Crescent (Old Version)

+ Part 62 +

Three more days. Just three more days.

The dreams became unbearable. They no longer came in the late hours of the night. They chased me. There was no escape. Ceth had not known I'd been in his head. Just as soon as it happened, it was over. But, the moment haunted me just as the dreams did.

The moon was a crescent in the sky tonight, and the runes on the ceiling lit up as it passed from one phase to the other. I watched the moon glide by, ever so slowly as if morning might never come. I hoped it would. My body itched with anticipation.

Just three more days.

"Will you dance with me, Brenna love?" Ceth cooed softly in my ear.

He was spectacularly dressed in a blue-black tunic tonight. Darker thread was embroidered in intricate whorls on the sleeves. The colour matched the designs stitched into the sheer sleeves of the obsidian dress I worse. It was cinched at the waist with a tight corset that swelled into a gathered skirt of lace at the bottom. The blade that ran down the length of the open back was by far my favorite addition. Ceth's too, since he constantly seemed to be fiddling with the edge of my dress above my ass.

"Stop it," I hissed and swatted his hand away.

He pressed his hand into my bare back. "Dance. with. me," he ordered this time. There was enough of a bite to his words that I listened. I let him lead the way towards the dance floor, but as one of his hands settled on my waist, I refused to meet his eye.

His hands were cold but his steps were even, calculated- like dancing was about more arithmetic than movement.

"Did you feel it?" he asked when a song slowed enough that he pulled me against him. I knew what he meant without having to ask.

Last night. The power, the magic, the strength that pulsed heavily inside me.

I swallowed the hollow in my throat. "Yes."

With a flourish, he spun me outwards and then brought me back so hard our chests collided. The breath knocked out of my chest, but he kept dancing like we were having the most natural conversation in the world. "It only gets stronger," he mused, leaning down and kissing my cheek slowly. His breath tangled with the curls on my forehead, a tease, a threat all-in-one. "You learn to love it, you know."

Once, I would have doubted that. I still do, but the thought that maybe I could... Maybe I could learn to love it. That terrified me.

My chest rose harshly, and I instead focused on the couples around us. The dancing, the same three steps I'd learned in the library, repeated. Over and over and over again until not an inch of the dark floor hadn't been danced upon.

Ceth only seemed amused by my silence. "On the night of the full moon, it will be the most powerful. Maybe then you'll understand."

Was it right to tell him that some stupid part of me already did?

Ceth's steps slowed as he overlooked the bustle around him, and I felt the courage to say something else: "You asked me what I'll do when this is over. I have your answer." I knew that over the noise of the ball around us no one would hear us, but that didn't stop me from whispering it.

His brows knit together in question- like he didn't remember that all this time, all this work the past few months had been to get them back. Or maybe it was just another part of his game. The hate in my gut that had been building, churning all this time solidified. He smiled, an uncharacteristically small thing. "And what's that, darling?"

He wasn't looking at me. He was hardly paying attention to what I was saying at all, and that made my anger only grow hotter.

I tilted his chin toward mine suddenly. Standing on my toes, I brushed my lips against his as I spoke- knowing it drew him in. "When I have them back..." I pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth. "There is nothing that will stop me from getting as far away from this place as possible."