was looking for you tonight because yesterday when we spoke, I hadn’t been able to tell you about the book.

Darragh pulled me further away from the crowd. The dancing continued around the ballroom, and we were completely ignored. The human and the crossling. Two of Tironaill’s most detested creatures.

He lowered his voice. “So, tell me. What did you see?”

“A book in Gabriel’s office. ‘MEAD’ was written on the spine. Gabriel said he took it off one of the militia members he brought in from the west valley.”

Darragh looked over my head, eyes glancing around the room. “You think it’s Psilas’?”

“Maybe. It’s odd. Humans are rumored to be seen in the west, and Gabriel picked that book off a militia member while he was in the west valley. Maybe it is a coincidence and wishful thinking on my part.”

Darragh shook his head. “The timing of it is suspicious, but I wonder why Lyrik would think it had burned in a fire over a decade ago. I’ll check into it. I was going to talk to Gabriel tonight about your father’s ring anyway.”

I blinked. “You won’t get in trouble?”

Darragh scoffed. “Me? Trouble? Besides, I have my ways.”

I borrowed Cora’s signature eye roll. “I’m sure you do.”

“Sarcasm, Rory? You wound me,” he mocked.

Goosebumps prickled along my arms at the baritone in his voice. “Dance with me.” I blurted out.

I clearly don’t need to have any more to drink.

“Here?” His eyes bounced around the room like we were someplace where dancing would be absurd.