The Lilac Sky (The Troma Chronicles Book 1) by Diana Gardin

Author:Diana Gardin [Gardin, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: k'12
Published: 2017-02-13T16:00:00+00:00

15

I’m not thinking clearly as I run.

I’m just repeating the word escape over and over again in my head.

Escape…

There are far too many people in the corridor outside the ballroom. Their presence startles me, and I emit a small cry as I burst out of the suffocating ballroom. More anxiety washes over me as I pause just outside the slamming doors.

The people standing in the hallway begin buzzing with excitement. Someone directly in front of me raises a camera-like device, a long, thin, snakelike apparatus rising from its top. The undulating tube makes its way toward me until it’s right in front of my face. I’m frozen in shock, but the person holding the device shouts, “I’ve captured it!”

A picture? He just took a picture?

I rush past him as more people with similar devices pull them out, aiming them at me.

The doors behind me slam open and I hear Ebin’s voice yelling my name.

I kick off my heels and run. I’m not angry with Ebin, not exactly. I just don’t want to explain myself right now.

Without rhyme or reason, I head down the hallway, away from the crowd standing outside the ballroom. The further I go, the less Tromans appear until there’s none. There is a set of three glass doors in front of me, if I can only get there.

Get there…get there…

Someone grabs me from behind just as I cross the threshold into the warm night air.

“Get away!” I scream.

The person whips me around so that I’m pressed tightly against a solid chest. I gasp, looking up into the endless teal eyes of Rygen.

My body immediately sags against his as the fight leaves me weak.

“Isla!” His whisper is fierce and tender at the same time.

He pulls back slightly and I’m forced to look up at him again. He cups my face in his hands, his thumbs stroking my cheekbones gently. He’s handling me like I’m made of something precious. I sigh.

“Are you unwell? What did he do to you?”

The venom in his last question snaps me out of whatever trance I’ve been under since I entered the dance floor with Ebin.

“Wh-who? Ebin?”

He dips his chin in affirmation, his thumbs still stroking softly against my skin.

“No…it wasn’t his fault. I just couldn’t…all those people. Staring at me? I needed to run. God, I must have looked like a crazy person.”

He tilts his head to the side, studying me. At this close proximity, I feel naked beneath his steady gaze.

“You panicked. I do not know why they made you into a spectacle that way.”

I shudder. “Me neither. I usually like to avoid the spotlight.”

He pulls me back to him so my head is resting on his chest, and we just stand there, letting the humid night air soak into us slowly.

I return to my senses, gradual and steady, and realize we’re on a balcony. We’re overlooking the lush back pastures of the estate, rather than the front drive or the center courtyard. The night is so dark that I can’t see much of the estate, but I can tell that it’s sprawling and beautiful.

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