"What?" I blink in surprise.

Hale takes a deliberate step forward, close enough that I can smell the scent of clean soap on his skin. "Dance with me," he repeats lowly, lifting his eyes to meet mine.

They're filled with heat, swirling with hunger.

My mouth goes dry. "I don't know how to dance," I whisper weakly, struggling to control the scorching wave that swept up from my toes at the look in his eyes. 

He laughs, a quiet, unamused sound. "I don't care."

With that, he takes my hand and pulls me out onto the floor amidst the other couples swirling and swaying to the music. He traps my hand in a firm grip, pulling me close to him. His other hand settles on the bare skin on my back, the imprint of each finger burning against me. I bite my lip to stifle a gasp.

His eyes flash, his hand tightening briefly. 

Then he steps, pulling me with him in a slow movement. I forget all about not being able to dance when we step again, and he pulls me flush against his body. My own moves with the flow of his and we're dancing. 

"Why are you here?" I whisper, my thoughts all over the place.

"Why do you think?" he responds, a wicked little grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. 

My heart skips. I don't know what to think. He's here, holding me in his arms, looking at me like this... it feels surreal. Surely this new passion isn't just because of some silly dress?

I struggle of find the words. "I think you're here so you can brag to Gareth about all of the beautiful women you get to see, while he's stuck in the cold, lonely barracks." There. A joke, something safe, something familiar. 

"That might have been my initial reason, but now that I'm here, I can only look at one woman." He gives me a meaningful stare.

 My cheeks heat. What game is he playing? "Lady Bedivere does make a rather fetching cupcake," I say, hoping mentioning her will cut through some of this tension so I can breathe, get my head straight, stop and- 

"Sadly for her, I prefer women dipped in starlight rather than frosting." His hands slip up my back in a caress that has me shivering, to finger a tendril of my hair. "Women with wild hair and wild eyes to match their wild hearts."

"Most men prefer their women tame," I breathe, unable to look away. Unable to ignore the tightening in my stomach. I've never seen this side of Hale, never imagined he would say such things to me, look at me in such a way. 

"Most men have never met you," he says hoarsely, pulling me flush against him again. I have feel the hard lines of his body pressed against the soft edges of mine. I want to sink my hands into his hair, press my mouth against his-

Hale leans to whisper in my ear, his lips the barest brush against my skin. "Let's get out of here. We can go somewhere else, somewhere alone."

My skin is hot and tight, my heart racing. I can feel the unspoken promise of his words, desire throbbing between us. I open my mouth to say yes-

White flashes in the corner of my eye and I jerk away from him, alarm filling me. Willow dances by with Darius, his golden hair glinting in the light. Reality comes crashing into me, my head spinning. I'd forgotten what I came here for. 

Hale says my name but my eyes are locked on Willow. She glances over for a second, smiling, then her eyes slide to Hale and she stiffens, freezing in the middle of her dance. She studies him for a second, says something to Darius, then makes her way towards us. 

I pull myself from Hale's arms, feeling embarrassed, wondering if Willow can see the tension thrumming between us. 

"This must be Hale," Willow says once she reaches us, not asking. I open my mouth to introduce them but she cuts me off. "Can I speak to you two for a second?"

She won't stop staring at Hale, a small furrow between her eyebrows. He looks just as confused as I feel. 

Willow leads us off the floor and over to a deserted doorway. "Can you wait here please?" she asks Hale sweetly, pulling me away before he can respond.

"Something's wrong with him," she hisses as soon as we are out of earshot.

"What?" I gasp, resisting the urge to spin around and examine him. "What do you mean?"

She glances over at where he's waiting. "There's this... dark smudge over him. It reeks of dark magic, like the force that's been haunting me." She grips my arms with freezing hands, eyes solemn. "I can see the intention of the darkness leading him, holding him down. Has he said or done anything strange?"

"I-" I falter, throat closing. Hale, my friend who has never show interest in me, suddenly unable to control himself because of some fancy dress? And after I came here with his best friend? Not likely. Gods, I'm such a fool. My heart sinks. I should have known the second he wasn't acting like himself. Blinded by my own stupid feelings and desires.

"Yes," I whisper. "He's been acting strange. Towards me. Romantically." 

Willow looks at me with a mixture of sympathy and understanding. "I'll fix him. I can remove whatever's on him, what's making him act this way. Someone must be controlling him, must have something they want him to do."

