“Insidious piranhas,” Cadmi said scornfully. She wrapped her slender arms around my neck, tugging heavy like the gold chains I wore. A smile played over Cadmi’s lips. “It’s no wonder they try. Your aunt is right, Lark. You are the best catch in the kingdom. You belong with someone equally beautiful.”
Maintaining a bored smirk was beginning to wear on me. No, Cadmi was wearing on me. I had half a mind to storm out of this shark-infested function and portal back home to Pinemist. I’d need to change first; otherwise my family would laugh themselves stupid at the sight of me in a Speedo and glitter.
I missed hanging out with my real friends: Fraya and Zelie.
A pit opened in my stomach. The three of us hadn’t actually spent time together in a while. Everything was changing. Fraya was always off competing, taking the archery circuit by storm. And Zelie . . . Shit. I’d blown it with her a couple years ago; ruined one of my closest friendships. I hadn’t meant to. It’s just, she’d kissed me, and I hadn’t wanted to kiss her back. I wish I had. It would have been the perfect little love story for friends who had grown up together.
Love was complicated, especially as an Elmray. My family had serious issues when it came to relationships.
Maybe spending time in Faerie wasn’t revenge at all. Maybe I was running away.
Cadmi pulled on my chain, yanking me back to my underwater migraine. “What are you thinking about?” she demanded.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
She ate up my mockery. Smiled with teeth that looked extra white against her dark skin. “I’m thinking about you and what I’d like to do to you,” she purred.
Subtle.
Let her kiss my halfling ass. Figuratively. I didn’t want her glossy bronzed lips anywhere near my actual hindquarters—or front quarters for that matter.
Then her fingers were brushing over my groin. I caught her wrist and pulled her hand away with a growl.
“Not here.” Not anywhere.
Her eyes lit up as though she believed I’d whisk her off to a private room and allow her every liberty she desired. I was tempted to push her away, toss off the crown and chains, and end this whole charade when I noticed a set of piercing brown eyes glaring my way.
Crispin Maglen, Earl of Ashcraw, scowled two couples over. He stood a good foot from his dance partner, Pervinca Peppercuff, probably because she was wearing a full ball gown packed with layer after layer of swirling green-and-blue tulle. Crispin was tall and lean, draped in a white toga with a blue-and-gold sash. Beneath a gold crown, his silky light brown hair hung loose. Usually, he wore it tied behind his back with a silk ribbon.
I wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be. I didn’t know what either of them were going for other than to look pompous and pretty together—as usual. I was forced to see them together at the kingdom’s parties. They were practically engaged. Everyone knew it. Their parents had been planning the union from the time the pair hit puberty. I kept waiting for an invitation to the grand Maglen and Peppercuff engagement ball, but announcements had yet to appear.
Crispin’s sister, Kenzie, danced with a squid nearby, grinning with delight. She was only a year younger than Crispin and me and one of the few friendly nobles in the area. If she weren’t related to Crispin, we could have been friends. Wearing a purple-and-teal mermaid gown, she dressed like she actually understood the concept of an under-the-sea ball. Unlike the Roman emperor Crispin had come as. A sequined starfish barrette shimmered prettily from the side of Kenzie’s wavy red hair. She looked more like a Disney Ariel from the human world than a tailed temptress in Faerie. It was refreshing. Too bad I couldn’t tell her.
Crispin noticed me looking at his sister and tightened his jaw. I smirked at him before casting a lingering look over Kenzie, knowing how much it would eat him up.
While I was distracted, Cadmi reached down and grabbed me. Crispin was watching, looking all arrogant and disgusted. I took off my crown and necklace and handed them to the nearest female.
“Hold these,” I ordered before wrapping my arms around Cadmi’s waist. I lifted the nimble female off the ground and spun her around. Her gasp of delight reached my pointed ears. She knew I was giving in, that I was about to perform and take her with me.
No one here could outdance me. The hired performers could try to keep up, but I’d had over a decade of ballet lessons and a passion for movement that could never be taught. I owned the stage.
I lifted Cadmi’s arm and leg into the air. The violins played faster, as though commanded by my impromptu performance. The music flowed through me like a current weaving along a creek bed.
Everyone around us stopped dancing to watch. I lifted Cadmi again, guiding her movements, bending her to my will. I felt like an artist molding clay. A breathy gasp came from one of the females who had been fighting for a chance at me earlier. When I danced, it was sensual and gritty, not full-on Cirque du Soleil (which was awesome) but definitely not classical.
I twirled Cadmi in front of me. She was good at keeping up and improvising. When I let go of her, she continued twirling. I took that opportunity to leap into a pointe.
The crowd clapped. I didn’t want to perform for them. Dancing was my own special escape.
I should have left when I had the chance. It was too late now. Once I caught Crispin’s attention, there was no walking away.
CHAPTER TWO
Crispin
Lark Elmray was making an absolute spectacle of himself, yet again. Lark. Even his name sounded like a joke.
Pervinca huffed over the next round of applause. “I thought we were attending a ball, not the theatre.”
She sounded moody, as usual, but I didn’t miss the way she toyed with one tight brown curl, twirling it around her finger while Lark spun Cadmi Quickhorn. My upper lip curled. Cadmi was a viper. She’d made my sister cry at my family’s last masquerade ball. Told Kenzie she shouldn’t wear pastel with her skin tone because it made her look like a cadaver. I wanted to boot the bitch out after Kenzie confided in me, but my sister had begged me not to mention it to our father. He’d only say she needed to toughen up.
The real surprise was seeing Lark with his hands all over his most vicious critic from the old days, before he became some kind of fucking legend around here. Cadmi used to bitch about the “halflings” in residence every time Lark and his family were at the castle.
Pervinca folded her arms beside me, and I was reminded that she was no better than Cadmi.
“I don’t know which is worse, having that human fraud acting like she’s a queen or that elf tramp tarnishing royal traditions,” she’d said. Her complaint was always the same: “Greedy elfling. One Fae king wasn’t enough for her. She had to go and seduce two of them. It’s a disgrace.”
Arms folded tightly, the only time Pervinca eased off her glare was when her eyes followed Lark’s movements. The Elmrays were all beautiful. Lark took after his father (his real father), King Lyklor. They were golden-haired gods with tanned skin and bright blue eyes. Lark kept his blond hair short, but there was a lot of it waving around his head and face, defying gravity. Kind of like the male himself.
When Cadmi attempted to leap into the air, Pervinca sneered. “She’s slowing him down. Doesn’t she realize how ridiculous she looks?”