Angela Knight - Unbound

How did you find out how I feel about you? And when did you decide to use it against me?

He kept waiting for her scorn, for a piercing glare that told him what a shit he’d been. Instead she gave him a slight nod, which lessened the pressure some but didn’t cure it, and then disappeared into the lab.

Kelsey watched the Star Gala’s procession—the official opening of the two-day holiday—from a place tucked far back in the crowd.

The doors to the hotel ballroom flew open, framing the queenly vision of the costumed woman absorbing the spotlight. Over a thousand pairs of Ofarian eyes swept to Gwen Carroway. Gorgeous and composed as ever, her pale blond hair piled high atop her head, wearing a glittering gown that turned her body into starlight, Gwen cradled the Fragment of Ofaria in her elegant hands. As she began the slow march down the center of the ballroom, parting the sea of Ofarians dressed in black tie, two small children fell in behind her, taking up the ends of the impossibly long train of the sparkling, high-necked costume.

She looked like a bride dressed in the night sky, about to marry the universe.

The whole ballroom had been decorated in billowing midnight blue fabric, and a lone beam of light illuminated the circular dais in the center. Gwen walked toward it with her chin high, her face solemn but commanding. Kelsey thought she looked like hope.

Not everyone agreed.

A woman to her left whispered bitterly to another, “She’ll ruin us all, bringing a Primary in. Who does she think she is?”

Another woman made an ugly scoffing sound. “Selfish whore.”

Kelsey edged away, knowing the gossip and conjecture they spouted weren’t true. Gwen had destroyed the old corrupt Board because she was self less . Her reward had been finding love. Kelsey would never begrudge her that.

As she slid through the crowd and took a place along the wall with more air and fewer dissidents, Gwen reached the dais and placed the Fragment on a decorative pedestal. She intoned a short blessing on all Ofarians and declared the Ice Rites open.

In the past, these words had been met with cheers and the clinking of glasses. Now, only subdued applause followed.

“Feels different this year, doesn’t it?”

Though the ballroom was warm, Kelsey’s skin turned to goose bumps at the sound of David’s voice. So close. When she turned, she was almost blinded by the sight of him in his tux. It fit him to perfection, and the clean wave of his dark blond hair, coaxed into a rare style, made him look like a god. She’d seen him dressed like this before, but never after she’d known what his lips felt like. That kiss had changed everything. Started something else. Ended more.

She drew a breath. “It does. Hardly anyone is drinking.”

He grinned and it was almost her undoing. She had to look away.

“I know,” he said. “Usually right about now I’m either walking in on couples making out in the bathroom or stuffing wasted Ofarians into taxis.”

Across the room, Gwen descended from the dais. This was her first appearance back in San Francisco after the Board had fallen, and she was mobbed. Griffin stood close by, his eyes always on her. A ring of watchful Ofarian soldiers kept them both protected.

“It was smart of Gwen not to bring her Primary,” Kelsey said.

“From what I understand, it’s to prove that we can live amongst Primaries—even with them—and not compromise ourselves.”

She thought of her clinic and where she wanted to take its purpose. It depended on Primary interaction.

“It must have been hard for Griffin,” she said, “to lose his betrothed.”

David shifted beside her. “Must have been,” he murmured. Then, “Thank you. For telling us about the letter.”

He always said “us” and “we,” never “me” or “I,” as though he never thought he’d make an individual difference.

She faced him. “I did it because it was out in the open, not sneaking around behind Emily’s back. Betraying her trust.”

He didn’t flinch, his stance resolute. “You helped us. Can you keep a secret?” She nodded. “In the letter, Wes made a direct threat against Griffin. When he makes good on that threat, I’ll be waiting for him.”

“You?” she gasped.

He nodded once. “Me.”

Foreboding knotted in her gut at the thought of David putting himself in that kind of danger, even though it was his job and he’d done it countless times before.

“Will you be careful?”

One side of his mouth quirked. “Worried about me?”

“Yes.” Always.

“Never fear. You can’t get rid of me that easily.” That little smile died. His gaze caressed her face, lingered on her hair. When he swallowed, his Adam’s apple made a slow undulation just above his bow tie.

I should have kissed you years ago.

He was beyond beautiful, beyond anything she could ever wish for, and suddenly she wanted to tell him. She wanted to start from the beginning and tell him . . . everything.

“David, I—”

His eyes suddenly shuttered, his focus dropping to the patterned carpet. He pressed a finger to his ear, where the curled cord of his radio device ended. Across the ballroom, tense, raised voices broke above the otherwise gentle susurrus of conversation. The sea of bodies shifted violently. A fight had broken out. Ofarian soldiers jogged from their positions around the ballroom and headed for the disturbance.

David threw Kelsey an apologetic glance and joined his uniformed men and women.

Over a hundred years of joyful, peaceful Star Galas, gone.

Nearly half an hour later, the mood in the ballroom had shifted so much that Kelsey’s skin itched with discomfort. She paid her respects to Gwen, who was shielded behind a wall of soldiers, and decided to go home.

Out in the hallway, soldiers detained the young Ofarians who had started the fight. Established ways against the impending new, an ages-old argument. She’d lost sight of David in the melee, but that was just as well. The way he’d looked at her just before taking off had tantalized and disturbed and confused her. She was no longer angry with him for asking her to spy on Emily or for doing so after he’d kissed her. Sexual attraction did funny things to you, messed around with your priorities. Plus, he’d gotten pertinent information about Wes through the letter and no harm had been done to Emily.

A long, quiet hall led from the ballroom to the bank of elevators, dotted with doors branching off into deserted conference rooms. She made it halfway to the elevators.

“Kelsey.”

Not “Doc.” Not “Kelse.”

Amazing how her name on David’s lips could stop everything, not just her legs, from walking. Her lungs ceased to pump; her heart skidded to a stop. She turned to watch him approach. He moved with such elegant purpose after training his whole life to be that strong and agile.

He stopped three paces away. “You’re not leaving, are you?”

“Yes.” She glanced at the trouble in the ballroom lobby. “Is everything okay?”

He nodded, staring down at her with frightening, exhilarating intent. “It’s under control.”

She wasn’t sure if he was talking about the fight or the powerful energy that sparked and sizzled between them. Hands in his pockets, he looked carefully rigid. Like he was holding himself back. She knew how that felt.

She thought about their kiss, the mismatched way his mouth had been so sweet and gentle, and how hot and desperate it had made her feel. What she needed to do was suck up her doubt and her pride, and just go for it.

She licked her lips, trying to find the moisture and courage to say what she wanted. Was he staring at her mouth? Her tongue darted out again, and his lips parted in response.