Chapter 50

Tears blurred her eyes, and she ripped off the mask in the garden. She could hardly see where she was going, only that her past had caught up with her and she wanted to forget any of this had ever happened. That it all had the ability to make her cry at all.

A figure blocked her path. She hardly saw him and nearly careened into him.

“Sorry,” she gasped, stepping around him to try to find an empty space to grieve her old life.

But the man caught her elbow. “Maya?”

She stilled, her eyes drifting up to meet blue. The last person she wanted to meet tonight. “Kivrin.”

He looked around the gardens. No one had yet noticed them. “What are you doing here? How did you even get into my party?” He fingered a lock of her tresses. “What have you done to your hair?”

Maya tugged her arm out of his grasp. “Don’t touch me.”

“This is unacceptable,” Kivrin said with fury in his tone. “You were not invited to this event. You should not be attending parties.”

“And why not? Are you ashamed of me?” she hisse