AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The blazing fire in my room barely touches the chill. Throwing the sateen duvet over my head, I squeeze my eyes shut. I’ve been thrashing in the king-sized four poster bed for hours trying to find sleep. But the icy cold seeps through the five layers of covers and into my bones.
I think Eclipsa said there are more covers in the closet downstairs. She stays here, too, a guest of the prince. Gathering the top blanket over my body, I slide to the wood floor. A gasp shoots from my lips as the painful cold meets my feet.
I forgot to close the heavy damask curtains framing the large dormer window, and moonlight trickles into the room, falling over the furniture. A cream loveseat near the foot of the bed. Twin nightstands made of sandalwood. Matching dresser and wardrobe.
The soft white bear rug spread across the large floor feels wonderful on my toes as I cross to the door.
Voices trickle from downstairs. I pause at the top of the landing to listen.
“I had no place else to take her,” Eclipsa is saying. Sliding down the wall, I peek my head just enough to make her out. She’s lounged on one side of an enormous white couch, clad in a cute unicorn onesie and thick rainbow socks. On the other side, spread out like a lion sunning itself, is the prince. He’s shirtless . . . because of course he is.
“Believe me,” Eclipsa continues, “if I thought there was any other place that could keep her safe, I would have taken her there instead. But the wards on this place make it the most protected spot on the Island.”
“I don’t want her here.”
Ouch. Even though I shouldn’t be surprised, his outburst cuts to my core.
The muscles of his abdomen and arms shift and flex as he inhales sharply. “You know what could happen.”
“How far along is it?” she asks softly.
“I feel it every waking second. My dreams are worse. And now—I don’t know how much longer I can hold it off.”
“Can we stop it somehow?”
He shakes his head. “If anyone discovers . . .” He shoves his hand through his ruffled hair, tugging at the ends. “Look, just make sure the moment it’s safe, she’s gone. Okay?”
Hurt twists my belly, and I slink quietly back to my room. He doesn’t want me here. I mean, duh. That was obvious. But him saying it, aloud, drives it home.
It’s stupid to let the prince wound me, but I can’t help it. Years of being judged for where I lived, what I wore, or how much money I had comes roaring to the surface. Of being indiscriminately hated for reasons outside my control.
I flop into the feather mattress and hug my pillow. But now that I know in my heart I want to be here, my entire game plan has shifted. Perhaps it’s time I move away from my scorched earth policy to one that will make my life on the Island better in the long run.
The prince hates me because of my humanness, so maybe it’s time to show him how great we humans can be.
Starting with me.
I wake up an hour before noon, the sun’s muffled warmth dappling through pale clouds. Perhaps it’s my imagination, but the world outside seems lighter today. The sunlight just a bit warmer.
My gaze follows the path of the soft light across my room. While I slept, someone delivered a bunch of clothes for me to wear. They line the far closet doors. Each luxurious outfit dangling from a metal hanger is varying shades of silver, white, and blue.
Lest anyone forget I now belong to the Winter Court.
Happy face, Summer. Remembering my new mission to charm the prince, I pad cheerfully downstairs to the dining room where Eclipsa and the prince wait.
Eclipsa gives a little shout of glee. “I knew you’d pick the gray leather pants. They’re killer, right? And that blue blouse is perfect for your complexion.”
I worry the hem of my shirt between my fingers as I sit. Like always, for a moment, before my mind grows accustomed to being around the Fae, adrenaline burns my veins. Something about their sharp ears and exotic, not-quite-human features this early in the day is disconcerting.
“You just missed Headmistress Lepidonis,” Eclipsa says. She takes a bite of some kind of Fae fruit that looks like a cross between a nectarine and an apple.
I grab a stainless steel carafe and a teacup, praying to every god in existence there’s coffee inside. Dark liquid sloshes into my cup.
As the nutty, acidic smell of coffee swirls inside my nose, everything in the world rights itself.
“What did she want?” I ask between sips. The coffee is perfectly heated—probably by magic.
“To express her immense displeasure at my decision to kidnap a first year without the headmistress’s permission,” the prince answers, sliding an accusatory gaze to Eclipsa.
