Radiant Shadows (Wicked Lovely 4)

Ani snarled loud enough that Tish looked alarmed. “Ani!”

Forcing back her temper, Ani turned her gaze to her sister. The guy said something crass and moved on.

“Eyes!” Tish hissed. “Eyes. Now.”

“Sorry.” Ani closed her eyes, willing away the sulfurous green that she knew Tish suddenly saw there.

“I’m okay, NiNi,” Tish assured. She leaned close and suggested, “But you should eat.”

Here, in the crowd and surrounded by bodies, Ani could let go of her appetite control a little. She was Dark Court enough to ride the surge of emotions, Hound enough to swallow the sensation of touch, and peculiar enough to do so with mortal and faery both. The Crow’s Nest offered her all of it.

Ani opened her once-more brown eyes.

“You okay?” Tish asked. “I can stay with you. Rab’s going home now that he knows we’re okay, and…”

Ani shook her head. “I’m good. Go on.”

“If you—”

“Go.” Ani shoved her sister gently into Glenn’s embrace.

He gave her a questioning look. He might not know what she was or what she needed, but he’d known her long enough to recognize that she was on the verge of trouble.

How do any of the Hounds stand it? Gabriel dealt with his through fighting; Rabbit dealt through tattooing; and Tish didn’t seem to have a skin hunger. Maybe it was easier with just one appetite to suppress. Maybe it was easier with a pack to embrace. Instead of being alone all the time.

Ani moved farther into the crowd, hoping for enough of a crush that she would be able to lose herself again.

As she slid through the outstretched arms and gyrating hips, she saw him: a faery stood on the periphery of the crowd, just close enough that she could tell that he was someone altogether new. Solitaries passed through Huntsdale regularly. Having several regents in one place was an anomaly, and faeries were ever intrigued by anomalies.

The faery on the edge of the crowd was oblivious to the appraising looks he was getting, but he would’ve stood out even if they were at a faery club like the Rath and Ruins. His hair was so pale that it looked white, and Ani suspected that the shimmers of color weren’t just the reflection of the club lights but a little bit of his true appearance. He was eye candy. And he’s staring at me.

She stopped moving and asked, “Are you coming over or just looking?”

No one around her would hear her ask, but the eye candy in question was a faery. He heard her and answered, “I really don’t think that’s wise.”

Ani laughed. “Who cares?”

Like many faeries she knew, he was sculpture-perfect, but instead of being wrought of shadows like those in her court, this faery had a tangled feel to him. Shadow and radiance. He didn’t look much older than her, until she saw the arrogance in his posture. Then, he reminded her of Irial, of Bananach, of Keenan, of the faeries who walked through courts and crowds confident that they could slaughter everyone in the room. Like chaos in a glass cage.

“Come dance.” She turned her back then and let herself

be swept into the crowd. Hands and emotions were all around her; it was like drowning in euphoria and need.

And he’s watching.

She glanced toward the shadows where he stood. He hadn’t moved. So she held his gaze while she danced, not for the mortals in the room, not for the feelings that every brush of skin brought to the surface.

“Come dance with me,” she whispered.

He stared at her, not even glancing at anyone else, even when they spoke to him or stood in his path. No one else in the room was there for him. Just me.

Twenty minutes later, the band took a break, and the floor cleared enough that there was more room to dance.

He was still in the same spot.

She considered going over to him, but she wasn’t a pet to be summoned. She was a Hound. He could come to her.

“Hey!” Tish said.