"But I don't understand," I say helplessly. I sink my nails into my palms, the pain pushing back tears. "Why would the force haunting you bother with Hale? Bother messing with me?"

She shakes her head reluctantly. "I'm not sure. After the ball, bring him to my room and I can try scouring his mind for answers. Whoever did this could have left an imprint or impression."

"Scour his mind?"

"Something I've been learning to do with Mortimer," she says dismissively. "Just trust me. We'll figure out who did this."

She takes a step towards him but I grab he quickly. "Will he- will he remember what happened?"

Willow looks away and I know her answer before she says it. "I'm sorry but I don't see why he shouldn't. It's still him, he's still conscious, just under the control of something else."

I nod, letting her go.  

"Hold still," she commands, stalking over to Hale and clamping her hands on either side of his face. She has to stand on her tip toes to do so. His whole body stiffens, going still as death.

A tense second goes by, then Willow pulls her hands away slowly, a wispy black substance following. It looks like cobwebs strung between her fingers and Hale's head. Willow's hands tremble and the strands become more solid looking, snapping off of him with a sharp jerk of her wrist.

Willow inhales loudly, clapping her hands together, the sound lost in the music pouring from the ball. A small flash of light flares from between her fingers, dust trickling from her hands to form a small pile on the floor.

Hale collapses to the floor.

I drop to my knees, pain shooting through me as the smack against the marble. "Are you okay?"

His eyes are open and watching me warily, pupils dilated, sweat beading along his hairline. 

"What happened? Why am I here?" He glances down as his shaking hands. 

I shoot Willow a desperate look, not sure what to say, but she shrugs. "What do you remember?" I ask gently.

He buries his face in his hands, exhaling. "I- I remember getting ready for the ball and leaving. I was running late." He hesitates. "Then, the next thing I remember is seeing you across the room and suddenly I needed to see you, to talk to you. You were standing alone and you looked-" He swallows loudly. "It felt like I couldn't control myself, I just knew that I had to be close to you."

He lifts his head and dark eyes meet mine. "We danced and..." He trails off, clearly remembering the things he said and my response.

I look away, sick and ashamed. The sheer excitement and elation I'd felt, the heady need- I can't control the rolling of my stomach. 

Before either of us can say anything, Darius appears in the doorway. He blinks, obviously not expecting this; Hale slumped on the floor, me crouched next to him, my dress bunched up, Willow pale and worried looking.

"Forgive me for intruding?" He says, making it sound like a question. "I merely wanted to make sure you were well, Willow."

"Thank you for the concern," she says smoothly, moving towards him. "My sister's friend was simply feeling sick and need to sit down."

Darius's gaze lingers on Hale a second too long. "Well, let's return to the ball before you're missed. I'm yours for the rest of the night." He places a possessive hand on Willow's back and I bristle as he leads her away. 

At least now I know that I can sneak away to the tomb without Darius popping in unexpectedly. I need to focus, need to push this situation with Hale out of my mind for now.

"Can you stand?" I ask, getting to my feet and helping him up when he nods. He sways a little, unsteady on his feet.

"Perfect... now go back to the ball." I make it two steps away before his cold hand clamps around my wrist. 

"Don't you think we should talk about what happened?" Hale asks, looking genuinely surprised that I was going to walk away.

"Yes, we should." What I actually want to say is that I would rather let Maddox cut me into tiny bits that talk about it. Fortunately for me though, I have somewhere to be and can push it off for a little longer. "We can talk after the ball, I promise."

"Why can't we talk right now?" he pushes.

"Gods, Hale!" I explode, ripping my arm away from him. "Because I don't have time for you right now! I know it's hard for you to believe but you aren't at the top of my priority list."

He takes a step back, his expression hurt. But then his face hardens. "No, you don't get to do that to me," he say lowly. "You don't get to push me away. You want to hurt my feelings, fine. Say whatever you want. But your secrets you've been keeping are affecting me now, so you owe me some answers."

He's right, I know that. But I truly don't have time right now. I can feel the minutes slipping away, minutes that I could be finding the information to help Willow.

"Hale, I'm not disagreeing with you but I truly have to go. I'm sorry, I'll tell you everything when I get back."

I thought it was impossible to feel worse than I did a few minutes ago, but as I leave Hale standing there in that empty hallway, I feel like I've done something unforgivable. 

But I have to, for Willow. I need to find out what Darius is planning before she gets hurt.