Chapter 21

As the dance with Momoka drew to an end her face became more and more clouded to the point that even Jace recognised that something was wrong.

The dance came to an end with a final flourish and Jace bowed his head at Momoka. As he rose the foul expression had not left Momoka’s face. He ushered them to the side and whispered to her, “What is wrong?”

“Nikita is glaring at me,” she said softly.

Jace sighed. “And here I thought she was in a good mood today. I’ll go talk to her.”

“No, it’s ok Jace, let's just enjoy our night,” Momoka said, though the frown that still echoed on her face said something completely different.

“I can’t let her get like this again,” Jace said and took a step away.

“Again?” Momoka said softly but Jace didn’t turn back around he continued to walk his way toward Nikita.

Nikita was standing by the banquet table now a group of her friends in black coats crowded around her. All of them dressed in the gothic way that she liked to dress, although they were all completely clothed in black, it made her stand out so much. She was laughing and sipping at a mug of hearty soup from the feast.

They turned before Jace approached sensing his presence like the rising sun.

All of the smiles faded into displeased expressions. Nikita however kept her smile, the cocky smile that it was. “What is it Prince?”

“Can I talk to you privately?” Jace hissed.

Nikita rolled her eyes. “And were do you suppose we should talk that’s private doing the solstice ball Jace?”

Jace tried to keep his annoyance out of his voice. “Away from your friends will do.”

Nikita huffed and downed the rest of her soup. “Be back soon guys.”

She followed Jace to a quieter corner. Still there were people around but none that Jace deemed too concerning if they overheard. He didn’t say anything, just stared at her, seeing if she would admit what she did. She wasn’t even slightly guilty, just a little bothered that he was looking directly at her. Her eyes flicked around to avoid his gaze.

“If you’re not going to spit it out I’m going to leave,” she said, exasperated.

“Why were you glaring at Momoka when we were dancing?” he asked, curtly.

“What are you talking about?” Nikita finally met his eyes, her searching his.

“It’s really quite simple Nikita,” Jace mocked.

“I did not glare at her,” Nikita said and turned to leave.

“I don’t believe you,” Jace grabbed her shoulder, “you need to apologise.”

Nikita shrugged out of his grip, “Gods, don’t touch me.” She took a breath to calm herself. “I’m not going to apologise to her, sure I did watch your dance for a bit but I wasn’t glaring, I just noticed how miserable you looked.”

Jace frowned, “I was not miserable.”

Nikita laughed in his face. “Oh so you’re just blindly going to deny it then? It was written all over your face.”

“It was only because of you,” Jace bit back.

“Oh so you’re just going to blame the curse entirely on me then that’s rich, like I wanted to be born into this situation,” she hissed back at him.

He was glad for the loud music and enormous party; they could rant at each other all they wanted without becoming entertainment for the whole palace.

“Oh it was the last time,” his voice dripped in venom.

Nikita laughed again. “Tati? You’re going to bring her up, that girl was practically a vampire of your and everyone around her’s happiness I was glad to help along the curse if it meant getting rid of her.”

“You kissed me in front of her, you can’t mean to say that you’re not even slightly sorry for that!”

“Why would I be sorry for looking out for my King-to-be. That girl was poisoned so heavily by the curse it was eating her alive and also you. I did you a favour and I am not sorry for it. Nor will I rule it out as an option in the future,” Nikita said smugly.

“Oh so now it’s just your hobby to ruin all my relationships, does it offend you so much that I might be happy?” Jace wanted to scream at her but he kept his voice as soft as he could.

“Of course I want you to be happy and I’d love to see you in that kind of relationship but I’m not just going to sit idly by and watch the jealousy eat away at you and whatever poor girl decided it was a good idea to date a royal Phoenix.”

“I am happy in this relationship so just back off,” Jace’s voice was a low threatening rumble.

Nikita smirked up at him. “I didn’t do anything Jace honest to Omthys, I did not glare at her. Be honest with yourself.”

Nikita walked off and Jace let her go this time.

He tried to calm his anger and Nikita for ruining his past relationship but there was a sinking feeling he just couldn’t ignore. Was the curse sneaking up on this new relationship. He felt like he was going to be sick at the thought of that, but more importantly he needed to find Momoka and talk to her.