A Kiss of Shadow (Court of Starlight and Darkness #2)(15)

“Ugh. Men are the worst.”

Meria followed my gaze to the spectacle and nodded, then whispered, ”These ones, especially. They’re royalty, so they’re used to getting whatever they want. Makes them act like boors.”

Lore wasn’t like that, though. He wanted me—I could feel it in the heat of his gaze. But he never stared at my boobs like some slack-jawed fae yokel.

Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh. Prince Gabriel was nowhere near a yokel. But the point remained. These dudes had a bad habit of taking up real estate with their eyes.

“Can I get you anything?” A smooth, female voice sounded from behind us, and I turned to see the pretty bartender waiting with an expectant smile.

I hadn’t actually gotten to order a drink yet. When I’d arrived, Gabriel had gotten me some kind of cocktail poured from a fountain in the middle of the car. Everyone had been drinking it, so I’d tried it, too. It had tasted like heaven itself, but I still had my heart set on wine from the fields we’d seen.

I pointed to the window. “Is wine from those grapes a possibility?”

The bartender winked. “Anything is a possibility.”

I raised my brows. “Mozzarella sticks?”

Next to me, Meria choked. “Did you just ask for mozzarella sticks?”

I shrugged. “She said anything was possible, and I’ve only been eating fancy fae food here.”

The bartender smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Within minutes, I had a glass of chilled white wine and a plate of fried mozzarella sticks. I inhaled deeply. “Oh, that smells divine.”

“Let me try.” Meria picked one up.

“Not so dismissive now, are you?”

“I mean, look at them.” She held it up. “It’s salty, cheesy, crunchy perfection.” She bit into it and sighed. “You’re a genius, Sia. A woman with brains like yours deserves to be queen.”

I laughed. “It’s easy to win you over.”

“With mozzarella sticks? Yes.” She sighed and popped the second half into her mouth. “I’ve only ever had them once, on a trip to the human world. I can see why you liked it there.”

“The food was good, that’s for sure.” I ate my snack, sharing it with Meria as we scanned the crowd. It was surprising how well the wine complimented the fried cheese, and I had to make a point not to drink too much. There was danger here, and the last thing I needed was to end up under a table.

When the ice queen arrived, I drew in a breath. She’d changed into a white gown made of netting and diamonds, her hair flowing down her back in meticulous platinum waves.

“She looks like the combined gene pool of every supermodel on earth,” I whispered.

“Everyone else seems to agree.” Meria glanced pointedly at all the men in the room.

They’d all turned to look at her. Unable to help myself, I glanced at the king.

And found his eyes directly on me.

I drew in a harsh breath.

He didn’t care about the ice queen. It was like he didn’t even see her.

Instead, he looked at me.

And she looked at him.

“Well, this is a sticky triangle,” Eve whispered at my side.

I had no idea how she’d appeared without me noticing, but the spell that the ice queen had cast on the crowd had broken. I could no longer feel Lore’s gaze on me.

Which was a good thing. Definitely.

I turned to pick up my wine glass right as it was knocked over by the man next to me.

“Sorry, sorry!” he said as I jumped back to avoid the wine dripping off the bar and onto the floor. “Let me get you another one.” He turned to catch the attention of the bartender and raised a hand.

I hadn’t seen much of his face, but he’d looked like any one of the attractive staff that traveled with the fae royalty.

“Hello.” The feminine voice rushed over me like cool water, and I turned, leaving the man to finish sorting out my drink.

The ice queen stood in front of me, easily six inches taller than me. I looked up at her, feeling like a squat little troll in front of a goddess. At least I had my friends flanking me.

“Hi.” I smiled, unsure of what to say. How are you? Nah. I settled on my name. “I’m Sia.”

“I’m aware.” She didn’t introduce herself, which was fine. I knew who she was.

“So you’re the new Queen of the Court of Starlight and Darkness.”

“Not yet.”

“No.” She smiled, and there was something there that made me shiver. “Not quite yet. But your wedding will be spectacular, I’m sure.”

Was I seriously talking about my wedding with my intended’s ex? Because that’s what she had to be. What else could that slap have been about?

“Yep.” I nodded. “Probably going to be pretty great.” The man who’d spilled my glass of wine handed me another, and I thanked him. For the briefest moment, it seemed like he might try to join the conversation.

Then the ice queen smiled at him with shark teeth, and he hurried off. I sipped my wine, watching him go.

When she turned to smile at me, I realized I couldn’t take it anymore. Sure, I was able to sneak around in a crowd to get info, but subtlety in awkward situations had never been my strength.