Amber & Dusk by Lyra Selene

Author:Lyra Selene [Selene, Lyra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2018-01-17T16:00:00+00:00

The chime for sixth Nocturne hung in the air like a warning.

I hesitated near the top of the staircase leading from the roof to Lys Wing and glanced over my shoulder. The storm cast a pall of purple shadow over the unlit stairwell, and my scarlet footprints glittered dull like a trail of real blood.

Scion, but it looked like someone had been murdered. I muttered a curse. The Gardes would never let me up on the roof again if I trailed a broad river of red from their abandoned post straight to my rooms. Or worse—they’d be punished on my behalf, flogged for indulging the well-paying whims of flighty aristos.

I sent a prayer toward the Scion, and stripped. My ruined dress slapped to the ground, and I kicked the gown and my slippers behind the archway leading to the roof. Even if the Gardes discovered the garments, I’d paid for silence as well as discretion. I shivered for a long minute in nothing but my underthings, my bare feet cold against the floor. Then I made a dash for it, sprinting through the echoing halls of the deserted palais with my heart clogging my throat.

I shoved into my chambers. The panic clutching at my chest loosened, and my limbs turned liquid with relief.

“The Dusklander has wheedled her way into someone’s bed,” drawled a voice from the depths of my shuttered room. “Will wonders never cease?”

I started, violently, banging my shoulder against the corner of the foyer. My eyes dredged at the gloom. A streak of white gold. A glitter of green.

Sunder.

Fury turned my blood molten. I sucked in a breath of twilight-tinted air, remembering at the last second that I was essentially naked. I wrapped my arms around my torso, ignoring the shudder wracking my spine.

“Lurking in dark corners?” I hissed. “Appropriate behavior for a spider like you.”

Sunder’s splash of pale hair loomed closer. I glimpsed a midnight-blue waistcoat, a glint of amber, and those fierce, fathomless eyes.

“I came to surprise you.” He lifted a languorous hand toward my shoulder and trailed a gloved finger along my collarbone. The tip of his finger came away scarlet, as if he’d dipped it in blood. His voice twisted in a taut spring—if he had been anyone else in the world, I would have named the intonation jealousy. “I confess, demoiselle, that you have surprised me instead.”

I took a purposeful step backward. My skin buzzed as though he was still touching me.

“Surprise me?” I made my voice chilly. “And what, pray tell, have I done to deserve such an honor? Insulted a beggar? Kicked a small animal?”

“Do I seem like a man who needs a reason to do anything?” A smile stretched his voice but stopped short of his eyes. He pivoted on his heel and stalked behind me. I followed him with my eyes, insolent. “I’m your sponsor. I wanted to give you something for the upcoming ball.”

“I don’t want anything from you.” I shoved the words between clenched teeth.

“And here I thought women enjoyed being showered in gifts.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.