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I shook my head slowly. “No. Not like that. But it would have been a good life. A better life … than the one I’ve ended up with.”

Blake had humiliated me. Rejected me. And while I stood alone and disgraced, licking my wounds like a dog, Viktor Drakharrow had swooped in. For a little while, I’d truly been flattered by his attention. What a naïve fool the old Regan had been.

Blake leaned down to speak into Medra’s ear. I should have been filled with hatred and jealousy. But suddenly, all I could think of was that I was glad at least one person here tonight was truly happy.

Kage watched me watch them. “I heard what happened earlier, out in the hall. You sent that thrall to the infirmary, even though your own Bloodguards mocked you for it.”

I stiffened. “That was nothing. You know Rodriguez. He’s like a dog with a bone.”

“Nothing?” He drew me a little closer. “Professor Stonefist’s niece is going to wake up tomorrow because you intervened and saved her life. I wouldn’t call that nothing. Would Viktor have wanted you to do what you did?”

Heat pricked behind my eyes. “Of course not. But one small choice won’t change anything. It won’t change all the things I’ve done. Blightborn students die at Bloodwing all the time. We both know this.”

“Maybe not,” he conceded. “But I think it shows there’s more kindness in your heart than you want to admit—even to yourself.”

I stared up at him. “This talk of ending your engagement … Don’t do it. Not if it’s …”

“Not if it’s what?” he asked.

“Not if you’re doing it for me. I’m not free—I’ll never be free. And I am who I am. I can’t undo what I’ve done.” There was a lump in my throat. “The blightborn girl … Florence. She’s probably a good person. Better than I am.” Not to mention she had a fucking dragon as her dowry.

The waltz was ending, but Kage didn’t let me go. Instead, he leaned down. “I’m going to speak to Florence now. But I want you to meet me later tonight.”

“Meet you?” I hissed.“Are you insane? You know I can’t do that.”

We’d already met alone, but that had been different, completely accidental. Well, mostly.

Kage’s breath was hot against my cheek. “I won’t keep watching you drown behind that mask. You saved a girl tonight. I want to talk to the woman who did that—not the headmistress, not Viktor Drakharrow’s consort, not Blake’s exconsort. Just you. Let me show you that you don’t have to live like this, Regan. Let me help you.”

I closed my eyes. “Where?” I wasn’t promising anything. I was just asking a simple question.

“The Dragon Court. Come at midnight. You know the state it’s in. It’s always empty now.”

“So simple,” I said hollowly. I already knew I wasn’t going to show up. I couldn’t. Viktor would kill us both. I wouldn’t let Kage waste his life this way. And while I might not have valued my own life very highly, I still had Persis to think about.

Persis—who Viktor was never, ever letting go.

Kage flashed me a smile that showed his canines. “Simple enough. I just want to talk. That’s all.”

But if talking wasn’t all I needed?

His hands left my waist, their warmth gone in an instant. Immediately I yearned to have them back. If his hands felt that good over the satin of my dress, how incredible would they feel on my bare skin? I stood there silently for a moment and watched him walk away, his back straight, his stance confident; I knew I couldn’t change his mind. Kage Tanaka was about to go up against the secondmost powerful highblood in Sangratha. More than that, he was about to risk a dragon’s wrath.

And he was doing it all for me.

CHAPTER 24

FLORENCE

Kage’s palm settled on the small of my back as the waltz began. The contact was perfectly respectable. Two layers of satin separated us. I could hardly feel the warmth of his hand.

Your heartbeat has risen. Is the wolf touching you? Nyxaris’s voice coiled through my mind, a low rumble.

Has it? I was surprised. We’re dancing, but I feel quite calm.

Hmm. Nyxaris sounded suspicious. A strange human custom. He should not be permitted to touch you until the wedding night.

The wedding night? I choked. That seems a little … extreme. And far-off.