Page 42 of Forbidden Heart

I consider telling Anderson the Dark Prince was at least partly to blame, but what if that gets him in serious trouble? We don’t both need to be here, especially when I’m the reason Silas stumbled into that shelf in the first place.

“Everything else seems to be fine,” Anderson says as he bends down and starts picking up jewelry off the floor. He sets it on the nearest display counter, but when I try to help, he shakes his head. “I got this.”

I take the hint and step back. He doesn’t trust me, and why should he?

When he’s done, he dusts his hands off and turns to face me. “Are you feeling better?”

I shake my head. How am I supposed to feel better after all the damage I caused?

“Then let me lock up, and I’ll take you to the campus doctor. Get you checked out.”

“Oh no, I’m not hurt.” And I don’t have a student number or the money to pay for a visit with Dr. MacAulay. “I’m just really sorry about the damage.”

Anderson nods in understanding. “We’ll figure it out, don’t worry. Now, first things first. What’s your student number?”

I keep my lips firmly sealed. On some level, I imagine that if I just stay quiet, Anderson might ask a different question. He keeps waiting.

My rotten luck is too much for even my fairy godblazer to help me out of. Maybe it’s the spinning wheel splinter curse after all.

“Roonie?” Anderson says, and I realize I’ve started to hum. As if things weren’t bad enough! “Don’t panic, okay, kid? One thing at a time. What’s your student number?”

Involuntarily, my shoulders heave up and down, accompanied by a shuddery sigh. “I don’t have one.”

Anderson doesn’t seem to believe me. “If a student owes us money, we can start sort of a ‘tab’ under their student number. That way they can pay it off over time,” he says, as if that will somehow get me to give him a different answer.

“H-How much do I owe you?” I whisper.

“Two thousand five hundred, or thereabouts.”

“I don’t have that kind of money,” I cry. “And I can’t get a student number. I’m not even a student. I’m just here.”

Homeless. At the school that rejected me. With twenty-three dollars in my pocket and no way to fix what I’ve done.

“Okay, take deep breaths, Roonie,” Anderson says, and I realize I’m hyperventilating. “Why don’t we get you to sit down, and then we’ll work things out?”

“Okay.” I nod absently as my surroundings swim in front of my eyes. I stumble, but Anderson captures my arm with a steady hand. “We’re just going behind the counter. There is a chair right in front of you. There we go. Now put your head between your knees and try to breathe. It’ll help.”

“Okay,” I gasp and lower my head and take deep breaths until the dizziness subsides.

“Better?” Anderson asks.

Two thousand five hundred, my brain screams. I nod.

“Do you want me to get you a glass of water?” Anderson doesn’t wait for my reply. He disappears into the back and returns with a plastic cup.

I take it from him, but what good will it do? Water’s not going to help unless it transforms me into a mermaid. Then I could swim away from here and leave this life behind. Leave Anderson with a broken box that’s all my fault... mine and Silas’s, but mostly mine.

“I can’t pay for it.” I struggle not to cry. “You know I don’t have that kind of money. I didn’t even have the fifty bucks to fix my necklace.”

“Deep breaths, Roonie,” Anderson reminds me.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I cry.

“I know you didn’t break the box on purpose. It was an accident.”

I sag in relief. “So I don’t have to pay for it?”

“I’m sorry, Roonie.” Anderson shakes his head. Guess this is one wish my fairy godblazer can’t grant. “I can’t afford to take that kind of loss.”