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My cheeks are aflame at his near touch to my bodice. Memories flash in my mind, times spent with Jasper in the barn, his fingers undoing the strings, his hot mouth on mine.
The prince drops his hand, the frown smoothing out as a decision hardens his face. Still, he dares a fleeting smirk at me that floods my belly with rocky unease.
Turning his back on me, he says the worst imaginable thing I could have ever thought up in my mind—
“This one will be my bounty.”
4
I don’t know Mother is holding anything until she shrieks and drops a wooden plate of goat cheeses to the floor. It clatters and cheese spills all over.
The commotion shatters the deafening, thick silence that has suddenly enveloped the whole farmhouse.
Father staggers back, face paling to the shade of moon apples, and he leans against the wall for support. Our eyes lock for a moment, and I see the glisten of tears in his. Defeat has swallowed him whole, taken his posture and his face. He’s torn—torn between fighting and self-preservation.
I can’t look at him another second.
I turn my slack face to the side.
My sisters are in a flurry. Silently, they grab at each other, shock loosening their faces, and then reach for me.
I stand there, simply numb, my dazed stare drifting to the back of the prince. He peels a fur-lined cloak from the table beside the couch and drapes it over his arm.
Slowly, he turns to face me—crystal blue eyes, a slight wicked smile dancing on his lips, his black markings poking out at the neck of his jacket.
A total, complete stranger.
A dark fae.
A fucking prince.
It hits me like a load of wooden slabs from the dark skies above.
A wave of horror crashes over me. I loosen a whimper of realisation as it all sinks into my icy bones.
The prince is going to take me away.
My legs give out from under me.
Amelia’s sturdy arms catch me just in time.
I’m slumped against her, my head spinning, pulsating against my skull.
Milan rushes around me before I realise, as I feel the hardness of wood press against the back of my knees, that she is pushing a chair behind me.
I sink into the seat, arms flopping limp at my sides.
And still, I can’t tear my watery eyes from the prince.
His smirk is still stuck to his face, beneath glittering eyes. He stands tall and proud, commanding all the attention in the room—and he gets it. One by one, all gazes fix on him.
I can’t stop the word from falling from my tongue, and it comes out in a squeak; “Forever?”
His eyes narrow into slits of ice, the dark smile fading away.
“One Bounty,” he replies coolly. “I will return you when the next bounty is ready.” His darkening face turns on Father. “For the sake of your sickly daughter, I expect the offering will be fresher then, or I will find bounties in other ...options,” he adds, dragging his gaze over each of my sisters before it lands on me once more.
A shudder rattles my shoulders. I tense up, seized on the chair, and grip onto the edges of the seat. My nails dig into the wood, leaving crescent marks in their wake.
