“Stardust. About twenty thousand years ago there was a meteor shower. Some of the stars fell and landed in the mountains surrounding the Dream Realm. When the rocks are ground to a fine powder and mixed with water from the Day Realm, it can glow for years.”
“Star power,” she whispers, chuckling. “You’ve been holding out on me. I thought I had a good idea of what your home is like, but it’s unlike anything I’ve ever imagined.”
Music starts up, and her hand spasms in mine, showing her nerves.
“It’ll be fine,” I reassure her.
“What dance are we supposed to do?”
She has nothing to worry about. She could do these steps in her sleep. “Remember the second one I taught you?”
“You mean the one with all the elbow touching and circling each other?”
I laugh. “Exactly.”
“Well.” She shrugs. “I guess this is my chance to impress everyone with my skills. If there’s one thing I know, it’s how to cut up a fae dance floor.”
A harpist plucks out the beginning of the song, and a flute joins in. As we begin to move, I can feel the anxious energy running off Quinn, but I couldn’t be more content.
Gracefully orbiting around each other, I murmur, “Tonight will be the first time I ever actually enjoy one of these ridiculous events.”
“Yeah, what’s up with that? Earlier, you said you don’t celebrate birthdays, but this sure looks like a party to me.”
I grunt. “Since the curse, every evening of my birthday we’ve had a ball under the guise that it’s an annual celebration. Really, it’s a ploy my parents put together. An attempt to find my mate. They invite all the nobles, thinking surely my destined partner will be amongst the females.”
I’ve always despised it. The women who dance with me either pity me or want me for the crown. Enduring their tittering, fawning, and fake laughs is torture. I’d rather be getting poked with iron needles.
But with Quinn here to claim me, I won’t have to go through that.
Thank the constellations.
“Oh, I see.” Quinn’s mood suddenly takes a dive. “I’m getting some pretty dirty looks right now. I don’t think the women are very happy that I’m stealing you.”
“Are you jealous, young one?”
“Yes,” she says, straightforward and a little sad. “Every day, when you left me, you got to have your own dance. Without me. It shouldn’t bother me, but it does. After hanging out with me, you came here and searched for your mate.”
“You’re wrong about two things—first, yes, it should bother you. If you were okay with me being with someone else, I’d be insulted. I’m yours and you’re mine. Period. Second, I didn’t search for anyone. The only reason I went along with it was to appease my parents and make the people happy. Look around. Do you see the smiling faces? The laughter? They’re not here for me. They never were. They come for the drinks and the music.”
“I can’t believe that’s true. I know it’s been a long time since you were able to look in a mirror, but, Kirian… you’re so handsome it hurts.”
Male pride swells within me. I don’t know if what she says is true, but her opinion is all that matters. “Fae females are extremely vain. They don’t want to be with someone who can’t appreciate their outer beauty.”
“They are gorgeous,” Quinn agrees, smoothly moving through a twirl. “I mean, all of them could be models. It’s intimidating for someone like me.”
“Quinn, your heart is a thousand times more beautiful than they could ever be.”
“In the human world, that’s exactly the kind of thing someone says when you’re ugly,” she says wryly. “But thank you.”
I halt, messing up the steps of the dance to press her hand to my chest. “I hope to own your beautiful heart, your sweet lips, your perfect face, your soft hair, and your body.”
She blushes so violently warmth emanates from her face. “People heard you.”
“Good. I’m not giving up until I have every part of you, and after tonight, everyone will know it.”
Stepping close, she grabs the lapels of my jacket to tug me down so she can whisper, “Wanna hear a secret?” Her sweet scent makes me dizzy, and I sway forward until my nose is buried in her hair. “I don’t think I could ever belong with someone else, even if I tried.”
Her unwavering feelings for me are a welcome reminder. She’s never been touched by another man, just as I’ve never experienced physical intimacy with another woman.
When it comes to Quinn, I’m selfish. I want her all to myself. It’s why I kept her a secret for so long.
A single slow clap interrupts the end of the song, and the musicians go quiet. The women of the room suddenly giggle and sigh—even the mated ones are reacting like smitten schoolgirls.
Several whisper, “Pretty boy.”
They’re not talking about me.
There’s only one person who could elicit that kind of reaction in my kingdom.
Separating from Quinn, I turn to the source of excitement. “King Damon. I wasn’t sure if you’d show up.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to, but I had a visit with a witch a few days ago, and she told me I’d want to be here for your party.” He saunters toward us, his footsteps a distinct lazy drag. “She was right.”
He holds out his arm. I accept the handshake, gripping his forearm while he squeezes mine.
“I’ve missed you, cousin,” I say, pulling him in for a manly hug, complete with a few slaps on the back.
Our fathers might not get along, but Damon is one of my closest friends, even if we don’t see each other often.
“Congratulations are in order,” he says. “When I heard you’d be taking a mate, I didn’t believe it.”
“Hang on,”
