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He nodded. “You must be thewitch, arriving days after the booked appointment.” The way he pronounced “witch” carried a mockingtone.
I stared at his ghost of a smile. Was he being an ass on purpose? Swallowing, I lifted my chin. “Sorry I’m late, but I came as soon as I could. And actually, I prefer ‘magic caster.’ ‘Witch’ is like me calling you a beast ’cause you live in the White Peak, when I’m sure you’d prefer ‘bear shifter’ instead of ‘bloodthirsty animal’—or maybe you’d prefer ‘sugarplum.’” I dipped my voice with sarcasm and smirked tomyself.
A small laughter rolled over his throat, and his eyes locked with mine. “‘Beast’ will be just fine.” His voice deepened and that earlier grinwidened.
Butterflies swarmed in my gut and did my legs just wobble? I mean, that right there was grounds for me to back away, yet something inside me coiledtight.
“Well, anyway,” I said. “Nice of you to share your fetishes, but we can get this started. As much as I love White Peak Mountains with all its snow and ferocious bears, I’ve had enough fun fortoday.”
Shrugging, he didn’t say a word, but his eyes didn’t hesitate to slip down over my buttoned black coat, dark pants, and worn leather boots. I glanced at the family paintings, into the same green eyes I’d also seen onRaze.
My breath caught in my throat. With his attire and lack of servants, I’d assumed he was a helper. “Is that you in the portrait? Aprince?”
“Yes.” His faced beamed with pleasure, as if my discomfort brought himjoy.
My jaw dropped open as I intended to apologize, but no words came to mind.Honestly, could I be any dumber? And if I could, I’d roll my eyes at myself. I’d never been this close to royalty— what did one say to a prince? Well, so far, I’d insultedhim.
Hopefully, the apologetic expression I plastered on my face looked real. Should I offer him a curtsy? With those chiseled cheeks and suave intensity, he probably had a dozen royal families throwing their daughters at him, women who I was sure behaved perfectly. I shouldn’t have been surprised, and I refused to give his expectations any morethought.
Reversing the curse, receiving payment, and getting back home alive were all thatmattered.
“Where’s my brother Raze?” He glanced toward the frontdoor.
Okay, so I’d gotten that part wrong too. Raze wasn’t a guide, but a royal. “Why would you send a prince to collect me? Don’t you have someone to run your errands?” I scanned the room to avoid his peering stare. Dust coated the frames on the wall, and cobwebs suspended from the corners. “And not to judge or anything, but whoever you’ve hired to clean this place is doing a terriblejob.”
“Listen, sugarplum,” he said, tossing back my insult wrapped in an endearment with just as much tart as I had. He closed the distance between us in three long strides. “Focus and tell me where Razeis.”
I arched a brow and didn’t even flinch. “Well, Beast, your brother is one interesting character. Not only did he toss me into his carriage near the Golden Lock tavern as if I were a criminal, but then he leaped out to fight freaking bears attacking us. Because this place is insane. Why would others attack him if they knew he was of royal blood? And why would he risk his life for me? Again, don’t you have guards to do this job? He jumped into the woods, leaving me to face off monsters alone.” I swallowed hard and held myself strong, but on the inside, I crumbled. What if Raze lay somewhere in the woods dying? He’d saved me, in his own way, twice. Once at the tavern and again on the way here. Panic now brushed aside my calm and throttledme.
“I think you should send help to go find him. Maybe he’s in danger. And”—I leaned closer—“how the fuck am I supposed to get home safely with wild bears trying to killme?”
“Criminal, you say?” He turned and walked across thehall.
I trailed behind him, my boots scraping the marble floor. “That’s what you focus on out of everything I said? Your brother could be in the woods dying.” Just like Raze, this prince didn’t seem to bat an eye at the potential of his brother being injured. Why? Was Raze a rival for the throne and this one was just as happy to have one less contender? I clenched my fists. He better do something quick or I’d figure out how to makehim.
To our right and left there were doors and more family portraits. Were these servant quarters? But why hadn’t I seen anyone else in the castle? Something was amiss here, like the-end-of-the-world wrong and waking up to discover I was the lastsurvivor.
In the kitchen, candles in the chandelier lit the enormous room with a wooden table running down the middle. There was a fireplace and a stove and pots and pans hung from hooks on the wall. I drifted toward the blazing fire to warm the ice from myveins.
“Best you stay here,” he ordered. “Make yourself some food. Or better yet, be a sugarplum and create enough for all five ofus.”
“I’m not your personal chef.” I faced him while I heated my butt. “I have a job to complete, and we still haven’t discussed payment, as you owe me half upfront. Maybe take me to the person who’s suffering from the curse, too, so I can get started. Also, can you get my bag from thecarriage?”
His gaze was elsewhere, not giving me any attention as he walked out. “Whatever you do,” he called out, “don’t leave the kitchen. Stayhere.”
“Wait!” Iyelled.
And he halted, glancing at me over his shoulder, concern pinching the bridge of hisnose.
So many questions buzzed in my head. “What’s your name? What do I call you? ‘Prince’? Are you going to send help forRaze?”
“‘Beast’ is just fine.” He stormed out and shut the door behind him, and the sound of a key jangling had meflinching.
No, he didn’t!I raced after him and rattled the handle. Locked. I banged on the door. “Are you kiddingme?”
Was this payback for me naming him a beast? Yep, a wonderful way to win over a royal prince… call himnames.
I rushed to the window, unable to see much beyond the darkness outside. Tugging on it did nothing. There was no latch, and with the glass divided by metal bars, fat chance of me breaking throughthem.
Tonight was fast becoming a nightmare. My stomach clenched at the possibility of Raze being hurt or dead while his brother, very much a beast, had imprisoned me in the kitchen. I paced in front of the fireplace, hugging myself. I’d tried to help Raze but facing the bears myself wasn’t the smartest move if I intended to keepbreathing.
Goddess, what had I gotten myself into? I chewed on my lower lip until it hurt. On top of everything, why had this prince told me not to go into the rest of the house after shutting me in the kitchen? Was he worried the rebel bears would burst into the castle and this was him keeping mesafe?
Before I could work out what to do next, I crossed the kitchen and flung open the pantry, pawing for food. Better yet, I might find herbs to help me create aspell.
