Page 81 of A Touch of Poison
31
Kat
The week after our return fell back into a routine. Exploring the city (and its jewellers). Training with Faolán a couple of times a week. Attempting to learn some control over my magic… andfailing.
Rose kept up her hopeful smile, but I sank deeper into despair. I hadn’t been able to make contact with any power inside me. I could only unreliably affect the stains on my fingers.
At least Bastian wasn’t avoiding me. Not deliberately, anyway—his work just kept him busy, so we only tended to see each other for dinner or lunch.
This all disappointed Ella, who seemed convinced that somehow us spending time alone together on the road would’ve resulted in us sleeping together. “You, him, a campfire…Onecosy bed in the hayloft. I have no idea how nothing happened, to be honest.”
I was just glad to have her back, even if I had to force myself to sit on a separate settee so I didn’t forget myself and touch her.
By the time the ball arrived, Rose and I had visited every jeweller in the city. No one admitted to making the necklace, so my investigation hinged on Caelus. He’d be there tonight—I’d managed to get that piece of information out of Brynan.
Outside, the sun dipped towards the horizon as I slipped a hip flask ofarianmêlin a thigh garter and dressed in deep, glimmering purple, close to black. It almost matched the stains on my fingers, I realised as I patted raspberry-toned rouge on my lips.
Ari had given me a little pot of powder that disappeared on the skin until it caught the light in iridescent gold and violet, and I dusted that over the high points of my cheeks and my collarbones. A few specks caught in my hair, and I laughed as I watched the effect in the mirror.
I almost looked fae.
Tugging on a pair of sheer black gloves with lace cuffs, I headed into the sitting room. I looked the part. Gods willing, I’d be able to play it, too.
My stomach bubbled with nerves, and I poured a glass of brandy to settle myself. Except Bastian only kept regular spirits in our suite. No little drunken buzz for me.
I was putting the decanter back when a knock sounded at the door. Urien strode in, carrying a large case. “Clothing delivery.A lotof clothing.” He raised his eyebrows, and I suddenly felt self-conscious, so when he offered to take it to my room, I declined the offer.
As soon as he left and I tried to lift the case, I regretted it. Ari had mentioned she was throwing in “a few extras”—she and I had very different definitions of “a few.”
I was bent over, half carrying, half dragging it towards my room when the door to the antechamber opened and Bastian appeared.
His eyes bulged, and when I looked down I realised why—my cleavage was… very cleavage-y—almost escaping my gown’s low neckline, in fact.
He cleared his throat as I straightened. “Hiding a body?”
“Just one.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “Oh, well, in that case.” He shrugged like it was no big deal and came closer. “I’ll take care of it.”
I wasn’t sure if he was still talking about the fictional body or the case.
“I got you something. Somethings, actually.” He pulled a flat box from his inside pocket.
“You didn’t—”
“Are we really going to have this conversation? ‘Bastian, you didn’t have to.’ ‘No, Kat, but I wanted to. That’s how gifts work.’” He cocked his head. “Anything more to add?”
It seemed the Bastian I knew from Albion had woken today. I wasn’t sure what to call him. Playful Bastian? Intimate Bastian?
Devastating Bastian?
Somehow I swallowed and raised one shoulder like he wasn’t quite so devastating in his perfectly tailored jacket that he’d left unbuttoned to reveal the sheer black shirt beneath.
“Onlythank you.”
Inside lay a pair of gloves that matched my gown—sheer, blackened purple with flecks that glittered in the light. “How did you…?” I blinked up at him.
“I have spies everywhere. It wasn’t so difficult to find out what you planned to wear, and Ariadne owed me a favour, so…”
