She swallows. Her gaze flicks toward the trees, trying to focus on anything but me.
“It’s just...people don’t really see me. They see some weird idea of me. Because I’m a princess. Or because I’m too...” She makes air quotes. “‘Pretty.’ Even to other kids my age, I’m not real. I’m more a symbol they’d rather talk about than talk to. They’d rather make up stories about me instead of bothering to find out who I am.”
Her voice drops. “You’re the only one who hasn't done that. You make me feel real. So, uh…thanks. I guess.”
An odd sensation presses deep into my chest. No, deeper than that. Into my bones. A knowing. A recognition that defies reason.
She takes a breath, almost bracing herself. “So. Are you going to stay?”
The ceilingabove me is water-stained and cracked. The blinds rattle faintly in the air from the heater, casting slivers of neon city light across the floor like prison bars.
Sleep evades me as the memories return.
Seven years ago, I made a vow. To the King. To the Queen. Toher.
I vowed fealty and protection to the princess for as long as my services were needed. I’ll help keep her secret, make sure she feeds, and dispose of the evidence.
I’ll stay with the princess until the day I die. I’m not entirely sure that part of me wouldn’t rise from the ashes of my own corpse and rejoin her.
Because while that vow connected us, I didn’t expect to fall for her. Being with her hurled me down an endless staircase, the ground never arriving, not after months, of even years.
Despite my feelings, I force myself to focus only on what I do. I protect her. I contain her curse. I clean up the mess.
I turn on my side, trying, and failing, to get comfortable.
Because nothing else will ever be possible.
Chapter 7
Hot Girl Jail
AURORA
“So, what’s the deal with you and hot boy?” Snow asks, as she and Ariel lead me out of yet another clothing store.
I brought enough cash to cover getting started here, but I’m quickly running out. Hefting several bulging bags, I'm realizing how much these Lost Girls spend on clothes and accessories. Oh, and the shoes. My fae lords, the shoes.
The tendons in my shoulder pull painfully from holding up the bag with not one, but two pairs of combat boots. If Talon were here, he wouldn’t let me carry these heavy bags. He’d take on the weight like it was nothing.
I bristle at the thought. I don’t need him. I don’t need anyone to carry my bags. I’m a normal girl, going shopping and getting ready for her first day of work.
“We...” I pause, remembering how Rap said they’d catch onto any lie. “We grew up together.”
Ariel rolls the wheels of her chair along the Boston sidewalk without so much as a strained breath. “There is a lot of chemistry between you two.”
Despite her fantastic show of popping wheelies in provocative clothing, I find Ariel is rather careful with herwords. It seems to me as if half her mind is always somewhere else. She pauses to lift a camera from the strap around her neck and snaps a picture of the city street. She’s always taking pictures. Like she wants to collect every single moment she can.
“Like scalding hot chemistry. Why haven’t you tapped that?” Snow adds. Unlike Ariel, Snow has zero filter and tosses out whatever is in her mind at any given moment.
“It’s...complicated.” Not a lie.
“Is it because his dick could roast you from the inside out, or is there something else?” Snow asks.
They both watch me expectantly as my mouth flaps open and closed a few times before I break out into a grin. “Yeah, that pretty much covers the issue.”
“That’ll do it,” Ariel breathes.
“Major bummer.” Snow shakes her head.
