30. Broken Glass
Chapter 30
Broken Glass
SONGBIRD
I t’s well past four in the morning by the time I put a drunk Willow to bed. I remained glued to her side for the rest of the evening, focussed on my kindred duties at the great annoyance of my fiancé—and my lover.
“Blessed Flame, I don’t want to do this,” she whispers for the third time in a row. “Eight out of ten Fae women bleed the first time.”
I give her a quick, embarrassed nod as I help her out of her heels. “I did.”
I expect her to notice my admission and call me out for not revealing it sooner, but she’s too absorbed in her own despair to notice.
“Does it hurt a lot?” she asks quickly, her amber eyes so big it’s hard to see past them.
“It didn’t for me. Just a pinch.”
“At least it’s Ezra. He’ll know what to do. I mean—he’s got to be good at it, right?” She nods again, obviously trying to talk herself off the ledge of a panic attack. “Of course. He’s probably been with virgins before. He’ll know what to do.”
I unclasp the little hook holding her dress and unzip it, her docile, needy mood making it easy. “Of course he will.”
“I love him, I do. He’s the hottest man I’ve ever met, and he’s always been nice to me. But I can’t fathom having sex with any man.” She draws in a sharp intake of breath, the secret that had been at the tip of her tongue for months now finally flowing out. “I like girls, you see? I shouldn’t be marrying a boy .” She pouts in a drunken, exaggerated fashion. “Do you hate me now?”
My heart melts. “I love you just as you are. Thank you for telling me, Will. You can trust me.”
“I wanted to tell you before, but I was afraid you wouldn’t want to be friends with me.” She climbs over the bed and hides her face in the pillows, and I lie down next to her, giving her a minute to catch up with her intoxicated confession.
She cries, muffling her high-pitched sniffles with her hands.
“Shh. It’s okay.” I try to soothe her and stroke her back up and down.
The princess’s bedroom is larger than the guest suite, but she looks small and fragile, curled up on the lavish lavender duvet of her baldaquin bed, her eyes glassy. In that moment, she reminds me so much of Marjorie that my instincts flare to protect her from the monsters under her bed.
Only tonight, the monster is the man she has to marry—or rather, his cock.
“Are you angry with me?” she whines. “You were quieter than usual all night.”
“Angry? Why would I be angry?”
She tucks her hands into her lap, shifting to a cross-legged position. “I thought, back on the solstice, when you and Ezra disappeared… I thought maybe you spent the night together. That perhaps you resented me for marrying him, when clearly, he should be with you instead.”
A patient smile appears on my lips as I give her hands a gentle squeeze. “Ezra’s my friend. Nothing more.”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
“So, it doesn’t bother you that we’re going to marry?”
I tilt my head, wondering how she could worry about me at a time like this. “It bothers me that you’re sad.”
She dries her tears and straightens her spine. “Zeke was so annoying tonight. I hope he didn’t say anything too egregious. I’m sorry you had to suffer through that, and again tomorrow, because I’m too chicken to do this alone.”
“You’re here for me, and I’m here for you. That’s what best friends are for.”
She throws herself in my arms and hugs me tight. “Goodnight, my sweet Beth.”
“Goodnight, Will.”
“Thank you for being a true friend.”
With a final glance, I step into the hallway, the soft click of the door behind me marking the end of this quiet moment. The long, gilded corridors blur together, and my heart races as I take turn after turn. I briefly wonder what it would be like if I ended up crossing paths with Aidan or somehow found his room first, but the fantasy quickly disappears in favor of a real fear of losing my way in this labyrinthine castle.
Relief washes over me when I finally find my room, grateful for my decent sense of direction despite the disorienting twists—and only slightly disappointed that Aidan is not there, waiting for me, as I thought he might be.
I kick off my heels, the marble floor cool and slightly damp beneath my feet, the open window letting in the morning dew. A deep sigh quakes my chest as I start inspecting the seams of my custom-made dress for a way out. My fingers fumble until they find the little clasp, and I unhook it with a soft snap.
But an eerie sensation slithers across the back of my neck, sending a chill through me. I squint at the empty room.
“Ezra?” I call, dragging my eyes to the gentle sway of the curtains, the warm summer breeze whistling softly through the window. “Ezra, are you in here? Don’t play games with me. I’m not in the mood.”
Extending my arms, I search the shadows, each step making the floor seem colder, the silence heavier. What kind of mood must Ezra be in to sneak into my bedroom at this hour without a word?
When my hand finally collides with something solid—an invisible wall—I growl in frustration. “Ezra! Come on!”
“Now, why would my son be sneaking into your bed on the eve of his wedding, Miss Snow?”
I jolt away from the apparition, ice spreading all over the marble floor.
“You and Aidan make a cute couple. Does your fiancé know about your very high-profile lover, or is he as blind to it as he’s inattentive to the poor state of his kingdom?” Ethan Lightbringer says slowly, drinking in my reaction.
I sink my nails in my palms, unsure of what to say, if anything. I’ve heard the rumors, and if this king is not above beating his sons bloody, Thanatos knows what he’ll do to me.
He sits on the edge of the bed as though he means to get himself comfortable. “Relax, your secret will be safe with me, Miss Snow. I’m sure, between us, we can come to a quick agreement. By the Flame, if you make it worth my while, I might agree to support you financially when this whole thing explodes in your face.”
“Worth your while?” I stammer.
His wicked eyes shine in the dark. “Tonight, I mean.” He sinks back on the mattress, arms braced behind his head. “Strip for me, Miss Snow. I want to admire your body without all that useless fabric obstructing it.”
Bile rises to my mouth as I lift my hands in denial. “I— No, Sir. Respectfully.” I tack on the last part, hoping it softens the edge in my voice and masks the rising panic.
