Heir of Deception

Chapter 19

Della stopped her dancing to see Fenrys standing at the door. His smirk betrayed his angry tone, but she almost wished he would be mad. Surely, that would be better than the merciless teasing that he was about to lay onto her. The blood rushed to her face and she ducked her head to Jarret's chest hoping to hide her blush.  She felt Jarret tentatively rub his hand gently up her back in a comforting almost protective manner.

"I apologize my Lord-"

Fenrys cut him off, "Leave us."

Della bit back a groan; at least Jarret wouldn't witness all of the humiliation she was about to endure.

Fenrys didn't even bother to shift his body so that Jarret could pass through the entrance. Thankfully, Jarret was smart enough to turn his own body to avoid bumping the Fae male rather than engage in the alpha-male power play Fenrys was initiating. Jarret shot her an apologetic look before leaving her standing in the secret hallway to fend off Fenrys herself. She folded her arms in front of herself protectively hoping that it wouldn't look as desperate as she felt.

Once Jarret was out of earshot Fenrys stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Well he's cute." He drawled. She quirked an eyebrow.

"I didn't know you were interested in men."

"I meant he's cute in the same way I find a puppy cute. Adorable and lost." He took another step toward her. His stance wide and imposing.

"We're not lost." Della grumbled under her breath, resisting the urge to take a step backwards.

"Sure does seem like it. Personally if I am sneaking off with a stunning female I prefer a more romantic location not this dusty secret passage way." His tone was that of a smart-ass; reminiscent of Remelle. "Speaking of which, dancing is not what this passage is intended for."

She huffed a sigh, "This is not some romantic rendezvous."

Fenrys chuckled darkly, taking yet another step closer. "So naive, it's precious really."

Furious at his patronizing she scowled at him. She hoped she bore some semblance of her father's withering stare. "And you're an arrogant ass, which is most definitely not precious in any way."

He only smiled at her. "Dearest Della, what would your father think of all this?"

She  rolled her eyes and looked away, eyes landing on anything but him. She doubted Fenrys would actually tell her father, and was still just teasing but she was unsure of how to respond so she held her tongue and desperately hoped that something dramatic would happen so that she could leave. So far her quips back to him had been rather pathetic.  She heard him take another step towards her. He was so close now, his scent was overwhelming.

"Della look at me."

Shivers ran down her spine, and slowly, so slowly she raised her eyes to his. She'd never noticed how incredibly tall he is, or how wide his shoulders are, or how good he smells. She, she- his voice cut through her observations of him.

"Do you know how dangerous this is." He gestured to her in the room his voice shifting from jesting to more somber. "Don't pull a stunt like this again."

She nodded once and rushed from the room hoping that her scent hadn't changed. This time Fenrys stepped aside and let her pass, she could feel his eyes following her out as she raced back to the ballroom.

•••

Della was tucked back into her bed, but she couldn't sleep despite being exhausted. The whole ball had felt off. Between her father, Jarret and Fenrys, she was painfully and stupidly overthinking. And more than that there was some sinister feeling in her gut. She couldn't quite figure out what was causing it. Perhaps a combination of being watched by the party-goers and her overthinking was what incited her unease.

She rolled onto her back and rubbed her eyes.

Was Jarret trying to be romantic? Or was she taking Fenrys's jokes too seriously? Beneath his teasing she could tell he was irked, yet she was unable to discern why. Fae males were known to be protective but this seemed to go beyond that. This felt almost possesive, like Fenrys felt some type of claim over her. Of course her being her father's daughter would naturally incite some over-protectiveness from the Fae males of the court but his seemed deeper.

Flopping her body over again she laid on her stomach.

While life at court was not nearly as disastrous as she had thought it would be, it was  still more complex than life with Annore. Navigating social situations with Annore was easy, people outside of that were typically limited to a buyer-seller dynamic and on the few occasions that someone had caught her eye, when things ended poorly she rarely saw them but once every few months. Even still her little flings never had the opportunity to develop because she didn't see them with any regularity.

But with Jarret this was a whole other ball of wax. She saw him nearly daily, for hours at a time. How did a person move from being a friend to something much more intimate?  A deep, lasting relationship was something she had never experienced and she was over 200 years old. If he knew that she doubted Jarret would be interested.

"Ughhhh-mmmmhhh" she groaned aloud. What the hell was she thinking. 'deep lasting relationship'?! The man had made a couple jokes and danced with her one time, she was downright pathetic.

Della was undoubtedly over-thinking this whole ridiculous situation. She should at least wait until he actually did something that was blatantly romantic.

Well... she did suppose the sneaking out a ball to dance together could be considered romantic. But wouldn't it be more romantic to go to the garden?

"Nope, nope, nope." Della said. "Stop that right now." she knocked the heel of her hand against her forehead. She should talk to Lysandra about this in the morning, that was likely the best course of action. Right?

She rolled back onto her back; still unable to get comfortable. She was in for a long night and a rough morning if she didn't catch some sleep soon.

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Hi all! In these coming weeks I am unsure on how much I will be able to post. I fly home this Friday for the holidays and will likely not have much time to sit down and write. Thanks for bearing with me and I hope you enjoy the holidays!

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