The Path to You (Dark Fables Retold #1)

Prologue

Once upon a time, not so long ago, my perfect little world was turned upside down when my father fell in love with a wicked witch. Ensnared by her charms, the weak man was tricked into marriage and forced to accept her spoiled, princely son as his own.

I became nothing more than a shadow in my own home, an afterthought, stealing scraps of food from the table just to get by.

At least, that’s how fairytales are supposed to go, right? It’s a story as old as time, a pantomime play watched by wide-eyed children every Christmas as women in tights and men in drag beat the evil witch once and for all.

Except this is the twenty-first century, and the real world isn’t full of villains casting evil spells or heroes saving damsels in distress. There are just shitty people in shitty situations who make even shittier decisions.

Take my mother, for example. It was her decision to abandon us after finding the insane amount of porn on my dad’s computer.

It was her decision to give up all her parental rights when I was five years old.

But her shittiest decision? That had to be sticking around just long enough to collect a hefty divorce settlement before running off to the Caribbean with her swimming instructor. She never looked back, even for me.

And my father? Well, he decided to drown his sorrows in one of London’s shadiest bars and fell for a pretty barmaid just smart enough to recognise a tailored suit when she saw one.

But this isn’t their story. Oh, no. This is the story of two boys from very different worlds who were forced together and expected to make a home. They had nothing in common except every reason to hate each other. Yet, against all odds, they fell in love anyway.

This is the tale of Hansel and Gretel, two stepbrothers who let no one stand between them and their happily ever after.