CHAPTER 90: THE SWAN’S NECK

🌙𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐡

I took his hand and let him lead me out of the section, passing right by Veronique and onto the centre of the hall. I counted each step in my head, but the stares didn’t fade as we took centre stage.

Eyes stared past jeweled masks at us. This time no one spoke. The music rose—keys and strings melding together to create longing made audible.

The centre was a yawning mouth, terrifying. My dread spiked. The exposure made me want to bow my back, to curl into myself and disappear.

"Lili." Vladimir’s voice was satin with an edge that pulled me from the brink.

I lifted my gaze, my heart threatening to beat out of my chest.

While I was still caught on him, his cold hand found the small of my back—spreading, settling, stroking.

The aching pull in my chest eased, the contact and proximity giving it what it craved. So it sang, as his other hand took mine, interlacing our fingers so instinctually that mine curled into his in return.

My body pulsed with heat—through my chest, down my stomach, humming between my legs. Everywhere he touched and places yet to be touched. I blinked as my hand clasped his shoulder.

The music rose, brushing across my skin, goosebumps rising in its wake. And then we moved, together.

My feet were lead weights even as we swayed to the achingly beautiful music. Still, even as his intense eyes threatened to steal the air from my lungs, I remained aware.

Of them.

I counted the steps, the turns and twirls, yet the weight of the gazes on me did not dull. They did not speak, and the light above blinded me from seeing anyone else other than the man who danced with me.

"Lili," he murmured. "Breathe."

His whisper caressed me. Then I caught the sound of a soft chuckle.

Veronique.

My foot caught on air when I miscounted, half a second off. But with all eyes on us, I might as well have fallen on my ass. My mistake elicited murmurs from the once quiet crowd.

My cheeks heated, and I stifled the urge to bolt. My body locked up, my movements growing stiff.

A finger caught my chin. Vladimir’s face descended. My breath snagged, the bond twisting into a heat that set my body aflame.

"Moya," his voice caressed me. "Eyes on me." His hand tightened on my spine, pulling me flush against him. "There is no one here but us."

I swallowed, willing my eyes not to stray from his. A smirk ghosted his lips, reaching his eyes. A smile only for me. I returned it, and looking away became the last thing on my mind.

The world no longer existed, only us in this plane and time. My dread for the bond melted away. Instead, I let it guide me. My body moving without an anxious thought.

Just instinct.

The coolness of his hard body balmed me, soothing and reassuring in the way that only Vladimir could be. There was no need for the counting. The steps came as naturally as I arched against him, moulded perfectly like I was always meant to find this place. Like it had been fate.

I could tell what came next, the bond guiding me through the cues of his body. I predicted his motion and he knew mine just as intimately.

His eyes never strayed, not once. His gaze neither piercing nor perplexing. It was appraising yet tender.

He whirled me as the music faded gradually, then put distance between us until only our fingertips touched. The piano came alive again in an instant. He drew me back sharply, twisting his arm so it was my back that slammed against him.

His bionic arm rested against my stomach. I turned my face up toward him as his face dipped, my legs almost daring to buckle as he stroked my cheek.

His mouth was at my ear. "Moya," he hummed, a moan.

Mine.

"If only you knew..."

I could barely comprehend the words before we were moving again, but I caught myself just as he twirled me again, catching and tilting me back.

I was in free fall, yet I didn’t flinch. My trust in him outweighed my fear.

And right now, I didn’t want to think about how foolhardy of me it was.

He pulled me back to him, his solid form that moulded perfectly against mine.

The music ended, but our eyes remained on each other even as thunderous applause rang out all around us.

The ache of the bond returned—sharper, pulsing, painful.

And by the way a muscle in his jaw jumped, I knew it was very much mutual.

"Darling, Goldie," the voice crashed me back into sinking reality, my body instantly recoiling as Kustav came into view. "May I have this dance?"

My heart lurched in my chest, crashing against my ribs.

But his oily smile remained in place, his eyes boring into me through the mask of the red wolf he donned.

I took steps back.

It took only a second, one moment.

*Run, run, run—*

I had been caught so utterly off guard, there was no carefully donned venom that could hide how much I dreaded his mere presence so close to me.

My stomach dropped when my heel caught the back of my dress.

The freefall that followed made me seize. Vladimir reached at a speed beyond my comprehension, but gravity held all the cards.

A pair of arms seized me, holding me up and spinning me in one fluid motion.

I came face to face with Veronique, her expression honeyed venom, a smile that was all teeth splitting her lips. "You’ll let me have this dance."

My mind buffered, unable to catch up with the sequence of events, before she grabbed me by the waist, tilting her face closer so she could whisper in my ear. "You are a swan, Lilith." Her voice like a razor. "Swans don’t fall."

My eyes widened as she spun me sharply.

The realisation crashed against me as I caught the eyes of everyone still watching. She wanted to create a spectacle. Me falling was far too easy for her. She wanted to display her prowess over me.

Vladimir had brought me here to send a message and now his former beta had one of her own.

She was still better than me.

I still remained no one and nothing.

She snapped me back to her, hard, bruising. Pain exploded all over my body. "Yet, a swan’s neck can be broken."