Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Kierse tried not to get swept up in the rest of the gilded hall. Gold chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Waiters carried golden goblets on golden trays. Monsters lined the room, predominately male but some female. Gold pins were on the lapel of every monster in the room. As she peered closer, she saw it was a set of wings with an arrow struck through them. The mark of the Men of Valor.
She had assumed that it would be only vampires at the party, and while they were the majority, they were far from alone. Shifters rippled at the periphery. A mer spun a Red Velvet girl in a circle. A troll trudged through the hall. A goblin downed a bottle of wine with her compatriots. Nymphs danced to a tune only they could hear. And wraiths were everywhere. They were only missing werewolves in their midst. It appeared even monsters didn’t want to deal with a wolf on the full moon.
Her breath caught as she realized that she recognized one of the wraiths—Gregory Amberdash.
Her face flushed. He was in the Men of Valor? He wanted to end the Monster Treaty? Her vision blurred at the edges at that thought. He’d sold her out to Lorcan, but she hadn’t thought he was stupid enough to want this.
She backtracked away from Amberdash. The last thing she wanted was for him to compromise her mission. But as she turned to escape, she nearly ran into a vampire. Her gaze snagged on her Men of Valor pin.
She grinned at Kierse. “Are you admiring our signet pins?”
She cleared her throat. “Quite.”
“They mark us as the Men of Valor.”
Kierse forced herself to keep smiling. “What is the meaning of it?”
The woman ran a bloodred nail down Kierse’s jaw. “It’s a reminder that wings can always be broken. That those who attempt to fly free can be cut down. More importantly, it’s a symbol to remind us of where we belong—monsters ruling once more.”
“As you are doing here?”
“Rightly so,” she said, passing her a goblet. She thought it would be blood but saw that it was just wine. “Have a drink, my angel.”
“I have no wings.”
“Not anymore,” she purred.
Kierse pretended to take a tentative sip of the wine and then handed it back to the vampire. “Thank you. I must go find my benefactor.”
“Oh? I thought all of you were up for grabs.” She clutched Kierse’s ass to make his point.
She had to brace herself not to draw the dagger from beneath her snow-white corset and ram it into her throat. “Almost all of us,” she said with a conspiratorial wink and then hastened away from the vampire.
Thankfully, she didn’t pursue her. But when she flicked her eyes back to her, she had already entertained herself with a young boy. Kierse cringed. It made her think of Ethan, and she didn’t like that one bit. Not any of it.
She just needed to remind herself of the plan. Just . . . where the hell was Graves?
He should have been here before she had to parade around this party in nothing but lingerie. It was a disguise, but it wouldn’t hold long if he didn’t make it inside. And she had no intention of being bitten tonight . . . or ever.
Kierse made a slow circuit of the room. Her training as a thief had taught her how to work a room and remain unnoticed. It was harder to stay in the shadows in a white corset, but it wasn’t impossible. Most of the workers wanted to be noticed. It was their job. So, she took in the sight before her. The horde of monsters and their meals for the evening. How quickly the Red Velvet workers were snatched up. No sign of Torra, though. Hopefully that meant she’d gotten out already.
There was still no sight of King Louis. Perhaps he planned to make a grand entrance. It seemed his style. He liked the mystery that surrounded him all while he ran things behind the scenes.
Kierse ground her teeth together and slunk deeper into the depths of the colossal ballroom. She was halfway to the other side of the room, nearest the dais, when a hand snaked around her wrist.
“Hello there, pretty thing,” a man said from the shadows. He was tall and fair skinned, with eyes like those of an eagle about to catch a mouse. “What is your name?”
She stilled and tried to appear coy and drugged like the others. It was hard as she stared into the eyes of a vampire. “Hello,” she purred. “I’m Kendra. And you are?”
“Wilson Bellack,” he said evenly as if it should mean something to her. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“Off to?”
“You were sneaking about the ballroom. Looking for someone?”
He was closer than she liked to admit. But he didn’t know it.