by RS McCoy
“It was a pleasure to meet you.” Blossom bowed her head once more as Kaide worked to stifle his laughter as they moved farther down the Pyro wing.
When they were alone once more, he let himself chuckle openly. “I’m not sure anyone’s ever spoken to her that way.”
Blossom glowed, delighted over the small victory. “I don’t like the way she looked at you. What’s her fatal flaw? She eats children? She drinks the blood of her victims?”
Kaide shook his head. “No. Did you see her totem?”
“A snake,” she answered.
He was almost proud to hear it. In a field of enemies, and she was holding her own—sizing them up and taking notes. She would do well at his side.
“A viper. Her opponents have been known to die suddenly or go missing, though it’s never been traced back to her, of course.”
“Great. So now she’ll try to kill me?” Her words were tentative but she only looked annoyed, as if it were a great inconvenience that someone might try to kill her.
“I’m not sure even Pruda is that bold. I don’t have a reputation for mercy. She’d be very foolish to attack me in such a direct fashion.” Kaide tried to sound confident, but he wouldn’t put it past her. Pruda, too, had a reputation for viciousness. It was one of the reasons he kept her at arm’s length, never too far away.
At the rear of the Pyro wing, Kaide and Blossom both selected fresh glasses of wine, the light-pink strawberry wine for which the Pyro branch was famous. They greeted a handful of other players, but none were anything but polite. Blossom bowed her head at each and smiled with such warmth, it was no wonder how she won them over so easily.
Maybe the night wouldn’t be as bad as he feared. By the time they made the turn toward the Hydra wing, he thought it possible they might survive the evening unscathed. As they passed the wall of trickling fountains, Kaide breathed easier when Blossom held out her hand to catch the cascading mist that filled the space. At least she was getting to see something new and interesting, just as she liked.
They greeted Syndicate Voltez in his flowing cerulean cloak, still scowling about the uprisings he hadn’t been able to quiet. Kaide did his best not to gloat over his own success, but instead, he quickly introduced Blossom, as he had with all the others, and moved her along.
Only one more to go.
One more pass across the apex, then the walk through the Aero wing to the elevator and down to the portals. He could almost taste it.
By then, Kaide had had enough. He needed to get out. As if the room were slowly losing air, he couldn’t stand idly at her side and pretend he wasn’t going to explode from the anticipation any longer. He was losing patience, all too eager to lose this façade and put his hands on her the way he wanted. He was too close to making a critical error in front of his peers.
It would cost him everything.
And so Kaide escorted Blossom to the apex one last time, eager to be on their way out.
There was just one thing left to do.
Blossom rolled her shoulders against the weight of her dress. Her feet ached from the unforgiving stone floor despite the thin shoes she wore. The pins pressed into her hair had already caused her head to ache.
It became increasingly harder to smile at all the new faces.
In part, she was tired and uncomfortable.—not ideal to meet anyone. But there was also the fact that Kaide whispered words of caution about each person as they passed. Oh, that one there killed animals in his youth. This one has had three wives, all dead now, but no one knows how he kills them. Her? She married him for his position and slips poison into his wine, killing him slowly.
Blossom had met nearly every person in the room and hadn’t found a single one she’d like to ever see again. She struggled to maintain her pleasant airs when she already knew the recipient was repulsive in one way or another.
The final time they reached the apex, Blossom looked through the Aero wing and saw the elevators at the far end. Nearly done. She tried not to show her excitement—they still had the full wing to traverse—but they were that much closer to going home.
Until Kaide stopped and turned to face her. With his head bowed low, he asked, “Ms. Frane, may I have this dance?”
Blossom’s mouth fell open. “Oh, well, I—I don’t know how.”
Kaide’s lips tugged into a small smile. “I would very much like to show you.”
She could only swallow the lump in her throat and nod her acceptance. Kaide held her hand in his with all the elegance and grace of his position as he led her to the dance floor. Couples mingled and dispersed between songs. Some left the dance space while others, like them, moved in.
