When we get back to the castle, Zeke deposits me in my room for a few hours of rest. He kisses me on the forehead, but I can already tell that cool, calculating reserve has come back. His King mask is on. The Zeke I’ve slowly caught glimpses of is well hidden away now.
Just perfect.
At least now I know the real Zeke is under the mask. At least now I know I have the power to coax him out of his shell.
I collapse on the bed and close my eyes. I picture our experiences and things we’ve done. The past few hours have been a whirlwind. He took me to the skies. Zeke flew me through his kingdom and made love to me in the wilderness. Surely that has to count for something. Surely that has to mean something to him.
I know it did to me.
He’s a bit hot and cold, but I’m beginning to think I understand Zeke a little bit better. He has to be cold because he’s the king. He has to be cold because if anyone knew what was precious to him, they could use it against him.
Maybe that’s why he pushed me away so fast.
Maybe that’s the real reason he doesn’t want to get married.
But according to the rules of the planet, according to tradition that even the King himself cannot change, Zeke has to marry. He’ll have to find a wife. If he doesn’t within the next year, he’ll be forced to allow one of the other rulers to take his place.
I wonder if it will be Dane.
Maybe that’s why they’re so close these days.
Only, it doesn’t seem like Zeke has any plans for giving up the castle. It seems like the only thing that really interests him is power. He likes to be in charge. He likes getting what he wants.
Part of me wonders if he’ll choose me, after all. There’s nothing wrong with having a human queen. Taneyemm doesn’t care about royal bloodlines when it comes to the bride. What it cares about is following the rules, and one of them is that when you’re 35, you get married.
Perhaps Zeke isn’t worried about what people think, though. Perhaps he’s worried about something else. I wonder if Zeke views me as too much of a risk. Maybe Zeke likes me a little too much for his own comfort. Maybe he wonders if he’ll spend his remaining years worrying about my safety if we wed.
Maybe it will be better for him to keep me as his human girl and nothing more.
Slowly, my thoughts begin to choke me, and my body loses consciousness. I drift off to sleep and when I wake up, I see May standing over me.
“What time is it?” I say groggily, sitting up. I rub my head. Everything hurts. I guess that’ll teach me not to stay up so damn late.
All night.
“Late,” she says, only she’s giving me a weird look and I’m not sure why.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“You weren’t in your room last night.”
“How do you know where I was or wasn’t?” I glare at May, suddenly irritated. My head is pounding and all I want is to be alone.
“I…was worried about you,” she says hesitantly. “You’ve seemed a bit tense lately.”
“No, I just don’t like these stupid parties.” I sigh and drop my head in my hands. I super do not want to go. I know Zeke said he wants me to be his eyes and ears. I know he’s worried about Star. I know he says anything could happen.
It’s just that I’m tired. I’m tired of everything. I wish Zeke would make up his mind about how he feels about me. I wish I had some sort of normalcy in my routine. I wish May would stop looking at me like there’s something wrong with me.
“I’m not sick,” I say, trying to convince her, but she doesn’t look convinced.
“Whatever you say. You still need to go shower and get cleaned up.” She motions to a dress hanging on a hook on the wall. It’s insanely beautiful, just like all the other dresses. This one is green with a deep, plunging neckline that’s going to showcase my breasts. The gown is long and flowing. Once again, I’m going to feel like a beautiful princess without a prince.
“That’s insane,” I say, and she nods.
“It really is beautiful.”
“What about you?” I ask, climbing out of bed and stretching. “Are you coming to this thing?”
“No. I’ll be managing the kitchen,” May says. “Now hurry up and go shower. I’m going to need to do your hair.”
***
Once I’m clean, dry, and dressed in only a towel, I sit down so May can work her magic. I don’t know how she does it. Somehow, she manages to transform even the darkest circles beneath my eyes into something clean and pure and smooth.
By the time she’s finished with me, I look amazing.
“Not bad for a human,” she murmurs, almost indiscernibly, but I hear her. What does she mean by that? Once again, I want to ask May where she comes from, but she’s always avoided the question in the past, so I don’t bother. She wouldn’t tell me anyway and the question would only irritate her. “Take a look,” she says.
I turn to look in the mirror and I choke back a gasp. My hair is pulled back and pinned up. A few tendrils hang down, framing my face. She’s given me smoky eyes that bring out the deep brown.
What will Zeke think?
What will any of them think?
I don’t look anything like myself and somehow, that’s okay with me. Somehow, this version of me that’s fancy, that’s delicate, that’s royalty, is okay. It’s alright.
“May, you’re the best,” I say. I stand to get a better look at myself. Then I spend a few minutes twisting and turning in front of the mirror. Even though I’ve been around mirrors for four years now, they’re still difficult to get used to. Before I landed a spot on the ship to Taneyemm, I hadn’t seen a mirror in ages. Part of me is still coming to terms with this new version of me.
Before the wars, I was a little girl. I had skinned knees and long monkey arms and stringy hair.
And now?
Now I’m this adult version of my childhood self that I don’t quite recognize. I think I like myself most of the time, but sometimes I still feel like the woman staring back at me is a stranger.
Like she couldn’t possibly understand what it’s like to be me.
May and I head down to the banquet hall. There’s going to be a formal dinner before the dancing begins. She gives me a hug at the entrance and heads back to the kitchens to make sure everything is going according to plan with the food.
There are plenty of people milling about, but tonight, I just need to focus on one thing: Star.
Zeke is worried about her. He’s afraid someone is going to try to get her, to steal her away. I don’t think Zeke or Lee would ever let that happen, but who really knows?
Glancing around, I don’t see Star in the foyer. If she’s already arrived, she’ll probably be inside the banquet hall. I nod to the guards and they move to let me by.
