Kole didn’t reply, but a deep groove appeared between his eyes. He led me toward a stone bench, sheltered from the moonlight by a babbo tree. He lowered me to the seat as though I were an invalid, then sat beside me.
I perched there for a moment, breathing in the fresh air, but my body was as stiff as a board. Wind whistled through the tree branches above us, and nearby flowers perfumed the air.
“It’s warm here,” I stated.
“There are warded domes around all palace courtyards. It’s warm all season long regardless of the true temperature outside.”
His calm words and steady presence helped loosen my claw-like fingers gripping the bench, yet for some inexplicable reason, tears began to form in my eyes.
Hard, calloused hands abruptly took mine. Kole rubbed his thumbs along the backs of my hands, his brow heavy, his aura pulsing. “Prim, what happened?”
Tears swam in my eyes. “My life is over.”
His tone gentled. “It’s not over. It’s just . . . different.”
“Oh, and they hate me too. Both of them. I forgot to include that one.”
“Your sisters?”
I nodded, and a hot tear splashed onto my cheek. A low growl left the warrior, but before he could speak, I blurted, “They wantnothing to do with me. Koraline despises me, and given her scars thatI’mresponsible for, I can hardly blame her. And Lillith is afraid of me. She tried to cover it up, but it’s so obvious she thinks I’m a monster. And then there are my parents. They’re so different from Aunt Opalin and Uncle Roosep. I mean, they’re the same. I get that since my magic recognizes them as the fae I’ve always known, but they’redifferent. They’ve created some kind of potion, telling me I have to use it every single time I want to eat or drink something, because without it, I could be poisoned and turn into whatever my uncle was becoming. And I have to get fitted for a gown tomorrow for a ball. And not one ball, buttwoballs. Actual royalballs. And then they said that they’ll start introducing me to potential matches, males I may one day marry, and as long as I choose someonesuitable,they won’t fully arrange a marriage for me, but if I don’t, then an arranged marriage is likely coming.” I gasped again since I’d been speaking so fast that I felt lightheaded.
Kole stiffened, but more tears blurred my eyes, and I pushed on. “Never in my life have they ever said anything like that to me. Before, Opalin and Roosep would stop by, and we’d visit or play cards or go shopping. It was all so easy. So pleasant. Sonormal. But this—” I made a sweeping motion with my hand, waving at the soaring palace walls and beautiful garden glittering under a night sky. “This isn’t who they are. Not to me at least, which means in some ways, they’re complete strangers.”
I finally stopped, my chest heaving, but then I laughed bitterly. “And oh, I almost forgot. I killed somebody this morning. On top of everything else that happened today, I also took a life, but nobody seems to care about that.”
Kole’s throat bobbed in a swallow. I couldn’t help but wonder if taking lives bothered him. He’d killed six shifter males without batting an eye during my hunt for the Stone, and he’d neversaid a word about it again. But killing Verin still weighed on my mind, even if she’d been evil. I’d never taken a life before.
“You’ve been through a lot, and understandably, you’re upset,” Kole finally said.
I laughed humorlessly. “You noticed I was upset, did you?”
His voice grew even more gentle. “Everything in the past day has been new and painful. Verin’s death doesn’t help that, and you wish things had never changed. That you could go back to your old life and undo all that’s happened.”
I turned toward him, feeling understood andseenfor the first time since arriving here. “Yes.” I gripped him tighter, so thankful that somebody understood. “Yes, exactly.”
His thumbs roamed along the backs of my hands, and with each swipe of his fingers, a flare of pleasure traveled up my arms. “Do you think anything can be done to make some of this better?”
I scoffed. “Well, not forcing an arranged marriage on me would be one less thing to worry about.”
He stilled. “They’re truly already speaking of your marriage?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Koraline’s betrothed is to be officially announced at her upcoming ball in a few weeks, and they hinted that her suitors were selected by them, so I asked if I would also have to one day partake in an arranged marriage, and that’s when they brought up the wholesuitablething. That as long as I chose someonesuitable, they wouldn’t force an arranged marriage on me. But what does that even mean, Kole?” I turned pleading eyes on him. “Since when does being born into a noble lineage make someone suitable? Plenty of nobles are completely abhorrent fae, but apparently, one’s bloodline is all that matters.”
Energy swam in his aura, rising with each second. I stared at him, looking for answers, but he shook his head. “I don’t know, but, Prim, you’re a princess, and...” His throat rolled in a stiffswallow, then he said, his tone slightly bitter, “Certain things are expected of you now.”
I snorted. “So you agree with them?”
“No.” His reply came readily. Harshly. “Not in the slightest.” He glanced away, and even though he was trying to lock his aura down, it still pounded toward me in waves.
“Why are you angry?” I asked quietly.
He glanced at me. In the moonlight, his dazzling Solis blue eyes looked so turbulent, as if lightning could crackle from them at any second.
He looked down, breaking eye contact, and took a deep breath. “Did they tell you that you’re not confined to the palace grounds anymore?”
“They did.” I waited for him to say more, to answer my question.
“Come with me.” He abruptly stood, his hands still holding mine, and when he peered down at me with the tree’s branches above him and his broad shoulders entirely blocking the moons, something in my chest once again stretched, sought,needed.
