Rising Silver Mist by Olivia Wildenstein

Author:Olivia Wildenstein [Wildenstein, Olivia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780997334319
Published: 2018-04-21T05:00:00+00:00

35

The First Ceremony

“Did you tell him anything?” Cruz asked, after Ace had disappeared inside the palace.

Animated with voices and flickering lights, the palace looked more inviting than it had this morning, yet I longed to go anywhere but inside.

“And lose the ability to bring Lily home?” I shook my head. “I am way more desperate than I am dumb.”

Cruz’s eyes glowed like twin lanterns against his shadowy features as he scrutinized my face for longer than necessary. In the end, he said drily, “Hold my arm.”

“You don’t want me any more than I want you, so why the hell are we doing this?”

“Arm,” he repeated.

Now that really made me want to hold him.

“I’ve already explained my reasons to you, Catori.”

“Revenge? I think that’s done and out of the way.”

“It’s just beginning.” There was something ominous about his tone, something unsettling about the glassy look on his face.

What else did he have in store for me? For Ace? Was marrying me really a fuck you to his closest friends, almost siblings? Or was it somehow part of a bigger plan?

He blinked, and it wiped the brooding glint in his eyes. “As for you, you’re doing this for Lily. My arm, Catori. Now.”

When I still didn’t place my fingers around the sleeve of his purple tunic, which looked designed for a maharajah, Cruz plucked my fist from my side, lifted it, and crushed it against his arm.

He jerked me forward. I almost tripped on the hem of my dress. Lifting the soft material with my free hand, I adjusted my strides to match his hurried ones.

Flames hovered over a crowd that put a Super Bowl stadium to shame. I yanked my gaze from Cruz to the sea of faces surrounding me. Even though shadows dappled the bejeweled mass of bodies, the faeries’ eyes shone as bright as the gems hooked into their ears, looped around their throats, and woven into their hair.

The floating flames shifted and assembled over Cruz and me. They wreathed our heads as we walked down the aisle, approaching the throne tree on which Linus sat with his gilded, leafy crown, bracketed by his wife and Lyoh Vega. All three wore black, but it seemed almost different shades. Addison’s dress was sheer and glittery, Lyoh’s tight and glossy, and Linus’s tunic resembled Cruz’s, strict but cut from a swath of satin.

Ace and Angelina stood on one side of the raised dais, bodies parallel but not touching. If anything, they leaned away from each other, and his arms were crossed. I’d expected Ace to have downplayed his dislike of his future bride, but his body language confirmed everything he’d told me.

Although I didn’t want to look away from him, I remembered people were staring at me. Which meant they would follow my line of sight. What would cross their minds if they saw me staring at their prince on the day of my engagement?

The other side of the dais was occupied by a single body. A man of average size and average build with hawk-like features, light eyes, and autumn-colored hair.

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