Chapter 1
One
ALLETTE
NOW
We were never meant for happily-ever-after.
I knew that from the moment this doomed relationship began.
I fell in love with him anyway.
The object of my affections lounges next to me on the lumpy mattress. Golden tendrils of candlelight dance through a gap in the threadbare velvet drapes that keep the outside world at bay, casting ethereal patterns on his bare, bronzed torso. My gaze strays to his sharp, angular features. His straight nose. Dark, slashing brows. The fan of his thick lashes.
It’s not fair that one person is so bloody attractive.
When Senan catches me ogling, he laces our fingers together and brushes a kiss across my knuckles. “You will be safe tonight, won’t you?”
Not this again. That is the fourth time today he has made the same remark. “You needn’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” I should be the one fretting. Instead of accompanying me through the portal to celebrate Samhain in the human realm, my prince will be going somewhere far more dangerous.
“As your prince, it’s my duty to worry about the welfare of all my subjects.”
He did not just say that. The cheek. “Is that so?” When he nods, I fight the urge to give him a good thump on the arm. “You’re saying I shouldn’t feel special?”
“Not in the least. I barely even remember your name.” His brow furrows, and his quicksilver eyes narrow as they sweep toward the swell of my breasts concealed by the thin sheet. “What was it again? Anita? Arwen? Arabelle?”
Arabelle? Seriously? I give his flat nipple a hard pinch. “Very funny, Simon .”
He knocks my hand away and rolls, pinning me to the bed with his lithe body. “Simon, eh?” His nose grazes the line of my jaw, sending a shiver of desire racing down my spine. I feel him begin to harden where his hips trap mine, which is impressive considering we’ve already made love twice.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Is that not your name?”
“You know my name, minx.” His deep voice vibrates along my throat where his wicked lips deliver the most delicious punishment. “You were moaning it not long ago.”
Anticipation tightens my stomach as his hungry mouth slides across my skin. “Senan… We don’t have time.” He is under strict orders to return to the castle before sundown.
Senan falls onto his back with a quiet curse, his arms splayed wide and toned chest heaving. I miss him already, and he is still within arm’s reach.
My hand slides to where his heart rattles his chest, and I “walk” my fingers down to his ribs, over each ridge of his stomach, to where the sheet keeps the rest of his glorious body hidden. “Why don’t you cancel your trip and come with me? We would have the most glorious time together, dancing and drinking among the humans. And afterward, perhaps we can deal with this.” I cup his thick erection over the sheet.
Senan twitches with his sharp intake of breath, his fingers slipping around my wrist, putting an end to my wicked plans. “If I don’t go to Nimbiss tomorrow, my brother will murder me.”
Ah, yes. His brother. From what I’ve heard about our new king, Boris Vale is not one to be trifled with. Even more reason to let go of this obsession with a man I cannot possibly keep.
I tug free of Senan’s grip and stare up at the rust-colored canopy. Everything in this space is some shade of orange, from the tangerine plaster to the reddish-orange wood of the four-poster bed.
I have a love-hate relationship with this room. On one hand, some of my fondest memories have taken place here. This has become a sanctuary where Senan and I can be together without judgement or consequence.
On the other hand, it is the only place.
All the sneaking around is thrilling, yes. But it’s also exhausting.
He used to come to my tower until someone reported his whereabouts to the king.
Once, we met in the mountain park, but there were too many witnesses milling about. Despite the glamour he wore, people recognized him and swarmed like locusts.
Now he is leaving for Nimbiss, to meet the princess he is destined to marry.
That’s right. He is marrying a beautiful foreign princess, while I’m probably going to end up with some pockmarked lord with a flintlock fetish.
Senan’s fingertips brush mine, a lifeline dragging me back to shore from a sea of melancholy. “I wish… Stars, Allette. I wish so many things.”
I learned long ago that wishes are like prayers to the heavens: a waste of breath. This is our fate. Best to accept it and move on.
Still, my fingers anchor around his. Because I am stubborn—and thankfully, so is he. When we first met, I fought this attraction but quickly realized that one cannot declare war on the inevitable.
