Chapter 47: _ Wait For Me

The Tiger Prince was the last to rise. Almost every single unchosen girl on the edge of the floor frantically fluffed her hair, sucked in her corset ribbons, and puffed out her chest.

Zev didn’t even blink at them. He walked straight past the trembling debutantes and plucked a Fae girl from the second-row crowd—someone I was entirely certain wasn’t a first-year. The collective heartbreak of the female initiates was loud enough to rival the orchestra.

The main dance truly began, the floor swelling as dozens of couples joined the waltz.

As Ajax spun me through the pattern, I couldn’t help stealing glances across the floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Remus, Ivar, and Zev barely looked at their respective dance partners. Their eyes were all on me, some directly, some from the corner of their eyes.

Ajax followed my gaze.

"You need to be very careful of them, Elira," he warned quietly as he gripped my waist tighter. "They often execute their rivalries by latching onto a common interest, and then tossing it away when they’re finished."

"I am not a common interest," I snapped defensively.

"Regardless, don’t trust them. Don’t trust anyone in this realm."

"Why should I trust you, then?" I shot back, narrowing my eyes.

Ajax chuckled softly humorlessly. But before he could answer, the waltz tempo changed, signaling the traditional partner rotation.

A wall of rotating couples surged forward, bumping us apart. Hands grabbed my waist, spinning me out of Ajax’s grip and pulling me into a new frame.

The moment wood-and-smoke cedar hit my senses, my lungs seized.

I landed straight in the Tiger Prince’s arms.

Up close, the magnetic pull of him was ten times worse than it had been from across the dais. He was dangerously, ruggedly handsome, wearing dangling gold earrings and a dark tattoo peeking out from beneath the cuff of his sleeve.

Zev looked down at me with a smirk curving his lips.

"Well, looks like it is finally my turn to talk to the Dragonless Elira No-One."

"Good evening, Your Highness," I muttered, staring rigidly at the collar of his coat to avoid getting sucked straight into his molten amber gaze. "Though I haven’t the slightest idea what you mean by finally your turn."

Zev’s smirk deepened. "You don’t need to know, sweet Dragonless. Not yet."

He spun me through an aggressive turn of the waltz.

"Just make sure you keep your door unlocked tonight," Zev murmured as we dipped. "I’ll come see you at your dorm after curfew sometime soon. Prepare yourself and wait for me."

My left eyebrow shot straight up into my hairline. I missed a step, nearly catching my slipper on his boot.

"My dorm?" I hissed, pitching my voice under the roar of the orchestra. "Are you trying to get me in trouble? You’re in Tiger Academy. Aren’t initiates not allowed to cross faction boundaries, let alone waltz into another academy’s sleeping quarters? Isn’t that, like, a major violation of school law?"

Zev just laughed and it vibrated right through my chest. "Laws are written for people who lack power, sweet dragonless."

Before I could demand to know what kind of criminal trespass he was casually scheduling into my week, the tempo of the waltz shifted violently. The rotating partner-swap swept through the crowd.

Strong hands caught my waist, tearing me out of the Tiger Prince’s orbit and yanking me backward into a completely different frame.

The scent of winter snow, and pure, crackling fire hit my senses all at once.

My breath hitched.

I was in Prince Remus’s arms.

Up close, the Dragon Heir suffocated the air around him. He wasn’t dancing so much as gliding, and he stared straight into my eyes, his red irises burning and making my knees instantly feel like water.

I couldn’t look away. It was like staring into the center of a forest fire capable of reducing me to ash.

My brain stuttered to a halt. Looking at him this close, the sharp slope of his jaw, the arch of his brow brought back flashes from memory.

Eight years ago.

My chest squeezed so hard it hurt. No. It was impossible. Two people could not possibly look that identical, share that same calm aura that beckons to you, telling you you’re safe here.

My brain was only desperately tired of waiting for the boy from eight years ago and it was trying to fit this Dragon Prince into that image.

Yet, as the music slowed to a romantic crescendo, neither of us spoke a single word.

The space closed down between our bodies until his chest was a mere breath away from mine. His gaze dropped slowly to my lips, and for one insane, hallucinatory second, I thought—I genuinely thought—he was going to kiss me in front of the entire high-born aristocracy.

My heart pounded so fast, I could hear it in my ears.

Then, right as my eyes drifted shut, the music jolted forward again.

The final partner rotation ripped us apart.

I stumbled backward, blinking through a haze of pure oxygen deprivation, only to the arms of a furious, scowling fairy who looked like he wanted to magic me into a toad.

As we clumsily stepped through the remaining bars of the waltz, my eyes darted across the floor, catching sight of Remus’s step-sister...

She was glaring at me from the sidelines. She was shooting me a death stare so venomous, I was so convinced she was currently mentally rehearsing three different ways to dissolve my internal organs.

What had I even done?! I only stood in front of their royal walking path for two seconds! If looks could literally kill, I would have been a smoking pile of ash before the song even finished.

The rest of the night blurred past in a surreal, agonizing haze of forced polite smiles, dry chicken, and far too much sparkling cider. We ate, we drank, and finally, mercifully, the ball came to an end.

Senior faculty members descended upon the high-tier first-years, Bren included, sweeping them away to discuss academy placements and faction metrics. Meanwhile, the Dragon Academy proctor rounded up his students like an over-caffeinated sheepdog, herding them back toward their dorms as the other faction supervisors did the same.

By the time we staggered back to our cramped quarters, Miriel and I were practically sleepwalking. But as much as we had a mountain of insane events to gush about, the exhaustion and the cider had hit their marks on us. We collapsed onto our beds and passed out cold.

Now, I could sleep without the fear of Tobin invading my dreams. The bastard had been captured. Finally.

.

The next morning, the ear-splitting clang of the academy bell rang out at dawn, breaking our temporary peace.

"Up! Up, up, up!" Miriel chirped, miraculously bouncing out of bed as if she hadn’t consumed half a winery the night before. "We have to bathe, dress, and get to Commander Clement’s office for our official statements!"

At the sound of that, my heart jolted.

This was it... Today was the day.