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She had to act So told her she’d have better luck on the dance floor

"Shall we dance again?" she asked the girls, pulling them back into the crowd

The revelers had starown ed, too

Luce followed the light, fast steps, picking up thePalentleman in front of you, a simple curtsy, and then several skips in a wide circle around your partner to face the other side; then a sith the girl to your left Then pal was repeated

Halfway through the song, Luce was out of breath and giggling when she stopped in front of her new partner Her feet suddenly felt welded to thea n was exotic to Lucinda--there were no leopards in the woods around her city It was certainly the ant loved hands, and when Luce slipped hers cautiously inside, his grip was firm, almost possessive Behind the holes around the leopard’s eyes, there careen irises locked with hers

FOUR

SOME CONSEQUENCE YET HANGING IN THE STARS

"Good evening, lady How niel"

Luce’s lips parted to respond, but her voice caught in her throat

Why did Ca, sir," Luce responded with a quiver in her voice Fro, her face was flushed, and her braids had tumbled loose, and one of the sleeves of her dress had slipped off her shoulder She could feel Caht her sleeve, but his gloved hand crossed hers to stop her

"Such sweet disorder in your dress" He drew a finger across her collarbone and she shivered "It inspires a ed keys, a cue for the dancers to change partners Caers lifted off her skin, but Luce’s heart still pounded as they danced away from each other

She watched Ca her She knew so her backward through time This was the Cam who lived and breathed in this ant dancer on the green There was an ethereal quality to his steps that did not go unnoticed by the ladies Fro, Luce kneas not from this city He’d arrived specially to attend the Valentine’s Faire But why?

Then they were paired again Was she still dancing? Her body felt stiff and rigid Even the music seemed to stutter in an endless in-between beat, which made Luce worry that she and Ca into one another’s eyes forever

"Are you all right, sir?" Luce hadn’t expected to say that But there was soe in his expression

It was a darkness even his s, not the terrifying way he’d appeared in the cemetery at Sword & Cross No, this Cam’s soul was crippled by sorrow

What could make him look like that?

His eyes narrowed, as if he sensed her thoughts, and so in his face shifted

"I have never been better" Cam tilted his head "It’s you I’m worried about, Lucinda"

"Me?" Luce tried hard not to sho he affected her She wished for a different kind of ether, an invisible one, which would prevent hi he kne she felt

He raised his ed in an impossible endeavor You’ll end up brokenhearted and alone Unless--"

"Unless what?"

He shook his head "There is so ain "Come back around, coan to dance away For once, Luce wasn’t through with him "Wait!"

But Ca in slow circles with a new partner Laura Cairl’s ear, and she tossed back her head and laughed Luce fuht Laura away frorab Cam and force him to explain She wanted to have a conversation on her ter steps in the es

There he was again, co toward her in perfect control of the steps, as if influencing the tempo of the music Luce couldn’t have felt more out of control Just when he was about to coain, a tall blond man dressed entirely in black deftly pushed hi

"Hello"

She sucked in her breath "Hello"

Tall, muscular, mysterious beyond all possibility She would know him anywhere She reached for him, desperate to feel some connection, to feel the sweetest flush at the touch of her true love’s skin--

Daniel