“When I won?”
“When you faltered.”
“I’ve made it this far.”
“I felt your power slip. I saw the pain written on your face.”
“That had nothing to do with our match—”
“What happens if you lose control?”
“I won’t.”
“Do you remember the cardinal rule of magic?” he pressed. “Power in Balance, Balance in Power.” He lifted her hand, frowning at the veins on the back. They were darker than they should have been. “I don’t think you’re balancing. You’re taking and using, and it’s going to catch up with you.”
Lila stiffened with annoyance. “Which is it, Kell? Are you angry at me, or worried about me, or happy to see me? Because I can’t keep up.”
He sighed. “I’m all of those things. Lila, I …” But he trailed off as he caught sight of something behind her. She watched the light go out of his eyes, his jaw clench.
“Ah, there you are, Bard,” came a familiar voice, and she turned to see Alucard striding over. “Saints, is that a dress you’re in? The crew will never believe it.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” growled Kell.
Alucard saw him, and stopped. He made a sound halfway between a chuckle and a cough. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt—”
“It’s fine, Captain,” said Lila at the same time Kell growled, “Go away, Emery.”
Lila and Kell looked at each other, confused.
“You know him?” demanded Kell.
Alucard straightened. “Of course she does. Bard works for me aboard the Night Spire.”
“I’m his best thief,” said Lila.
“Bard,” chided Alucard, “we don’t call it thieving in the presence of the crown.”
Kell, meanwhile, appeared to be losing his mind. “No,” he muttered, running a hand through his copper hair. “No. No. There are dozens.”
“Kell?” she asked, moving to touch his arm.
He shook her off. “Dozens of ships, Lila! And you had to climb aboard his.”
“I’m sorry,” she shot back, bristling, “I was under the impression that I was free to do as I pleased.”
“To be fair,” added Alucard, “I think she was planning to steal it and slit my throat.”
“Then why didn’t you?” snarled Kell, spinning on her. “You’re always so eager to slash and stab, why couldn’t you have stabbed him?”
Alucard leaned in. “I think she’s growing fond of me.”
“She can speak for herself,” shot Lila. She twisted toward Kell. “Why are you so upset?”
“Because Alucard Emery is a worthless noble with too much charm and too little honor, and you chose to go with him.” The words cut through the air as Rhy rounded the corner.
“What on earth are you all shouting about …” The prince trailed off as he saw Kell, Lila, and Alucard huddled there. “Lila!” he said cheerfully. “So you aren’t a figment of my brother’s imagination after all.”
“Hello, Rhy,” she said with a crooked smile. She turned toward Kell, but he was already storming out of the ballroom.
The prince sighed. “What have you done now, Alucard?”
“Nothing,” said the captain, innocently.
Rhy turned to go after Kell, but Lila stepped ahead of him. “I’ll take care of it.”
* * *
Kell shoved open a pair of patio doors. For a moment he just stood there, letting the icy air press against his skin. And then, when the biting cold wasn’t enough to douse his frustration, he plunged out into the winter night.
A hand caught his as he stepped onto the balcony, and he knew without turning back that it was hers. Lila’s fingertips burned with heat, and his skin caught the spark. He didn’t look back.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hello,” he said, the word a rasp.
He continued forward onto the balcony, her hand loosely twined with his. The cold wind stilled around them as they reached the edge.
“Of all the ships, Lila.”
“Are you going to tell me why you hate him?” she asked.
Kell didn’t answer. Instead he looked down at the Isle. After a few moments, he said, “The House of Emery is one of the oldest families in Ames. They have long ties with the House of Maresh. Reson Emery and King Maxim were close friends. Queen Emira is Reson’s cousin. And Alucard is Reson’s second son. Three years ago, he left, in the middle of the night. No word. No warning. Reson Emery came to King Maxim for help finding him. And Maxim came to me.”
“Did you use your blood magic, the way you did to find Rhy, and me?”
“No,” said Kell. “I told the king and queen that I couldn’t locate him, but the truth was, I never tried.”
Lila’s brow furrowed. “Why on earth not?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” said Kell. “Because I’m the one who told him to go. And I wanted him to stay gone.”
“Why? What did he do to you?”
“Not me,” said Kell, jaw clenched.
Lila’s eyes brightened in understanding. “Rhy.”
“My brother was seventeen when he fell for your captain. And then Emery broke his heart. Rhy was devastated. I didn’t need a magical tattoo to know my brother’s pain on that front.” He ran his free hand through his hair. “I told Alucard to disappear, and he did. But he didn’t stay gone. No, he turned up a few months later when he was dragged back to the capital for crimes against the crown. Piracy, of all things. The king and queen turned the charge over, as a favor to the house of Emery. Gave Alucard the Night Spire, installed him in the name of the crown, and sent him on his way. And I told him that if he ever set foot in London again, I would kill him. I thought this time he would actually listen.”
“But he came back.”
Kell’s fingers tightened around hers. “He did.” Her pulse beat against his, strong and steady. He didn’t want to let go. “Alucard has always been careless when it comes to precious things.”
“I didn’t choose him,” she said, drawing Kell back from the edge. “I just chose to run.”
She started to let go, but he wasn’t ready. He pulled her toward him, their bodies nested against the cold. “Do you think you’ll ever stop running?”
She tensed against him. “I don’t know how.”
Kell’s free hand drifted up her bare arm to the nape of her neck. He tipped his head and rested his forehead against hers.
“You could just …” he whispered, “stay.”
“Or you could go,” she countered, “with me.”
The words were a breath of fog against his lips, and Kell found himself leaning in to her warmth, her words.
“Lila,” he said, the name aching in his chest.
He wanted to kiss her.
But she kissed him first.
The last time—the only time—it had been nothing but a ghost of lips against his, there and gone, so little to it, a kiss stolen for luck.
This was different.
They crashed into each other as if propelled by gravity, and he didn’t know which of them was the object and which the earth, only that they were colliding. This kiss was Lila pressed into a single gesture. Her brazen pride and her stubborn resolve, her recklessness and her daring and her hunger for freedom. It was all those things, and it took Kell’s breath away. Knocked the air from his lungs. Her mouth pressed hard against his, and her fingers wove through his hair as his sank down her spine, tangling in the intricate folds of her dress.
She forced him back against the railing, and he gasped, the shock of icy stone mixing with the heat of her body against him. He could feel her heart racing, feel the energy crackling through her, through him. They turned, caught up in another dance, and then he had her up against the frost-laced wall. Her breath hitched, and her nails dug into his skull. She sank her teeth into his bottom lip, drawing blood, and gave a wicked laugh, and still he kissed her. Not out of desperation or hope or for luck, but simply because he wanted to. Saints, he wanted to. He kissed her until the cold night fell away and his whole body sang with heat. He kissed her until the fire burned up the panic and the anger and the weight in his chest, until he could breathe again, and until they were both breathless.