Page 36 (1/2)

He was still here--and with Thiago so near Reckless, she thought, electrified by his nearness After a er suits you better than horse, I think"

"I don’t knohat you mean, lady," he replied "This is my true face"

"Of course"

"Because it would be foolish to still be here, if I ho you thought"

"It would One ht suppose you had a death wish"

"No" He was sole For a different sort of life"

A different sort of life If only, Madrigal thought, her own life and choices--or lack of theht "You wish to be one of us? I’hed "Even if you did, it wouldn’t help We are all locked in the sa seraphi the sael said was true They were all locked in the same war They had locked the entire world in it "There is no other life," she said, and then she tensed, because they had coo stood

The pressure of the angel’s grip on her hand increased ever so slightly, gently, and it helped her bear up under the general’s gaze until she turned away froo," she said quietly "If you’re discovered…"

The angel let a beat pass in silence before asking, just as quietly, "You’re not really going to marry him, are you?"

"I… I don’t know"

He lifted her hand so that she could circle beneath the bridge of their arht and horns interfered, and they had to release fingers and join theain after the spin

"What is there to know?" he asked "Do you love hih escaped Madrigal’s lips She quickly coo’s scrutiny

"It’s a funny question?"

"No," she said "Yes" Love Thiago? Could she? Maybe How could you know a thing like that? "What’s funny is that you’re the first one to ask ive me," said the seraph "I didn’t realize that chiht of her parents Her memory of theeneralities--would she even know them, if she found them?--but she did remember their simple fondness for each other, and how they had see now "My parents did"

"So you are a child of love It seeht of herself in that way, but after he said it, it struck her as a fine thing, to have beenher family "And you? Did your parents love each other?"

She heard herself ask it, and was overco surreality of the circumstance She had just asked a seraph if his parents loved each other

"No," he said, and offered no explanation "But I hope that ain he lifted her hand so that she could circle under the bridge ot in the way, so they were briefly parted Turning, Madrigal felt a sting in his words, and when they were facing each other once more, she said, in her defense, "Love is a luxury"

"No Love is an element"

An element Like air to breathe, earth to stand on The steady certainty of his voice sent a shiver through her, but she didn’t get a chance to respond They had concluded their pattern, and she still had gooseflesh from the effect of his extraordinary statement as he handed her on to her next partner, as drunk and uttered not a syllable for the entirety of their contact

She tried to keep track of the seraph He should have partnered Nwella after herself, but by then he was gone, and she saw no tiger mask in the whole of the array He had melted away, and she felt his absence like a space cut from the air

The Furiant wound down to its final pro of taal was delivered, as if it had been orchestrated that way, virtually into the White Wolf’s aral’s throat went dry so her words were a rasp, near enough a throaty whisper to be mistaken for one

Nwella and Chiro crowded behind her, and Thiago s between his full red lips His eyes were bold They didn’t al’s skin went hot as her heart grew cold, and she dropped into a curtsy from which she wished that she never had to rise and meet his eyes, but rise she o Madrigal needn’t have worried abouthis eyes If she had been headless, he would not yet have noticed The way he was looking at her body in the ht sheath made her want to cross her ar the impulse A return of compliment was called for, so she said simply, "As are you"

He looked up then, amused "I am beautiful?"

She inclined her head "As a winter wolf, my lord," she said, which pleased him He seemed relaxed, almost lazy, his eyes heavy-lidded He was entirely sure of her, Madrigal saw He wasn’t looking for a gesture; there was not the sot what he wanted Always

And would he tonight?

A new tune struck up, and he tilted his head to acknowledge it "The Emberlin," he said "My lady?" He held out his aral went still as prey

If she took his arm, did that mean it was done, that she accepted hihts; it would shame him, and one simply did not shame the White Wolf

It was an invitation to dance, and it felt like a trap, and Madrigal stood paralyzed a beat too long In that beat she saw Thiago’s gaze sharpen His easy lethargy fell away to be replaced by… she wasn’t sure It didn’t have tiiven way in its turn to ice-cold fury had not Nwella, with a panicked squeak, placed her palal’s back and shoved

Thus propelled, Madrigal took a step, and there was nothing for it She didn’t take Thiago’s arm so much as she collided with it He tucked hers beneath his own, proprietary, and escorted her into the dance

And certainly, as everyone thought, into the future

He grasped her by the waist, which was the proper form of the Es to the sky Thiago’s hands almost completely encircled her slim midriff, his claws on her bare back She felt the point of each one on her skin

There was soal o must have answered, but she could scarcely have related as said She ared shell, for all that she was present in her skin

What had she done? What had she just done?

She couldn’t even fool herself that it was the product of an instant and Nwella’s tiny shove She had let herself be dressed like this; she had coht not have ad, but of course she had She had let herself be carried along on the certainty of others There had been a piquant satisfaction in being chosen… envied She was ashaht, ready to play the tre bride, and accept a man she did not love