“Are you quite all right?”

The concern in his tone makes me want to gag.

I jerk upright, and my stumble isn’t even that feigned this time. The blood rushes back to my head. Two strong hands clasp my shoulders to keep me upright and steady.

For a brief moment, my body tenses as I raise my eyes to meet his. They are the same cold gray they were before, but now, one golden eyebrow is arched. The corners of his lips tilt upward in amusement.

His gaze lowers. It rakes across my throat, my décolleté, my chest and lands squarely on my bodice.

“Had a bit too much to drink, have we?”

His finger digs into the meat of my arms as I fight to offer him a wobbly smile.

“What—hic—gave it away?”

Kiki is by far the better actress. She would be doing much better in my place, but I would never wish that cold gray gaze on her. I would serve myself up to Cristobal a thousand times over to prevent him from every sullying her life any more than he already has. Probably.

He is not innocent. I know that much. For all my many flaws, I am an excellent judge of character.

“The wine all over your lovely dress,” he says. “Though I can’t say I blame you. Freedom is a heady thing, is it not?” And then, the son of a bitch winks at me. “I hear the masked balls in the Potosí jail aren’t nearly as nice as this one.”

“I was just…” I glance around like a puzzled gazelle. Frown. “This isn’t the washroom.”

A delicate chuckle tumbles from Cristobal’s lips. “Indeed. It is not.” He releases my shoulders, allowing me to sway in space. “Shall I perhaps escort you back to the ballroom?”

I twirl, hands out to my sides, arms undulating to music only I can hear. “Oh, a ball. How lovely. I do so love to—hic—dance.”

Cristobal offers me his arm. After the thinnest moment of hesitation, I take it. It is tense and quiet as he guides me back through the twisting corridors to the ballroom. Something inside me loosens when I hear the sound of a lively saraband.

When we get to the doors, he pauses. A footman waits for his signal to open them. “It was my pleasure to accompany you, but I am afraid this is as far as I go.” He releases my hand. “Do be mindful of where you go sniffing around. You never know what you might find.” His smile is thin and mirthless. “I would so hate to see harm befall a girl as lovely as yourself.”

He reaches out to brush a lock of hair over my shoulder. It takes everything I have not to yank up my skirt and grab my shiny new dagger and bury it in his throat.