Alabaster Cities (Kings and Thieves Book #2)

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Ari took ahold of Aveline's arms as she fell into him, her knees buckling. Her cheeks were flushed and her curls sticking to the side of her throat, and Ari ignored the stares they were getting as he propped his first mate back up. Coherent Aveline would laugh to see herself swooning like some lady's maid.

The thought, which should have amused him, only worried him further, and he tried not to let it show.

"Avie," he whispered, slinging her arm up around his neck. "Aveline."

She stirred slightly. Grunted. Her eyes stayed closed.

"Tired."

"I know you're tired, sweet, but I need you to act normal. People are watching. Remember what we said about low profile-"

"Where's Eli?"

Ari ignored that.
"We're supposed to be a team," he said through gritted teeth. He grabbed her hands, roughly moving them onto his shoulders in the correct position for a waltz. "We're supposed to be on our toes right now, completely focused, and you're drunk."

"Focused?" Aveline repeated. She bounced on her toes as the violins started up again- she could likely do this dance in her sleep. "You haven't exactly been on your toes, either, how you've been staring at Jamie all night."

Ari glanced up in surprise. Damn her.

"I haven't been-" he sputtered. For a moment her distraction broke; Aveline tilted her head, peering at him like a bird with her clear, dark gaze.

Almost reluctantly, Ari turned from her. Jamie stood in front of one of the table mirrors as she attempted to set her hair to rights.

He hadn't spoken much to her since their previous conversation, thought he'd said all he needed to. He hadn't meant to be cold to her... or perhaps he did, but what was he supposed to do? He couldn't beg Jamie to love him. That would be unfair, and not just because he had the charm and personality of an angry old man.

She looked so at ease and uncomfortable at the same time, to be in high company, dressed like a royal, one of her glittering sleeves slipping off of the skin of her shoulder...

Ari swallowed and looked away. He wanted... God, he wanted. He wished; that they could have met differently, if he didn't have a duty to his crew, if this bloody investigation wasn't consuming him.
He didn't regret what he'd said in their last conversation; he couldn't have Jamie, and perhaps one day he'd be able to accept that. However, if he hadn't been so distracted, without his stress and worry to claw him out from the inside, he thought maybe- just maybe- he could have been honest with her in the first place. But right now it seemed as if Aveline had left him to hold their world up on his own, and Ari couldn't figure out why.

They whirled around another pair of dancers, and Ari lowered his voice.

"This city is dangerous. We're being watched all the time, by people that could mean us harm."

Aveline's skirts flared and brushed against Ari's boots as he spun her in a dizzy circle.

"You're speaking of those men over there, then?"

"What?" Ari startled, nearly dropping her hand. "Who?"

"Those two. In the corner." Aveline bobbed her head in the direction of the flower vases at the back of the ballroom. "They've been staring at us all evening."

Ari followed her gaze, where a pair of men in dark clothing sat behind the dancers. Sure enough, their gazes were fixed intensely in their direction. Ari's fingers tightened reflexively on Aveline's waist; he briefly lifted her up off of her toes as the dance demanded.