when she said, “Forgive me Aurelia, but I must attend to my aunt for a moment. I trust you’ll be fine in Dacian’s care? I think I’m quite fit to vouch for his good and noble character.” Then turning to Dacian, her voice light and flirtatious, she added, “And I trust you will not make
me regret the praise I just heaped upon you? I trust you will be on your best behavior and act like the perfect gentleman I know you to be—at least while you’re in the company of Aurelia?”
I turned toward her, my eyes begging her to stay. My suddenly coy, calm demeanor giving way to a full-blown panic at the thought of being alone with him. I may have looked older than my years, but that was just surface. Inside I was still me. I was still skinny, scrawny, quaking in my shoes, little Riley Bloom. There was no getting around it—I was in over my head.
But if Messalina saw my pleading look, she chose to ignore it. And all I could do was watch in horror as she spun on her heel and made for the other side of the room, heading toward the space where, just a moment before, Theocoles stood.
I mumbled some flimsy excuse—moved to follow her—but I was too slow, and she was too fast, and in the end it was all I could do to keep an eye on her whereabouts.
My gaze anxiously trailing the swishy red hem of her dress, her stream of dark hair—keeping close tabs, carefully retracing each and every step, until Dacian caught up, grasped my arm lightly, and said, “Please don’t leave—not when we’ve only just met, and I have so much still to learn about you! Where is it you come from? Why is it I’ve never seen or heard of you?”
My gaze only shifted for a second—less than a second, I swear—but that’s all it took for me to lose sight of her. In what little time it took for me to switch my gaze from Dacian’s smiling face to the space Messalina had just occupied, she was gone. And there was no doubt in my mind that she’d ditched me on purpose.
8
D acian stared at me, waiting for a reply, but instead of answering, I ran. Leaving him to stand there, gazing after my shiny, blue dress as I sped across the room, retracing the steps Messalina had taken until I reached the spot where she’d vanished from sight.
I surveyed the area, hands on my hips, head swiveling from side to side. Seeking out all the possible routes she could’ve taken, while replaying her words in my mind.
She’d said she’d gone to check in with her aunt, but I immediately disregarded that, it just didn’t ring true. This had something to do with Theocoles, of that I was sure.
Though I had no idea where to find him, no idea which way to go when the options were endless. Every opening of every room seemed to feed off into another, and another, and yet another, until Messalina’s world began to resemble a complex labyrinth. A complex labyrinth intended to trick
me, confuse me, as I’m sure it did all the other Soul Catchers before me.
Dacian called out my name, my new name, his voice cutting through the peals of laughter and party noise, as he worked his way through the crowd in hot pursuit of me. Face stricken, gaze anxious, worried he’d somehow offended me.
With only seconds to spare before he caught up, I shut my eyes tightly and forced everything into silence except my own inner voice, aware of it prodding: The stairs—find the stairs that lead down! Words no louder than a whisper, yet powerful all the same.
But before I could make a move, Dacian was standing before me. His voice as relieved as his face when he said, “There you are, Aurelia!” He bowed low, allowing a glimpse of his tousled brown hair, before he faced me again and his dark eyes landed on mine. “I hope I have not offended you in some way?” His face breaking into a hopeful grin made even more irresistible by the dimples that sprang up at either side of his cheeks.
And at that moment, he was so unbelievably cute I couldn’t come up with one good reason to leave.
me regret the praise I just heaped upon you? I trust you will be on your best behavior and act like the perfect gentleman I know you to be—at least while you’re in the company of Aurelia?”
I turned toward her, my eyes begging her to stay. My suddenly coy, calm demeanor giving way to a full-blown panic at the thought of being alone with him. I may have looked older than my years, but that was just surface. Inside I was still me. I was still skinny, scrawny, quaking in my shoes, little Riley Bloom. There was no getting around it—I was in over my head.
But if Messalina saw my pleading look, she chose to ignore it. And all I could do was watch in horror as she spun on her heel and made for the other side of the room, heading toward the space where, just a moment before, Theocoles stood.
I mumbled some flimsy excuse—moved to follow her—but I was too slow, and she was too fast, and in the end it was all I could do to keep an eye on her whereabouts.
My gaze anxiously trailing the swishy red hem of her dress, her stream of dark hair—keeping close tabs, carefully retracing each and every step, until Dacian caught up, grasped my arm lightly, and said, “Please don’t leave—not when we’ve only just met, and I have so much still to learn about you! Where is it you come from? Why is it I’ve never seen or heard of you?”
My gaze only shifted for a second—less than a second, I swear—but that’s all it took for me to lose sight of her. In what little time it took for me to switch my gaze from Dacian’s smiling face to the space Messalina had just occupied, she was gone. And there was no doubt in my mind that she’d ditched me on purpose.
8
D acian stared at me, waiting for a reply, but instead of answering, I ran. Leaving him to stand there, gazing after my shiny, blue dress as I sped across the room, retracing the steps Messalina had taken until I reached the spot where she’d vanished from sight.
I surveyed the area, hands on my hips, head swiveling from side to side. Seeking out all the possible routes she could’ve taken, while replaying her words in my mind.
She’d said she’d gone to check in with her aunt, but I immediately disregarded that, it just didn’t ring true. This had something to do with Theocoles, of that I was sure.
Though I had no idea where to find him, no idea which way to go when the options were endless. Every opening of every room seemed to feed off into another, and another, and yet another, until Messalina’s world began to resemble a complex labyrinth. A complex labyrinth intended to trick
me, confuse me, as I’m sure it did all the other Soul Catchers before me.
Dacian called out my name, my new name, his voice cutting through the peals of laughter and party noise, as he worked his way through the crowd in hot pursuit of me. Face stricken, gaze anxious, worried he’d somehow offended me.
With only seconds to spare before he caught up, I shut my eyes tightly and forced everything into silence except my own inner voice, aware of it prodding: The stairs—find the stairs that lead down! Words no louder than a whisper, yet powerful all the same.
But before I could make a move, Dacian was standing before me. His voice as relieved as his face when he said, “There you are, Aurelia!” He bowed low, allowing a glimpse of his tousled brown hair, before he faced me again and his dark eyes landed on mine. “I hope I have not offended you in some way?” His face breaking into a hopeful grin made even more irresistible by the dimples that sprang up at either side of his cheeks.
And at that moment, he was so unbelievably cute I couldn’t come up with one good reason to leave.
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