Chapter 23 : A Dance With Jared

Jared extended his hand to me, beckoning me forward. I glanced over my shoulder at Aeris, who was looking smug and suspicious as he leaned against the railing of the terrace overlooking the city of Suncrest. Night was falling, and the city lights sent an amber haze rippling over the horizon.

It would have been beautiful had that orange-eyed creep not been standing right in front of my view.

“Eliza,” Jared repeated more sternly.

I fixed Aeris with a steely glare and took Jared’s hand. Aeris raised his brows at me but looked nothing but amused.

Jared placed my hand in the crook of his arm as we walked back into the ballroom, leaning down to hiss, “Don’t egg him on.”

“He knows,” I said, looking up into his eyes.

Jared looked down at me, nostrils flaring. “What did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything! He said it was–it was my hair. It was my hair that gave it away. Someone in his circle must have recognized me from the auction.”