When I walk inside, I smile at the sheer beauty surrounding me. I’ve been here many times, but it never gets old. Round tables fill the room. There must be over a hundred of them. At the end of the room is a long, straight table where Zeke, Dane, and Star will sit, along with other important visitors. I won’t sit there because I’m not royalty, but I will be at a table close by since I’m Zeke’s human.
Each table is topped with a white tablecloth and a vase with different types of flowers. Each vase is the same shape and color, but the flowers inside are different based on where each visitor at the table is from. The visitors from Orchid have one type of flower, while the visitors from Reslenoau have a different one. It’s a thoughtful way to show respect to the guests while celebrating unity at the same time. At the tables hosting visitors from multiple planets, the bouquets are incredibly colorful and even more gorgeous than I could have imagined they would be.
The room is already filling up and many of the tables are full. Men and women in tuxedos and gowns are mulling around, sitting, laughing, talking, and drinking. The servers wander through in their bright clothing. They look classy, but they definitely stand out from the crowd. The women wear short red dresses and the men wear black tuxedos with red shirts. If you need more food or alcohol, it’s easy to figure out where to go and who to talk to.
I don’t notice May and I wonder if she’s going to be staying in the kitchen all night or if she’ll come out at some point. It would be nice to get to spend some time with her.
Unfortunately, I don’t get to think about it for too long because just then, I notice Star. She’s standing by herself at the end of the main table, but she looks distraught. She looks sad. What the hell?
Why would she be sad tonight?
Surely she knows Zeke and Dane will do anything to protect her.
And Lee would absolutely, positively do anything.
There’s no doubt in my mind Lee would die for Star if he needed to. That boy is smitten and I wonder why they aren’t together. Maybe there’s some morbid history there I don’t know about.
Moving quickly through the crowd, I forget about the growing urge to get a drink. Something tells me comforting her is more important than vodka right now, so I push through the crowd and gently dart around other people who just won’t seem to get out of the way.
When I’m close to Star, a man approaches her and begins to speak. She smiles and hugs him, so I step behind a pillar to give them a moment. I don’t want to be too close right now. If she’s greeting an old friend or a business associate, she doesn’t need me lollygagging at them.
As soon as I step back, I’m shrouded in darkness. There are several pillars at this end of the room because they mask the entrances to the kitchens. This way, the servants can glide seamlessly in and out of the room. The party guests won’t see into the kitchens and can’t hear the noise, and the servers can each take a moment in the darkness around the pillars to get everything under control before they have to go take care of the guests.
From my vantage point, I realize this is really a great spot to see into the room. I can see Zeke as he enters the room from the main entrance, where I came in. My heart skips a beat as I watch him. He looks so handsome, but nothing compares to what I know lies beneath the surface.
I got to see him as a dragon.
A real-life, honest-to-goodness dragon.
I get the feeling that Zeke doesn’t let people in too often. The fact that he’s shown his true self to me means a lot. It means he trusts me, at least a little. It means he’s trying.
Suddenly, I hear voices from behind me, and I slink back, closer to the pillar I’m next to.
“It has to be tonight,” one of the voices says in Drakonai.
“If she would ever leave his side, the grab would be easier.”
The voices are hushed, and I realize they don’t want to be overheard. One is female and one is male.
Fuck.
Are they talking about Star?
Could it really be?
I peek out and see she’s still talking to the man, but Lee is nearby. Of course he is. He’s always close to her. The fact that he’s in love with her is no secret, but why aren’t they together? Did she have to wait until today to be “available”? I don’t know, but I don’t want to push my luck by asking too many questions. I don’t want to be the nosy girl that nobody likes.
“We need a distraction,” the female voice continues. “He needs something to pry him away from her.”
“Nothing will do that,” the male voice scoffs. “Nothing short of hurting the King, anyway.”
“Then we hurt the King,” the female hisses. “Get it done.” I hear her footsteps receding and I know I have to warn Zeke and Lee. Hell, I need to warn Star. When I turn back around, the man is walking away from her and I realize this is my chance to warn her. I start to move, begin to head over to her, but I only take two steps before I feel arms wrapped around me.
I open my mouth to cry out, but a hand covers my mouth.
“Not a word, bitch,” the man says.
Fuck. I don’t know how he saw me in the darkness. I sure as fuck couldn’t see him. Then I realize that I’m an idiot and he’s probably a dragon who can see in the dark lighting in this area. Damn it.
I have to fight.
I can’t let him just take me like this, so I kick and grab his hands and try to claw at him, but after a moment of struggling, he seems to realize I’m not going to be easy to take. I try to use some of the moves Jenika and Hal taught me, but although he grunts when I stomp on his foot, it doesn’t make a difference in the end.
All that happens is that the heel of my shoe breaks and falls off and I twist my ankle. He growls at me and hits me.
“Stop,” he hisses. “Don’t make this harder on yourself.”
I try to say “fuck you,” but he’s gripping me so hard that I just manage to slobber on his hand. He carts me back into the corner and through one of the doors back there. This one leads to a hallway that is bustling with servants, but no one bats an eye as he hauls me down the hallway.
What the fuck?
Either the other slaves hate me or they’ve been paid very well to ignore anyone hauling a very well-dressed human down the hall. My guess would be on the latter. I pride myself on being pretty friendly to just about everyone I meet. I can’t imagine anyone would willingly hurt me here.
Then again, I never thought I’d be riding a dragon into the night, either.
The man enters a side room where a few other people are standing. He closes the door behind him with a foot, but doesn’t remove his hand. I’m still trying to wiggle and fight, but he holds me flat against his body.
“A little help, please,” he says, and immediately all the men in the room rush over to me. I barely have time to register what happens before I feel a prick at my neck and everything goes dark.