Page 131 of House of Crimson Cloak and Silver Teeth

The music continues and the festival goes on. But standing here in this small pocket of shadow near the wall, it feels like we’re the only two people in the room.

“You danced with her,” I say quietly. "With Rhianelle Wiolant."

The words that slip out sound more like jealousy than the warning I’m supposed to convey.

Garrett doesn’t look away from me. “It would have been incredibly rude to not dance with the Queen.”

“I need to tell you something,” I say, lowering my voice even further. “About her. About what she—”

“Not here.” Garrett glances around at the nearby nobles, checking if anyone is paying attention to us.

No one is. They’re too absorbed in their own conversations and dancing. But we’re still too exposed for this conversation.

“Later. When we’re somewhere private,” he dismisses quickly.

“Garrett—”

“Dance with me.”

The request catches me completely off guard. “What?”

“Dance with me,” he repeats, holding out his hand. His green eyes are bright with challenge. “You’re here. So dance with me.”

“No.” The refusal comes out flat and immediate.

“Why not?” Garrett’s hand is still extended between us, waiting.

Everyone will see us. He is drunk and not thinking clearly. I cross my arms over my chest. “I don’t dance. I don’t … I don’t know how.”

The admission feels like pulling teeth. Garrett’s face softens. Some of the challenge in his face fades, replaced by understanding.

“I could teach you.” His voice drops lower, intimate despite the crowd around us. “It’s not complicated. Just follow my lead.”

“Garrett—”

“One dance, Wolf. That’s all I’m asking.” He takes another step closer and now we’re definitely too close for propriety.

Fucking hell, we’re close enough that I can see the flush in his cheeks.

“You came all this way,” he teases. “Don’t tell me you came just to lurk in the shadows and watch.”

I came to warn him and get him to safety.

All right, maybe I wanted to see him. Perhaps after facing death in that garden, I needed to see with my own eyes that Garrett was alive and whole and safe.

“I came to make sure you weren’t doing anything stupid,” I say under my breath.

His smile is sharp, almost bitter. “Too late for that.”

“There are people trying to assassinate you.” I keep my voice low but the frustration bleeds through anyway. “You’re making yourself vulnerable in a room full of potential threats—”

“I’m living my life, Wolf,” he interrupts, his hand dropping back to his side. “I’m just enjoying one night before everything goes to hell.”

The pain in his voice stops me cold.

“That’s not what I meant,” I say, gentler this time. I want to tell him about the failed assassination attempt. Kitty and I came so close to solving this problem permanently.

“I’m just drinking and pretending for a few hours that I’m not condemned.” He’s not smiling anymore. The mask of carefree nobility has cracked just enough for me to see the exhaustion underneath. “I want to dance with you.”