I glanced helplessly at Dair, but he begged me with his eyes to play along. Be the good little assassin that everyone expected me to be. And good little assassins didn’t castrate kings. No matter how tempting it might've been.
Flashing a smile I had perfected in the mirror, I allowed the Shifter King to guide me to the top of the stairs. It was a Cinderella moment...only I had seven princes instead of one.
And a murderous, sadistic king leading me down the stairs.
The ballroom was beautiful, I noticed immediately. It was a different room than the one we had held the feast in so many weeks ago - the feast that had resulted in hundreds of deaths and my position as the Kings' assassin. A powerful Mage had performed a spell that had killed everyone in the room, including the young ladies participating in The Matching.
The Matching was a competition for the princes, my mates, to find their wives.
My jealousy, once more, prickled into awareness, but I pushed it aside. They were mine now. Any woman they might’ve been with in the past was only that...a part of their past. Heaven only knew I hadn’t arrived into this relationship a virgin.
Shaking my head, I focused once more on the spacious room. A seven-tiered chandelier hung directly in the center of the room, providing the only light visible. The ceiling was an intricately crafted combination of gold and wood. Tiny angels were intermingled with carved flowers and swooping vines. The walls, too, were made of wood, various pillars protruding outwards.
The entire space felt elegant, as if I had stepped back in time thousands of years ago.
The second thing I noticed was the people. Hundreds of them, all elaborately dressed. The women wore puffy dresses, a variety of colors, and the men wore suits similar to Dair's. Hair was coiffed, slicked back, curled. Everyone was the epitome of beauty and perfection.
And all eyes were on me as I descended the staircase. Shock, curiosity, horror, desire...they all blended together as the Nightmares looked, for the first time, at their new assassin. I wondered who these people were.
High-ranking officials? Nobles?
I tried to keep my anxiousness in check as I met each person's gaze. Men and women alike were staring at me, enthralled. Why wouldn't they be? I was an enigma. A woman and a human who had won The Damning.
I wondered how many of these people knew the truth of who I was, and how many thought I was a normal noble.
Devlin's violet eyes peered up at me from the back of the crowd. His mouth was parted slightly, wonder and awe emanating from him in palpable waves. Beside him stood Killian and Bash. The two of them had similar expressions on their faces, though Bash looked pissed too. Probably because he felt desire towards me at all.
I scanned the crowd with a newfound eagerness now that I knew my mates were lurking nearby.
I spotted Jax next, arm linked with Atta's. I normally would've been jealous, but his gaze wasn't on the beautiful woman beside him. It was on me. Only me. As if I was the only girl in the entire world.
It took me another moment to find Lupe. His large, burly body was leaning against a wall. His eyes roamed me from head to toe, lust darkening his features. He took a step closer, as if he intended to grab me from his father, before releasing a pent-up breath and stepping back into his corner.
A Shadow stood beside him, clothed in darkness.
For a brief moment, those shadows departed to reveal the face of my mate I had only ever seen once. Just for me, Ryland released the shadows. Just for me, he showed me his face. I gaped, stunned, as he smiled cheekily at me. Just as quickly, the shadows reappeared, once more obscuring his face from view. I was momentarily struck speechless, and I couldn't help but wonder if I had imagined the exchange.
"We have some people we want you to meet," the Shifter King said coyly. A sinister smile lit up his face.
He led me to the center of the room where the Mermaid King and Incubus King were laughing. Both men stopped when they saw me, and their eyes flashed with something akin to hunger. It made the previous prickle of unease turn into full-blown wariness.
"Z! As lovely as ever!" The Incubus King took a step towards me, planting kisses on both of my cheeks. I held perfectly still until he finally pulled away. His power briefly caressed me causing my nipples to harden. His smirk told me he knew exactly what he had done.
Asshole.
"Z." The Mermaid King nodded in greeting, but his eyes were hooded as they made a slow perusal of my form. I was modestly dressed, but I felt as if I had walked into the ballroom naked.
"I should wait for my date, your majesties," I said, once more scanning the crowd for my mates. I could see Devlin, Bash, and Killian lunging forward on one side, and Lupe parting the crowd on the other. I didn't see Ryland, but that didn't necessarily surprise me. For all I knew, he was already beside me, invisible to the naked eye.
"Date?" The Mermaid King straightened with interest. "Is Tavvy treating you good?"
"Tavvy?" I blinked once. "No, Dair is my date."
The King's face puckered and pursed as if he had eaten something sour. A vein in his forehead throbbed angrily.
I realized, then, that I had said something I wasn't supposed to. It became abundantly clear that Dair had been lying when he had stolen me away from Tavvy.
Shit.
Feigning nonchalance, I shrugged. "Nobody came to pick me up, so I had to walk to the ball by myself. I met up with Dair near