Kaide spun her around to face him and rested his hand on her waist. Blossom tried to remember how Nerina had stood, where her hand had landed on his shoulder, but her mind raced.
“Do you like dancing?” Kaide whispered so only she could hear.
Blossom nodded. “I love dancing, but I don’t know the steps—” Her voice fell when she realized what a fool she was about to make of herself in front of all these important people.
“Well, you will have to stand a bit closer.” Kaide smirked as he pulled her hip against his so they stood with their bodies pressed together, their feet interlaced.
The sudden movement made her go rigid in his arms. Her heart pounded with his proximity, so loud in her ears she could barely hear the music begin.
“Don’t think about it. Move with me.” Kaide whispered in her ear as he stepped back, all but dragging her with him.
Blossom couldn’t begin to think about what her feet were doing or where they were supposed to be. Did she even have feet? All she could feel was the squeeze of his hand around hers, his torso pressing against the front of her dress, the throbbing of her pulse in her throat.
The air hummed with the Alder Mother’s song, echoing off the stone floors as they moved. Blossom tried to concentrate, to think about the steps and anticipate his movements, but over and over again she missed, stepping on his boot or landing with a foot awkwardly stuck out in the wrong direction. Still, he never lessened his grip, keeping her close to him. She could feel his breath on her cheek but didn’t dare to look up at those deep, dark pools. She’d never get through this if she caught sight of those eyes of his.
“Don’t be nervous. Relax.” His voice was like velvet.
“I’m not nervous,” she lied.
“You’re doing fine. I’ve waited all night to be this close to you.” Blossom wanted to kiss him and smack him all at once. How was she supposed to concentrate when he said things like that? And it wasn’t as if he hadn’t been touching her for every minute they’d been at the festival. Sure, the touches had been innocent—a hand on his arm, a palm low on her back—but aside from his previous dance with Nerina, they hadn’t been apart for a single moment.
But that didn’t really help now. She was as frazzled and jumbled as she’d been the first time they were this close—when he’d stood behind her and kissed her neck, slow at first, then hard and desperate until she’d pulled away and kissed him back.
“There you go,” he whispered.
“What?”
Kaide stepped them to the right, and this time, she knew it was coming, could feel the turn of his hip a half-second before. “You relaxed. You let me lead you. Have you decided not to be nervous around me?”
“Hardly,” she admitted. At least this time, she could blame her fiery cheeks on the dance, though of course he would know better.
“If you weren’t so stubborn, you’d know it was me who should be nervous. You’re the envy of every person in the room. The most beautiful woman they’ve seen in years, and smart and witty. They don’t even know what to do with themselves. The most powerful players in the realm have been fawning over you all night. You have nothing to be nervous about. I’m the one lucky enough to be with you.”
Blossom missed her step. She momentarily forgot they were dancing altogether and snagged his boot with the t
oe of her shoe, but that didn’t throw Kaide off balance. Rather than moving her along, he stopped in place and tilted her back. With a strong hand under her ribs, Kaide managed to lean her over backward so far her feet threatened to come off the ground.
And then he kissed her. Without warning or apology, he kissed her long and slow in the middle of the dance floor. Blossom held tight to his neck, struck with a sudden case of vertigo, afraid she would fall yet altogether confident he was never without control.
Then, long before she was ready, he pulled her back up to her feet. Blossom staggered from the lack of blood in her head or air in her lungs. The music continued to play and couples continued to dance around them. Everything was the same, but Blossom felt entirely altered.
As a Hydra couple sailed past, Blossom whispered. “I’m ready to go home.”
“As you wish, Beauty.” Kaide pulled her back into their dancing position, her hips pressed against him and his hand low on her back. For the rest of the song, they moved in time to the music. She made her best attempt at the steps, but in reality she didn’t care anymore.
She was done here.
Target
THE MUSIC FADED into the low chatter of the festival. Blossom and Kaide turned in unison toward the Aero wing that led to the elevators—then on to the portal, the transport, and finally, home—a long trip before it could be just the two of them again.
