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She stared at the whorls in the frame of her bed, eyes tracking the grain in the wood. For hours and hours, she followed the pattern, unmoving, steady, reliable, and unlike everything that Rosalie had felt and experienced in the last twenty-four hours.
Jay kidnapped. Sleeping with Dominick.
Telling him the truth about their son, only for everything to fall apart.
The numbness she felt now, she knew, was a mechanism of self-preservation. Who could she trust to take care of Jay if she broke down into a fit of despair? To make sure he had his book of bedtime stories with him, for him to read on his own when no one was looking because he believed he was too old to have his mother read to him before bed?
Who would know to give him a fork when he ate his soup because he liked the challenge and preferred drinking it out of the bowl anyway?
And most importantly, who else would know to give him an extra hug when he was scared or when the darkness seemed too heavy? Dominick wasn't the hugging type, and it would take someone truly special to pick up that slack if Rosalie wasn't able to do it for Jay.
She had no choice but to stay strong and pretend that all of this was normal. She'd just have to take it one minute, one day at a time, little by little, and try not to break down. For Jay, Rosalie would do anything.
As she crawled into a sitting position, a knock came on her bedroom door, and it cracked open to show Jay's small face. "Mother?"
"What's up, hun?" Rosalie said at once, wiping her face to make sure her cheeks weren't crusty with dried tears. "Do you need something?"
Jay stepped into the room slowly, his eyes lingering on every inch of the space, before coming up to the bed and climbing next to her. The mattress swayed slightly under his minuscule weight, but his presence made a world of difference to her. Already it felt like all the pain Rosalie had been through could be endured so long as she had Jay by her side and he was safe.
Without asking, she pulled him into her arms, holding him tight. Reminding herself that he was there and he was safe. She would never let anyone take him again.
"I'm sorry, mom," Jay murmured, his chin tucked into Rosalie's shoulder. "I didn't mean to run away and scare you."
"It's okay, my sweet. No one expected you to be taken. It's not your fault."
"I wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for the fox lady, I promise. She wanted to talk to me."
Rosalie frowned and rubbed Jay's back. He clearly was referring to Aelwen, but why would she want to talk to Jay? Why would she even risk leaving the forest when she'd lived safely there for months now?
Then the truth hit her like a block of ice, chilling her to the core.
Aelwen had lured Jay out, expecting him to get caught. Did she know Dominick would be there and would capture him, or had she lured Dominick out there too? It seemed far-fetched at first but considering what an unhealthy interest the fae woman had taken in Rosalie and Dominick's relationship. Could she put it past Aelwen to manipulate the way the cards fell if that was how she believed they were all most likely to obtain their freedom?
Rosalie knew just how far she was willing to go to obtain freedom. All the way into Dominick's bed, a place she'd sworn never to find herself again ... all for the hope that reconciling with him would get Jay back and break the curse once and for all. But what if that had been another one of Aelwen's manipulations?
What if she'd been trying to push Rosalie to the brink this whole time, forcing her to see that their only chance at freedom was to kill Dominick?
But even though Rosalie was being pushed closer and closer to that conclusion ... she still didn't think herself capable of ending a life. Especially not Dominick's. As wicked and cruel as he was ... he was still Jay's father. There were still parts of him that shone through the darkness, good parts, kindness that Rosalie remembered from all those years ago.
How could she even think of killing him when she knew, deep down, that he wasn't all bad? How could she think of killing him when Jay had finally found his father?
If the only way they were getting out of this prison was with Dominick's death ... they were all doomed.
"I'm sorry," Jay whispered again.
"You don't need to apologize for anything."
He pulled away from her, his expression slightly embarrassed. Looking at him now, it was impossible not to see Dominick in Jay's eyes, in the shy tilt of his smile.
"But I do."
She cocked her head at him. "Why do you think so?"
"Because uncle Roland is coming soon to take me to my first lessons in the library."
Rosalie sat up straighter in bed. "When was this decided?"
"This morning, while you were sleeping."
