Ana opens her mouth, no doubt to say something truly insulting, but I yank my hand out of Sebastian’s and wrap it tightly around Ana’s arm. “And what a happy family we will be.”

It almost breaks my heart to see how those words make my father seem a little lighter. A little less broken.

If only he knew.

I have no intention of marrying this man. Not if he is any way affiliated with the man who killed my brother.

But I will use him. Oh, I will use the ever-loving hell out of him if it means I get my way.

Sebastian straightens. “I’ll send a carriage for you.”

I’m already tugging Ana toward the stairs. “Much obliged,” I call over my shoulder. I don’t have time to waste on pleasantries. I have a masked ball for which I must prepare. And it’s such a hassle hiding weapons in an evening gown.

CHAPTER 27

Kiki

I am a creature of words.

I live them. I breathe them. They were my saving grace when I needed them most. Wrapping myself in stories of faraway places and fantastical lands was sometimes all that kept me afloat in my darkest hours, when I was alone and afraid and too terribly small to make a difference in my own life.

But now, as I stand at the base of the stairs watching Ana descend, words have failed me entirely.

She is resplendent.

That is the only term that can possibly encapsulate her in this moment.

The dress is perfectly suited to her. Soft gold details curl around the edges of rich cinnamon velvet. The silk of her bodice has been painted to look as soft and touchable as fur. My hands twitch with the urge to reach out and do just that. My whole body feels pulled toward her. I want to rise to meet her, to burn myself on that fire like Icarus with his wings of wax and dreams. I know doing so will hurt but I absolutely cannot bring myself to care.

A smile tugs at the corners of her lips as she sees me staring.

“Like what you see?”

The vixen. She knows that I do.

She comes to a halt a few steps above me, so she’s peering down at me through the mask that obscures the top half of her face. It is a delicate thing, like gilded gossamer. The filigree twists and twines about her features, rising up into two foxlike ears.

A perfect costume choice, really. What is a fox if not clever and cunning? Sleek and beautiful. Soft to the touch but with fangs as ferocious as any predator.

In other words, my Ana.

“The gold suits you.” It is the purest of my thoughts in this moment and therefore, the only one I unleash into the air.

A smirk alights on her mouth, as if she knows how much I’m holding back.