At least Kaide seemed equally eager to get home. He smiled and nodded, introducing her to the last few Vice Syndicates she hadn’t yet met, but there was no mistaking his desperate hurry.
It wasn’t until they crossed Vice Syndicate Mercer and her husband that they were delayed. “How are you enjoying your first Spring Ceremony?” Audra asked with a delighted grin, the metal ring in her nose glinting in the wavering lamplight. Blossom tried not to stare.
“I had a great time,” Blossom replied, and it was mostly true. An evening with Kaide could never be bad.
“You’re not leaving already?” Her forehead creased with worry, as if she would be wounded if they slipped out early.
“I’m afraid so,” Kaide answered.
“But I haven’t had the pleasure of asking Ms. Frane for a dance.” Jurra held out his hand for hers.
In reply, Kaide put a protective arm around her waist. “I’m sorry, we really must be—”
“I insist.” Jurra maintained his position, frozen as he waited for her hand.
Blossom swallowed her nerves and nodded. “I would be honored, sir.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Kaide whispered in her ear, turned away so they couldn’t see him.
“I can handle it. The sooner I do it, the sooner we can go.” Then to the Vice Syndicate’s husband, she smiled and extended her hand. As if it were nothing at all, she let go of Kaide and let Jurra lead her onto the dance floor.
“She really is lovely, Landel. You’ve done well for yourself. And if I didn’t know better, I’d say she was starting to fall for you.” Audra sipped her wine with a victorious smirk.
It was in that moment Kaide knew he’d made a grave error in bringing Blossom here. “Not that you would know anything about it. Is your heart of ice beginning to thaw?” Kaide tried to appear flippant in his insult. As much as she gave off the image of being involved with her husband, many such as Kaide knew it to be nothing more than a ruse to hide how they used each other for their respective positions.
Kaide looked out at the dance floor and watched Jurra pull Blossom around, her skirt swinging behind her as she moved. They were as rigid as boards, and several times, she managed to step on his boot or move away from him all wrong. It was almost charming to watch her try to learn the steps.
And he noted with satisfaction how she kept her arms stiff and locked, keeping herself as far away from him as possible.
His thoughts were interrupted by the ever-cynical Vice Syndicate Mercer. “Her dancing skills could use some improvement, but otherwise, I’d say you made an excellent choice. Jurra is certainly enjoying her company.”
Kaide exhaled a hot breath, long and slow. It was an arrow to the chest to watch her in the company of another man.
He was often annoyed by the way Mercer pretended to care about her ninny of a husband, but tonight, Kaide’s patience ran thinner than usual. What would he have to do to be rid of her?
Only a few more minutes. Even the Alder Mother’s spring songs couldn’t last forever. Kaide couldn’t wait to scoop his bride in his arms, carry her up his stairs, and sit with her as they read books and listened to the pre-war music he so loved. Even Audra couldn’t interfere with that.
But Kaide’s luck only worsened when Syndicate Waller approached with a pale Aero attendant trailing behind him. A portly middle-aged man with two metal hoops threaded through his eyebrow and the sagging cheeks of a bulldog, Waller didn’t wear the stress of his position well. “Vice Syndicate Landel,” he offered with a terse nod.
“Good evening, Syndicate Waller. I hope you’ve been enjoying the festivities.” Kaide bowed low as was expected.
“I hope my Vice Syndicate wasn’t being too unkind. She may look young and beautiful, but Mercer has a mean streak.” Waller put a hand on his gut and chuckled.
Audra only laughed and tilted her head to the side to reveal her owl totem tattoo. “I wouldn’t be very good at my job if I let everyone have their way all the time. Sometimes you have to do what is necessary, even if someone else doesn’t agree with you.”
Her knowing glare was a spear to his chest. Kaide knew Audra had been personally responsible for the misselection of his totem, but he couldn’t go about accusing her of anything. It was her job to administer totems, after all, though Kaide knew she took liberties with some assignments. Unfortunately for her, she’d earned him for an enemy.
