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April 24 - April 26, 2023
Some people call these guilty pleasure reads, but why should I feel guilt for wanting to escape to somewhere else, even for a little while?
When it’s not tourist season, the only way to drive business is to be the circus act for regulars to come and taunt.
“Dinner at the Lodge tomorrow night. 7 p.m. Bring your dad if he’s not too busy, you know, catching gnomes or whatever.” That’s… That’s it? He’s going to tell me to meet him for dinner and leave?
Wtf
They don’t have to worry, though. Lucas made it very clear he didn’t want a future when he dumped me before he left for university. I’m just his hometown hook-up now.
“What the fuck do you want from me?” I couldn’t tell him because I didn’t know. Didn’t know why it hurt so much when he missed dates or forgot to call, and why it hurt even more when he was there. But somehow, that was more bearable. There was more pain when he pulled out his hunting knife and ripped off the sleeve of my shirt. “Now you’ll remember,” he repeated as he dug the sharp point into my forearm, making the first rough line. “Now you’ll remember who saved your life. Now you’ll remember you don’t need to bother me with your questions.”
“Speaking of that, we have to get down to our party.” “Wait.” He grasps my arm and pulls me back into the crowd. “Our party?”
Something is going to change. Something that can’t be undone.
“I’ve had to consider other responsibilities as well. And as of tonight, I’m officially off the market!”
“Break the hearts of everyone in town and be my wife, pumpkin?” Lucas smiles, eyeing the crowd. Lucas… Lucas is proposing to me. I open my mouth, but no words come out.
“Rosalina,” Lucas says, trying to pull me back. I ignore him and grip Thomas on the shoulder. “Take me to where you found this. I’m going after my father.”
Ezryn has left to patrol the Spring Realm, provoking goblins for his own sick joy. Dayton’s probably passed out in a pile of his own sick. And Farron, of course, is… occupied.
“You want to stay in the Enchanted Vale? Then stay you shall.” I snatch his coat in my jaws and haul him up the stairs. To the dungeon.
Lucas grips my arm and pulls me back. “What the fuck are you doing?” I turn to him, and I can’t stop the smile that breaks over my face. “Don’t you see? We’re in the land of the fae. Papa finally found it.” I pull out my phone. No signal. No surprise there.
We’re in the land of monsters.
“Keldarion and his beasts of the Briar.”
“Down, down, down she goes,” the goblins sing. “All the way to Mother. Down, down, down, she goes.”
“Rest, princess,” a smooth voice whispers in my ear. “You’re home.”
“You need to run.”
He pulls open the doors. And I enter the most enchanting library I’ve ever seen.
The Prince of Thorns has come to Castletree.
“It’s not a spark. It’s an eternal fire that burns from deep within my heart and reaches out to you.” Ferocity flickers in Kel’s gaze. “And every moment I am not touching you, it eats my soul inside out, tearing me apart, until merely looking at you is an anguish
I would only wish upon my worst enemy.”
“You’ve helped me come to an important decision, Rosalina,” Keldarion says. “Having decided, it makes me feel… lighter.”
“Am I still your prisoner?” “Oh, Rosalina, you’re reading my mind now,” he murmurs. “On the contrary. You were never my prisoner, and I was always yours.”
“Rosalina.” He reaches for me, but I pull away. “You’re a selfish bastard!” I cry. “And you always have been. That’s why you’re cursed.” Before he can stop me, I turn and flee through the ballroom, my tears turning to ice.
I clutch my wrist, fingers stroking the dark ink that binds me to Keldarion. No, our covenant will never break. Because one day, the Prince of Winter will give into Rosalina, and when he does, I can’t wait for the magic of our bargain to drop his mate right at my doorstep.
