With effort, I wrenched my eyes away. “I suppose Vincent is flirting with debutantes and rich widows and draining the bar dry, as usual,” I added idly. It was how he always behaved at places like this. I used to think it was charming.
“I don’t know what you’re playing at.” Delilah’s nostrils flared, a touch of fear joining the rage in her eyes. “I can tell you this right now. You won’t win.”
Cress shoved her face in between us. “She’s already won, you dried-up old sausage wallet. She’s worth more than every single idiot in this building put together. Now go.” She waved her hand in Delilah’s face dismissively. “Off you fuck. Hop along like the puffed-up toads you are.”
Delilah looked like she was about to have a coronary. Her hands shook. Gordon took her arm and pulled her back, and they stomped up the steps, disappearing inside without another word.
Donovan stalked forward, reaching us quickly with his long legs. “Cress. You must stop this game of yours, right now.”
“How about no?” She thrust out her chin stubbornly.
“How about you both stop it,” I snapped. “Whatever the hell this is.” I waved my hand, gesturing to both of them. “I’m sick of it. It’s too weird, and we don’t have enough time to figure you two out. We’ve got work to do, and I’ll be damned if you let us miss our window to follow a centaur to their portal.” I picked up my dress and walked up the steps.
Cress fell in behind me, so close I could almost feel her. She must have shot Donovan a smug look over her shoulder, because he cursed, long and low, the fae words unknown but the meaning obvious. Cress was needling him to the breaking point, and he was so jealous he could kill her.
A smiling club attendant greeted us, bowing, and led us to the dining room. Despite myself, I marveled at the beauty of the place. The Clarendon Club management had converted the old conservatory into the dining room, and some of the original plants still grew right out of the floor—huge begonias with fat spotted leaves, spiraling ferns, and great bushes of jasmine with delicate white star flowers, which threw a heavenly scent into the air. The domed glass ceiling above us glittered in the soft candlelight.
The attendant led us to a dark corner, hidden by leafy monstera and thick ivy in pots, and held out a chair for me. “I hope this is suitable, Your Highnesses.”
I cringed a little. “Thank you so much, er, Steven,” I said, reading his name tag. I settled into my chair. “This will do fine.”
Eryk and Nate drifted back and stood to attention just behind Donovan. Cecil parked himself between them, for once, forced into silence and obedience.
Cress stood right next to me, her back ramrod straight, glaring at Donovan. He returned her glare. Steven, sensing the tension, gave me a tentative smile. “Can I get you something to start with?”
“Just water, thank you.” I wanted him gone so I could start searching for a possible centaur. Thankfully, he bowed, and rushed off.
I looked around the restaurant. From here, we had a good view of the entire room. Every table was occupied—mostly gray-haired men and women in structured gowns and skillfully tailored suits, a handful of snooty-looking younger folk, and the usual trust fund babies with their supermodel dates, baring acres of beautiful flesh in their barely-there cocktail dresses. A string quartet played a slow waltz in front of a small dancefloor; two older couples danced stiffly to the music.
There was Delilah and Gordon, on the far side of the dining room, sitting with Seraphina. They still looked furious, arguing in low tones. Seraphina’s pale face had gone a blotchy red. Vincent was nowhere to be found.
My memory drifted to a million other occasions exactly like this one, dinner at a fancy restaurant, where Vincent had disappeared, leaving me to my own devices for hours and hours. I never really minded. I always found someone to talk to, and he’d always reappear later, his usual absent-minded, bedraggled, sexy self.
He was probably fucking debutants on the tennis courts. God, I was a fool.
Nervously, I chewed my lip. “How much longer until the centaur summit starts?”
Donovan checked his watch quickly and went back to glaring up at Cress. “Twenty minutes.”
“Can you see any centaurs?”
He tore his eyes away and quickly checked the dining room. “Perhaps.” He stood up abruptly. “Come. Dance with me. We will get a better look from the dance floor, and we can move quickly if we see any of them heading out of the room.” He took my hand and lifted me to my feet.
“Okay.” We made our way through the tables to the dance floor, the others shadowing us at the edges of the dining room, creeping through the greenery like they were stalking through a jungle. Heads turned as we walked by. I took the opportunity to make a careful note of anyone with thick hair and a long nose.
Donovan, though, wasn’t paying attention. He seemed almost lost in thought.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He turned to look at me, some of the tension melting from his expression. “No. I am not.”
“No?”
He pulled me into his arms on the dance floor just as the waltz finished. The quartet began a very slow, sensual rumba. “As Lady Bronwyn would say, I am having a crisis of confidence.” He held me carefully against his huge body, executing the steps perfectly, brow furrowed with a deep frown on his face. “I am burdened by a new knowledge of myself that I do not like so much.”
“Oh.” I let out a huff of laughter, trying to put a little room between our bodies. The feel of his legs between mine was making me dizzy. “Me and you both. I’m still trying to adjust to this new reality.”
“But you already have an exceptional grasp of your magical abilities.” He pulled me closer. His hand on the small of my back felt as hot as flames.
Mindful that Cress was watching, her eyes narrowed, I edged slightly away, putting some space between us. “Thanks. That’s not what I mean, though. I mean that I’m trying to be okay with the fact that Old Susan was wrong about nearly everything in her life, and she didn’t care until her whole world collapsed around her. Now that I’ve crawled out of the wreckage, I’m still trying to figure out who I am.” I glanced up at him as he was glaring over at Cress. “What about you?”
With visible effort, he turned his gaze back towards me. He didn’t answer me for a moment. “Perhaps I am doing the same thing.” He sighed roughly. “I will tell you. As you know, I swore I would never love again. I swore I would not let anyone take something precious from me ever again. And yet, here I am, failing at the promises I made to myself.”
I couldn’t stop myself. He looked so sad. I put my hand on his cheek and pressed my thumb against his luscious lips. “I understand.”
And I did. His relationship with Cress might be arranged, but she had been deliberately provoking him, pretending to hit on me, and it made him furious. He must have realized how much he actually loved her.
I had hoped—
The prophecy was garbage, though; he said it himself. So, it didn’t really matter. I wasn’t bonding with anyone. There was no way I was going to let myself be seduced by Connor, and definitely no way I’d slowly descend into madness.
I couldn’t blame Donovan for his feelings. So why did it feel like my heart was going to break?
“I feel like a coward.” He let out a gruff sigh and looked away. “I have been lying to myself for my entire life. I believed honor, duty, and obedience were the most important things in all the Worlds.” He looked down and caught my eyes, his deep emerald eyes darkening to a hot smolder. “But right now, I am ready to throw away my destiny and burn down this whole realm for love.”
Ouch. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked away. “Okay.” The lump resurfaced, threatening to choke me. Quick, say something, Susan! “But you haven’t been lying to yourself, Donovan. You’ve always put love above honor and duty.”
His brow furrowed. “I am sorry?”
