Page 31

His body was pure heat against mine, caging me against him as we waltzed beneath the chandeliers.

As the music swelled, he spun me outwards and pulled, twirling me until my back connected with his chest.

One hand was on my waist, the other splayed across my stomach.

Too close. Too intimate.

Panic bloomed through me, at the warmth that spread low in my stomach.

I tried to create distance between us, but his grip was like iron.

“Relax, I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said against my neck before brushing his lips against the soft skin.

I sucked in a breath, need swimming through my body despite my mind telling me to punch him.

“Get your hands off me,” I hissed through clenched teeth.

He sighed and stepped back, taking my hand instead, as if he needed to be touching me. Perhaps it was all for show, or he was poisoned as well.

Astaroth inclined his head as if dismissing us. Cerilla stood behind him with a shimmering chain wrapped around her neck leading to Astaroth’s hand.

Helion led me towards the large doors, smiles lighting the faces of the crowd beneath gleaming masks as if they were enjoying this.

They threw gleaming confetti as we walked past, and it rained down on us like falling stars as their cheers deafened my ears.

We crossed the threshold of the ballroom, and I tried to pull my hand out of his.

Helion’s grip only tightened.

“Not yet.” The finality in his voice made me pause, whatever argument had been forming on my tongue died before I could give it life.

An uneasiness spread through me as I fell into step beside him and bit my tongue, clearly, I was missing something. Even with the haze of poison covering my senses it was obvious that things here were not as they seemed.

How was I supposed to play a game I didn’t know the rules to with a person I did not trust?

We wound back through the pristine hallways to the room where I’d woken. Once we were through the threshold I ripped from his grasp. The door shut behind us with a final, echoing thud with the distinctive sound of a lock sliding into place. For the first time since the vows, there was no audience.

I flexed my fingers, hating how cold they felt without him. Disgust rose hot in my throat at the way my body ached for his touch despite everything.

“Explain yourself,” I said coldly, rubbing warmth back into my hand as he crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

He raised his eyebrows at me as he kicked his shoes off. “My feet hurt from dancing.”

I crossed my arms, glaring up at him with all the venom my tiredness would allow me to muster.

“You’re cute when your grumpy, wife.”

I reached down, took my own shoe off, and pegged it at him. His hand lashed out and plucked it from the air before it could hit him.

“Tell me what is going on, Helion!” I yelled, voice twisting into a layered melody.

His eyebrows furrowed and he lifted his pointer finger to his lips. “Shh. Quietly yell at me, please. These walls are thin,” he said mockingly. “And don’t call me that.”

I reached for my other shoe, imagining plunging the heel of it through his jugular.

“What am I supposed to call you? F⁠—”

“Riven,” he interrupted as he held up his hands in mock defence, corners of his mouth twitching.