Alpha Ember (ALPHA KANE BOOK 2)

6. Dancing Girl

Ember

We didn't need to make our way through the crowd to find the source of the commotion- she burst right through the gathering fae and for a brief second it was almost like time had literally stopped just so every single one of us could get a look at her. A brief second when she was frozen in the air, a ballerina in flight, elegant, lean and mesmerizing with her dark skin and light dress, lips pale pink and curved slightly in a smirk. As if she was fully aware of the thrall she had over us lesser beings.

I noticed a thin line of pink fluid that ran from her bottom lip to her chin, staining the front of her glittering dress- then she was coming back down to earth, executing a perfect spin the moment her feet touched the ground.

The music- played by a band of strange looking things I didn't even want to contemplate lest my heart jump out of my chest and run off screaming- increased in volume and tempo, an upbeat folk song with an infectious energy that immediately had the surrounding fae dancing. But none of it could compare to the girl in the white dress, she obviously wasn't fae like the rest of them but it was the magical creatures who were orbiting around her, caught in the gravitational pull of her powerful, bouncy dance moves. Her body moved to each beat like she wasn't a mere dancer but part of the music itself, every limb an extension of the sound, expressing it with a perfect ease that was hard to look away from.

She danced through the throng of fae, on top of tables, twirling from several tree branches, never losing pace, never faltering.

All too soon, the song ended and a new one started but she easily slipped into the new beat, as excellent as before if not more so.

So she was a dancer- a very good dancer- performing for the party. There shouldn't have been anything wrong with it but I couldn't shake off the wrongness of the whole thing. At the hungry way some of the faeries gazed at her, at the dangerous thrill that emanated from them when she passed by. At that tiny pink drop on her dress.

"Care to dance?" Arius asked me, drawing my attention away from the girl.

I shook my head. "I'll pass."

"Friends dance," Arius pointed out.

"We're not here to dance, get on with challenging the Autumn Lord so we can leave."

"I cannot challenge him until he himself arrives at the party. Which he has yet to do as you'll notice his presence right away when he does." His fingers reached out, tracing a line across my throat although his gaze remained blank. "Dance with me."

Not a chance.

I jerked away from him, striding over and grasping the shoulder of the closest relatively human-looking fae. "Hi- greetings or whatever. There's a gentleman over there who would like to dance with you."

She shook a mane of hair the color of the sea and cluttered with seashells, seaweed and a crab that hung from the tips (was there any normal people here?). "Who is this gentleman you speak of, human?"

I pointed at a stoic Arius whose hand was still raised in the air, "Him."

Her pale face turned red when she saw Arius, mouth curling into a sneer. "The Summer Court's challenger who has no title and will no doubt die at the Autumn Lord's hands tonight? I shall pass on his offer, I don't dance with seafloor trash."

She stormed off in a torrent of water that splattered on my mask and clothes, freezing water as cold as her rejection. A few onlookers snickered and I had an uncomfortable case of déjà vu. Of all the times I'd been on the receiving end of that scorn and those snickers. Clenching my fists, I spun around and extended a hand towards Arius.

"I'd be honored to dance with you...if you still want to that is."

He took my hand slowly, but his arm banded around my waist much faster and then we were moving, him leading in an easy manner that went at odds with his stiff posture. I wondered if he was actually feeling something deep down this time, if I wasn't the only one stung by the unkind words the woman had thrown at him.

"Has this happened to you before?" I asked him, unable to control my curiosity. "The insults?"

"You mean to ask if I get dissed on a daily basis? Yes. It happens when you've spent your whole life in the military and have no credit to show for it, and when you aren't born into the aristocracy."

He steered us around two dancing grasshoppers who chattered urgently as we went past, bulging red eyes following us, leaning in a fraction to study my eyes. "Your eyes are dark brown although they appear to be black."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Back up, friend."

He retreated. "See? I listen to your requests. I'm an agreeable fae, you'd get along better with me than that bossy alpha of yours."

"It's not nice to speak ill of others when they're not around," I said.

"Okay. I'll speak ill of him when he's around."

I rolled my eyes.

He rolled his eyes.

I scowled. "Why are you rolling your eyes too?"

"You rolled your eyes, expressing your displeasure at my comment so I rolled my eyes as well, expressing displeasure at your display of displeasure." He frowned. "That is what eye rolling means, right?"

"Yes," I said, at a loss for any other response really. Then, changing the subject, "Are you sure you can defeat the Autumn Lord? That girl didn't think so."

"Would I be challenging him if I couldn't?" he asked.

I gave him a doubtful look. "I don't know. Were you planning on having me save you if you couldn't?"

He smiled. Not an imitation of one, but a real smile. It made him look more human. Or fae? Living being? "Is that an invitation to ask for your help if I need it?"

I smiled back. "I promised to give you a castle, I meant it."

"I present to you Master of the Winds and the Fading Summer, His Royal Greatness and the feared Autumn Lord, Lord Jael Thorne Ynevek!"

Arius brought us to a halt- just as the dancing girl fluttered past us, still dancing despite the fact that everyone else had stopped to look at the approaching Autumn Lord. He was flanked by two short men who barely came up to his knees, the upper part of their faces covered with the skull of a deer, antlers protruding from their heads and the brown fur of their capes dragging onto the ground. The Autumn Lord on the other hand was dressed much fancier with his silks and eye-catching crown. The crown Arius wanted for himself was made out of wood with all the usual jewels studded in it, but at both sides it formed huge antlers that were twice the size of that of the little men, basically screaming at all of us that he was the big boss here. The Autumn Lord looked middle-aged, face full of harsh lines and twisted in a cruel expression. Scary. Even his ears were a bit pointer, a bit more twisted at the edges than the other fae.

He didn't look like he'd be easy to take down.

I glanced at Arius, searching for any trace of fear or apprehension so I could tell him we should leave this scary man and his scary castle alone.

But Arius wasn't looking at me, and he wasn't looking frightened either. He appeared unworried- nor (surprise!) eager either- as he continued to watch the little man who was talking about how the Autumn Lord would take on any opponent who came to challenge his throne. Arius had no intention of leaving at all.

I sighed, turned my attention back to the faerie lord.

Just in time to watch the Autumn Lord grasp a white arrow that appeared out of nowhere and thrust it into his own chest.

Murdering himself.

The fae gasped.

The Autumn Lord staggered once before he collapsed on his side, the hand he'd used to kill himself slick with his blood as it poured out of him.

Well shit.