For the thousandth time, Kaide vowed it would be her undoing. But his wrath wouldn’t end with Audra. It would spread to the Aero branch, and then the branch system in its entirety. It was only a matter of time.
He clenched his hands into fists and tried not to let the uprising of his vengeance show on his face. Instead, Kaide turned back to watch Blossom and Jurra, concentrating on the cut of her dress and each time she missed a step. Just seeing her at a distance calmed him.
“You see that one,” Audra said to the Syndicate as she pointed. “That’s Landel’s new bride. Quite a lovely young creature, isn’t she?”
Syndicate Waller put a hand on the rounded distention of his belly. “Oh yes, I had the pleasure of meeting her earlier this evening. A fiery young woman. Though, I didn’t catch her totem. What was it, Landel?”
Kaide cursed his luck. He straightened up and turned back to the Aero leaders. “She hasn’t undergone transformation. Her family has a long history of bears, so I expect she’ll follow her lineage.”
“One can never be sure.” Audra swirled her wine in her crystal glass and widened her eyes to look as innocent as possible, but Kaide knew her to be calculating and cruel. She wouldn’t rest until she got what she wanted no matter the cost. And he’d just supplied her next target.
There was no denying it. Jurra was an excellent dancer and Blossom was a terrible one. At least, she was terrible in a dress tight around the middle of her thighs and trying to follow steps she’d never done before.
At home in her bear clan, she’d been one of the best dancers. But here in the company of realm leaders, she was all stumbles and squashed toes. Jurra managed to step on her foot at least twice, though it was probably her fault. She grimaced through the pain and kept going.
Blossom was too distracted with the memory of dancing with Kaide. In the same room, moving to the same music, it should have felt the same, but dancing with Jurra was the far extreme. He didn’t make her heart hammer or her cheeks rush with heat. He didn’t hold her as close—thankfully—and his words were anything but intense.
“Such a long way from the Alderwood and yet you dance so well,” Jurra offered his empty compliment. They both knew she was awful.<
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“I’m still learning.” It was the most diplomatic thing she could think to say.
“You are a quick study.” His praise seemed genuine, though she was distracted by the gemstones embedded in the corners of his mouth. She imagined it would be quite painful to have holes punctured in your flesh, and yet he didn’t seem bothered by them. “Do you know what your totem will be? I imagine a gazelle or perhaps a swan. Something that matches your grace and beauty.”
Blossom was tempted to snort her laughter. A swan? Clearly he didn’t know her at all. Blossom was more haggard old badger than delicate water bird. “I come from a clan of brown bears.”
“I could see you as a bear. I hope you’ll let me know the result of your transformation. It’s always interesting to see what totems people earn, which part of them is the strongest.” Jurra managed to half-step just in time to avoid crushing her toes.
Blossom cringed when his foot landed close to hers, but she kept her composure. “My transformation is three days away. I’m sure Kaide’s business will bring us together again.”
“Yes, I’m sure it will.” Jurra stepped back from her, and she realized the song had ended and the couples had dispersed. He held her hand in his and bowed low. “Thank you for the exquisite dance, Ms. Frane.”
Blossom did her best to bow in return. Then they returned to their respective partners where they stood halfway down the Aero wing.
“Your young bride is an excellent dancer, Vice Syndicate. Quite a gifted young woman.” Jurra grinned as he handed her off to Kaide like she was nothing more than a pretty flower.
“Yes, she is. Good night, Syndicate Waller. Vice Syndicate.” Kaide only nodded to Jurra and the other young Aero behind them before he turned Blossom toward the elevators.
Kaide was more stiff and silent than usual. Blossom immediately knew something was wrong. “Don’t tell me you’re upset I danced with him.”
“I didn’t enjoy it, no. But that’s for a later discussion. Now it’s time to go home.” Kaide ignored each and every person they passed from that point on. A handful of Aeros lingered in their wake, but he didn’t so much as slow as they reached the end of the wing and filed into the first open elevator.