“Good plans take time. But while I cannot speak on Apex’s suitability as a mate, I can assure you that for as long as I have known him, all of his actions have been honorable.”
“Then you haven’t known him for very long,” I said, thinking back to that countess he’d told me about. He’d slept with her because Idria told him to, gotten information from her, then gotten her executed. Not exactly honorable, as far as I was concerned. “I think for as long as he’s under Idria’s thumb, he can’t really be trusted, can he?”
“You must understand, Atlanta, politics on Lunaria are…complex. Especially for the specters. Idria always acts with her own best interests at heart, but I think of late, her own goals have aligned less and less with what is good for our planet, our people.” Ronan held my gaze, his purple eyes clear and honest-looking. “Things can change. People can change. Even specters. Tell me, for as long as you have been here, has anything Apex done resulted in harm coming to you?”
“No,” I admitted. He had a point there. “Even when it seemed like he was screwing me over, it was only so he could get something better for me later on. He got me out of the dungeons, only to get me thrown in another cage…but I guess, since I’m here dancing with you now, that was just another movement in this big game he’s playing, huh?”
“Guessing Apex’s game is a frustrating pastime,” Ronan agreed. “But as I said. For as long as I have known him, he has always shown bravery in battle and cleverness in his dealings with Idria. One cannot always guess his next move, but my faith in him has never been misplaced.”
“I don’t like dancing with people when I can’t anticipate their next steps,” I said with a giggle as I sensed that Ronan wanted to spin me. The motion was fluid and effortless, almost like we’d planned it.
“Apex and I are very different people,” Ronan said. “But he will not fail you if you can trust him to lead.”
By the time the dance ended, my worries were a little more at ease. Ronan was easy to trust, and Gallix was so bombastic and good-natured that it was hard to believe he was anything but trustworthy himself.
If they trusted Apex, then I could too.
I had to, if I ever wanted to get out of this place.
“You have been so busy tonight, Atlanta,” Apex purred from behind me. I almost jumped; I hadn’t felt him approach. “Have you saved a dance for me?”
“You know I’ve always got time for you.” I gestured at the dancers, who seemed to have recovered from Gallix’s bumbling waltz. “What else is there to do here?”
“An excellent point.” Apex offered me his hand, just like he had earlier. This time, there was no one to steal me away before I could take it. “Then for this dance, you will be mine.”
The music slowed as we went out onto the floor. Apex pulled me close with one hand wound around my waist, one hand wrapped around my own. My body hummed with excitement at his touch. When I stared up into his eyes, they were black as ever…but there was a warmth in them, too. One that I was becoming more and more accustomed to seeing when he looked at me.
I just hoped that Gallix and Ronan were right. Not just for my safety here on Nightmoor…but for the safety of my heart, too.
“What are you thinking about, Atlanta?”
“Huh?” I blinked as I realized how long I’d been staring at him. “Nothing. It’s just…it’s a nice night, isn’t it?”
“It is,” he said, smiling gently. “But I feel as though you were not merely musing on the pleasantness of the evening.”
I lowered my gaze and sighed. “There’s no keeping anything from you, is there?”
“Not generally speaking, no.”
“Right.”
When I met his gaze again, I had to bite my lip to stop from just blurting it out. Did I dare tell him the real reason I’d been worrying about trusting him lately?
In the end, it probably didn’t matter.
If he was really so clever, he probably already knew.
“It’s just…” I took a deep breath. Okay. Here goes. “I think I’m falling in—”
A loud noise from the other end of the ballroom cut me off. The doors were flung open with a boom! that sent the wine in every glass rippling and the other dancers scurrying to the sides of the room in fear.
Should we have been running, too? When I looked up at Apex, he was standing his ground.
When I saw the files of red-skinned soldiers spilling into the ballroom and the alien woman who was standing behind them all, I knew why.
She was nearly as tall as Apex himself, with narrow hips and a boyish waist. Her chest was almost as flat as a man’s, but the way she moved was sultry and sensual. Undeniably female. She wore a long, revealing black gown with billowing sleeves, the same color as her long, thick mane of hair.
Her eyes were black like Apex’s as well, and her lips were blood red.
“My lady,” Apex breathed as she approached on the arm of another red-skinned man. He was as tall as Apex, with long, bone-white horns. One was broken at the tip, but it only made him look even more sinister. I had a feeling that whoever had broken it probably hadn’t lived to tell the tale.
“Apex. My most loyal agent.” Idria smiled at him. It was like I was invisible. She didn’t even spare me a glance. “You have met my husband-to-be, the Rutharian king?”
“I have
