Mountains Made of Glass (Fairy Tale Retelling, #1)

by Scarlett St. Clair

“You do not get to leave this world of your own accord,” he said, his gaze falling to my lips. “And if you manage it, I will follow you in death and haunt you for all of eternity.”

The creature in my castle is a seductress. She smells like sweet roses, and she clings to me like the cold despite the fire she’s started in my blood.

“Love is learned,”

A name precedes you, and without one, you are nothing.

“Do not test me, vicious creature. I will swallow you whole.” I believed he could. I wished he would.

“A name precedes you, and without one, you are nothing.” “Then why go by a name that is not his own?” “All fae go by names that are not theirs,” he said. “True names are for lovers. True names are for death.” “Why only lovers and death?” “A true name is a gift to the lover and a token to death.”

“What would you ask for in return?” “For now? Your smile,” he said. “But one day when you rule this castle, you will return me to the sea.”

Seven letters, I reminded myself. Your name knows no stranger. Your name is the wail on the lips of a birthing mother. Your name is the howl from the mouth of a grieving lover. It is the cry that breaks the night when death is summoned.

“What kind of magic is this?” I moaned as I arched against him. “This is not magic,” he said and bent to press a kiss to my neck, then my jaw. It was a sweet gesture, and it sent a strange feeling of comfort throughout my body, even as the heat from our coupling raged inside me. “This is need.”

“Everyone knows his name. It knows no stranger. It is the wail on the lips of a birthing mother, the howl from the mouth of a grieving lover. It is the cry that breaks the night when death is summoned and the scream that echoes at daybreak when truth makes you ache.”

“You are poison, sweet creature. I want you in my blood.”

I never expected this strange fae to become the center of my universe, but I would lie beneath him forever if I could feel like this every second of every day. Here, where there was no pain and no loss. Here, where I was not alone.

“I only know that I do not wish to know the world without her.”

“You have one day to live however you desire before you forget yourself forever. How do you wish to spend it?” I was silent. “How?” she demanded. I growled, my teeth clenched together as I answered, “With her, you frustrating thing! I would spend it with her!”

“I love you, Anguish of Thorn.” He pressed a hand to the side of my face, aligning our lips. “I love you, Gesela of my heart.”