The Blood Spell (Ravenspire, #4)(107)

He frowned and pulled her closer as they swept into the next measure of the dance. “Are you well?”

She smiled, the reckless light in her eyes daring him to do things he knew he’d soon have no right to do. “I’m well enough.”

“You said you weren’t coming.”

“I changed my mind.”

He sucked in a breath as she brushed against him before twirling out and back in. The pulse at the side of her neck was beating fast, a tiny bird fluttering beneath her skin. He wanted to press his lips to it. Wanted to feel the silk of her dress as he pulled her to him. Wanted to be so tangled up with her that he forgot the rest of the world.

For a few glorious moments, there was nothing but the feel of her hand in his, the movement of their bodies as they swayed to the dance, and the look in her eyes as she held his gaze. Then she said quietly, “I don’t want to have any regrets.”

His chest ached. “I don’t either. I wish things were different. That the laws allowed—”

“I love you,” she said, bold and clear, as if daring those around them to eavesdrop. “I love you, and I wish I’d said it sooner. I want you to remember me like this.”

If she’d punched him in the gut, she couldn’t have taken the air out of him faster. “Blue—”

“When you think of me, think of me like this,” she said. Her lips parted as she looked up at him, and he had to fight the urge to lean in and kiss her. “Remember me dancing with you in a beautiful dress. Think of the way I kissed you and the way I looked when I said I love you.”

His grip on her cold fingers tightened as they entered the last few moments of the dance. “It’s not like I’m never going to see you again, Blue,” he said softly. “It will be hard, but I’ll still come to the shop. I’ll still stop by the farmhouse with Nessa. Unless you don’t want me to.” The possibility sank into him, cutting deep. “Wait. Is this good-bye?”

She had every right to say yes. Every right to walk out of the ballroom and out of his life altogether. He had nothing more to offer her than his friendship, and they both knew that wasn’t enough.

“It’s me asking you to remember the truth,” she said as she moved closer to him than the dance movements allowed.

He didn’t care. Let them stop moving while the world twirled and spun around them. Let his mother and the head families glare at him, while the commoners wondered what he was doing.

This was his last chance to tell Blue what she meant to him. He wasn’t going to waste it.

“Blue, I love you. You’re my best friend. I don’t want to lose any of that.”

Her smile lit up the ballroom, reckless and wild, and he leaned closer.

“You’ll never lose me,” she said softly. “Not really. I’ll always be the girl in the golden dress who loved you first. And whatever happens, I want you to promise that you won’t swim out in the sea for me. You won’t jump off a cliff into shallow water over me. You’ll remember that I love you, and that everything I did was my choice, not yours. Promise me.”

He met her gaze as time seemed to slow and then stop. “Why are you talking like you’re going to die?”

She let go of his hand and pressed her palm to his cheek. Her other hand stayed firmly against his shoulder. “Dinah knows the spell. By this time, I’m sure she’s released the wraith. She plans to kill you and your family.”

His gaze flew to the royal dais where his mother and sister sat. His mother gave him a look that would’ve dropped a lesser boy to his knees.

“Don’t worry,” Blue said, a tinge of sadness coating her words. “I’m not going to let that happen.”

“We have to warn the guards. The castle needs to be locked down!” Kellan scanned the room for the closest guard, but all he could see were couples dancing.

“I already did that when I arrived.” Blue turned his face to hers again. “Grand-mère and Lucian are gathering up the remaining street kids and keeping them safe in the shop. The guards have made sure no one is outside the castle. There’s nothing to distract Dinah and the wraith from coming straight for you and your family. But she won’t get to them, Kellan. I swear on my life. And if for some reason she doesn’t come straight to the castle, I bonded her blood to some volshkyn leaf and attached it to my shoes. It will lead me to her.”

Panic hit, hot and vicious. “I’ll help you. What’s the plan?”

Her expression was full of terrible gentleness and regret, and he pulled her closer.

“Whatever you have planned, I can help. You are not facing the wraith alone.”

“Yes, I am,” she said simply, and then wrapped her arms around him. “I’m the thing it really wants, and I’m the weapon that can destroy it.”

He held on to her and struggled to breathe past the fear that was taking over. “You aren’t making sense. If you have a spell ready, let me help you. I can distract it while you throw the potion or . . . how are you doing it? We can talk this through.”

She pulled away and tipped her head back to look at him. “I’m killing it, Kellan. I’m ready.”

“Not yet!” He grabbed for her as she stepped back, and she winced as he latched onto the hand that had been on his shoulder. He turned her palm over and found a bandage stuck to it. The faint outline of dried blood rested beneath the outermost layer of the bandage. “What did you do?”