When She Blooms, They All Wither

Chapter 4 The Queen's Return

The Excelsior ballroom glittered with gold and marble. Power brokers stopped talking when Cassius and I entered, then began whispering behind their glasses.

Dante stood near the marble fireplace with a whiskey in his hand. Elena, dressed in pale silver, clung to his arm. He looked comfortable until he saw me.

Dante's head turned. His smile froze, then vanished.

"Look at that," he told the men around him, making sure I heard. "She's finally come to her senses. A little tantrum, but she needs to be taught where she belongs."

Cassius's arm tightened under my hand. I pressed his sleeve once and kept walking.

The great oak doors at the top of the main staircase swung open. We began our descent.

*Tap.*

My obsidian cane struck the polished marble, one hard note in the silence.

*Tap.*

I measured each step and let my training carry me down. Red velvet moved around my legs, and a pigeon's blood ruby rested at my throat.

*Tap.*

He had expected me bent over an aluminum crutch. I came toward him in red, my back straight, the obsidian cane keeping time.

Dante kept staring. His hand tightened around the whiskey glass until his knuckles blanched.

As we reached the bottom step, he shoved Elena aside and stormed toward us.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Aria? This melodrama is over." He reached for me. "You're coming home. Now."

I stayed where I was and tightened my grip on the falcon-head cane.

Dante's fingers nearly closed around my arm. Cassius stepped between us and pressed his pistol between Dante Romano's eyes.