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My ene over sharp teeth Herher dark brows, black kohl, blacker eyes, and eerie smile
The hipped past her, the feathers of her cape stirring with the iridescent inky shi
"People of Freesia," she called, her dusky-sweet voice carrying and echoing within the curve of the clearing
A h the crowd Historically, the croas to bow, yetno one did She ignored thear Snow Ball May your feet be light, your hearts be open, and the blood of your enemies be ever warm"
The words were h the crowd The speech should have co the blud of Freesia Ravenna wasn’t one of our people, much less a creature bonded by blud and birth to the land She couldn’t even ar Snow, letting her blud flow into the altar and down into the ground to Aztarte’s bones She must have had plans to use Alex in her place
When Ravenna bowed to the asseesture without betrayingour collective breath, as Ravenna raised her arht therand sweep, Ravenna altzing with led to see past a sea of people taller than I Was Alex hungry and feral, or was he drugged, or had thenear noric, but I had never had the knack and couldn’t tell what exactly Ravenna was using it to accomplish
The first dance lasted forever, but it always did At least this time, I was anonymous, squashed between dresses in a crowd It was harder when you were the one standing before the blood altar, being ogled and judged and ed me, and I stepped sideways, annoyed to be in as clearly the smallest dress As if he could feel my annoyance, Casper squeezed my hand Bolstered, I squeezed back
Finally, the first dance was over, and the asse I pulled Casper away froe aht jewels of the moonlit crowd
With a firm and steady hand, Casper twirled me out and drew ht my waist in a h the dance, guiding race With such a large floor, it was easy to stay far from the altar and never brush by another couple In ravitated toward the Tsarina, hoping for a benevolent hen skirts accidentally brushed or an especially fine gown caught her eye This time, they hovered around Ravenna, uncertain and fearful but drawn, deep down, to the erous predator in the area I didn’t want to see it, so I concentrated on Casper
He was nothing short of nificent Had I seen this ht hi to the tallest tree The intensity of his gaze coupled with the humor in his mouth The firm cut of his jaw and the soft waves of his hair The wide shoulders that ure that ht breeches a study of planes and curves All I loves the only thing between us and possible discovery I hoped no one else had looked closely enough to notice they weren’t a Bludle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>