And inevitable is what we are.
Our love. Our passion. Our ending.
A discreet rap echoes through the quiet room, the sound of knuckles on wood carrying with it the weight of finality. “Sire? It is time.”
A silent storm tears through my soul as my heart breaks. The trouble with falling for someone you cannot keep? Goodbyes always come too soon.
Senan and I scramble to our feet. The muscles in his broad back strain as he reaches for his discarded clothes. Each article of clothing becomes my sullen shroud until my nakedness is hidden and my hair is concealed beneath my hood.
I linger next to the door leading to the adjoining chamber, where I will exit after he is long gone. Senan finishes buckling his boots and then closes the gap between us, pulling me into his strong embrace.
Tears prick the backs of my eyes as I inhale the intoxicating scent of sage and bergamot that clings to his soft white shirt. “I’ll see you when you get back?”
Senan lifts my chin with his knuckle, urging me to meet his star-kissed gaze. “I will be here a week from Tuesday.” His fingertip grazes beneath my lashes. “Please don’t cry, my love.”
As if I can control my body’s reaction to such an acute loss. He inclines his head until his soft mouth molds against mine, melting me like chocolate left too long in the sun.
Another knock sounds, followed by a firm demand.
“You need to go,” I murmur between soft, sweet kisses.
His tongue sweeps into my mouth, claiming what has been his for the last seven months. “I know. But I am weak and without self-control.”
“Just what I want to hear when my lover is about to meet his betrothed.” This faceless princess will be all the things to him that I cannot be. When they are wed and their mating bond is in place, I will be nothing more than a distant memory, fading with each passing day.
Senan’s brow furrows as he brushes my hair away from my face. “It was a joke, Allette. How many times must I tell you that you have nothing to worry about?”
“A hundred times? A thousand?”
His forehead falls against mine, his eyes softening. “How about this? To show my eternal devotion to you and you alone, I will not speak so much as a word to the princess or anyone else.”
As if that is possible when the man can barely go five minutes without a teasing comment. “You expect me to believe that you’re going to remain silent for two whole weeks?”
Senan pretends to lock his lips and press an invisible “key” into my palm.
“Senan, be serious.”
Pointing to his pinched lips, he mumbles deep in his throat.
“Your brother will kill you.”
He grins and shrugs, mouthing, “I love you,” before easing open the door and stepping backward into the hallway.
The moment the door clicks closed, the tears come as they always do, and I drift into the adjoining bedchamber to sink onto the bed and wait.
From this part of town, it will take Senan fifteen minutes to reach the bone-white turrets of Kumulus Castle.
My prince doesn’t like to speak of his life there, but I’ve heard the interior is as grand and decadent as the exterior. The exact opposite of this inn that smells of mold, aged fabric, and gentle decay.
When I tuck my cold hands into the pockets of my leather leggings, a folded scrap of paper brushes my fingertips. The note Senan had delivered to my balcony telling me when to meet him. I told Aunt Marjory that I wasn’t feeling well and wanted to lie down for a few hours. Although she grumbled about how lazy my generation is, she didn’t reprimand me too harshly.
She never had any children of her own, so when my parents passed three years ago, and I arrived on her doorstep, she hadn’t known what to do with me. Which was how I ended up at the prestigious Aurora Academy—an all-girl boarding school for wealthy Scathian families living in and around Kumulus City.
Stars, that seems like so long ago.
I miss my parents more than words can describe. Already, I’ve forgotten their voices. People we’ve loved and lost may exist forever in our memories, but even memories fade.
Senan is going to forget you too .
I give myself a mental shake.
No more melancholy for today.
Today is for celebration.
Figuring the coast surely must be clear by now, I slip my key into my pocket and head into the hallway. The stairs groan beneath me as I descend into a bustling room where men and women laugh over pints of amber and plates of what smells like boiled cabbage. I keep my head down, avoiding the innkeeper’s leering gaze where he waits next to the door. I imagine he must have made a connection between the prince and I and what he must think of me.
It’s a good thing I don’t care.