His brows bunch together, though his smile widens in contrast as if he knows something I don’t. “Are you the kind of girl who will destroy her future for nothing?”
I bite my tongue not to answer.
I can’t afford to anger him, not when we’re alone in a bedroom in the middle of the night, but he must read the determination on my face, because he adds, “If you deny me, I will expose your silly romance, and you will lose everything.”
“Then I’ll live with the consequences, Your Majesty.”
He jumps out of bed so fast, I barely follow his movements. “You think a moth like you can say no to a king like me?”
I inch toward the door, but he corners me between the sofa and the tall mirror hung on the wall.
Out of instinct, I summon an ice dagger and aim it at his incoming form, but he wraps a hand around my wrist, and the weapon crumbles to dust in my grip.
“I’m the King of Light.” He flattens me to the reflective glass, and his nails sink painfully into my skin, his hold strong enough to bruise. “And when I tell you to strip for me, the only acceptable answer is yes, Sir. ”
I push my ice forward, but it bounces off his body and spreads across my skin instead, the impact shattering the mirror. Frost coats my arms, shoulders, and chest until I feel like nothing more than a frozen statue, immobile and docile as the King of Light tears the dress off my frame, leaving me in nothing but two flimsy pieces of underwear.
A gut-wrenching sob grinds between my lips.
“Now, shall we try that again?” he asks.
The loud creak of the door is barely audible over the sound of my frazzled heartbeats, and my gaze darts up to see Devi enter the room, barefoot and wrapped in fighting leathers instead of her golden dress.
“It’s late, Your Majesty,” Devi enunciates slowly, her voice as even and congenial as ever as she inches my bedroom door open all the way.
“Violet,” Ethan gasps.
I keep my eyes down, my arms firmly planted at my sides, shaking all over.
“I think we should all get to bed. Don’t you agree?”
Ethan snarls under his breath and slicks his long hair back. “Oh, why do I care if some silly girl is too stupid to grab the chance of a lifetime. I would have paid you tenfold, moth. And now you’ll be left with nothing.”
He storms out of the room, and Devi presses the door shut behind him.
“Wh— How?” my body quakes, wave after wave of cold sweat dripping between my shoulder blades, overwhelmed with all that just happened.
And what almost happened.
She swallows hard. “He might resent you forever for turning him down, but he shouldn’t try to force himself on you again, not for a while.”
I sit on the sofa and wrap a spare blanket around my frame, my legs too weak to hold me up anymore, and wait for the trembles to subside. Devi waits patiently, silent as I try to fix together the pieces of the night and how they led me here, puzzled by what gave this king the idea to wait for me in my bedroom. Why he would even bother, when his partner was so much more beautiful? What did I do?
After a while, Devi sighs. “You did nothing wrong, Beth. Imagine what it’s like to be him. The King of Light, able to walk anywhere unseen, unchecked, and slip into anyone’s bed… and that’s not even the worst of it. I bet most women acquiesce to his demand, terrified of his reprisal, and then it’s not rape, is it? It never is when powerful men are concerned. When I’m queen, they’ll all have to change their tune. Especially a demon like Ethan Lucifer Lightbringer.”
“But why?” I ask quietly, the tears in my voice somehow not reaching my eyes.
“We’re more similar than you think. Spring princesses and sirens, I mean. Men blame us for their appetites, putting the burden of not being so beautiful and enticing upon us instead of taking responsibility for their flawed characters. Do you know how many married men pursue me, at times for months on end, sometimes even succeeding in their seduction, only to curse my magic and me come morning?
Once they got what their egos craved, they blamed me, a teenager, for their sins.”
My mind flashes to the way Ethan looked at her. “What do you have on him? Why did he leave?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She hands me my flannel pajamas. “Let’s get you to bed.”
I take the fabric and hold it close to my chest. “Thank you.”
“You did well tonight. Being there for Willow, dealing with Zeke while following through on what I asked, and holding Aidan at arms’ length. It must not have been easy,” she says soothingly.
“Did it work? Did she drink the wine?” I ask, desperate to distract myself from the memory of Ethan’s razor-sharp nails scratching my neck.
“Yes.”
“Did you find out who she means to marry?”
“Not yet.”
I climb to my wobbly feet and put on the two-piece pajama set. Once I’m covered, Devi places a soft hand on my shoulder and gently guides me toward the bed.
"Lie down. I’ll stay here, in the chair, until you fall asleep, alright?"
Standing guard. Because Ethan might return. Despite her earlier reassurance that he would not try again, Devi’s actions seem to imply she doesn’t know what he might do.
“Why are you being so nice? You hate me,” I croak.
“I don’t hate you, moth. I think you’re dangerously unprepared for what’s coming. You’re just like me, cursed to attract all sorts of creeps, and yet you blush at the first mention of sex and pretend you’re as plain looking as the other moths you grew up with. And frankly, the studious virgin facade irks me.” A heavy sigh whistles out of her lungs. “But I wouldn’t wish what happened tonight on my worst enemy.”
“You’re kinder than I thought.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Don’t you dare tell anyone that I’m kind .” A disgusted grimace twists her lips, a full-bodied shiver shaking her down from head to toe. “Ugh.”
The silly argument brings back colors to my cheeks and warmth to my chest. I glare at the cold bed, the imprint of Ethan’s body still ruffling the duvet, and shake my head. “Do you know this castle well?”
“Well enough.”
“I need you to do me a favor, too.”
She arches a brow, her careful, pacifying tone melting in favor of her usual snark. “Another one?”
“I-I need to find Aidan’s room.”
Her gaze softens. “You really love him.”
I take offense at the surprise in her tone. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“Yes. I can read people’s feelings pretty well, but I can’t read yours, and distrusted you from the start because of it.” She opens the door for me, and guides me through the hallways. “Maybe your siren blood was blocking my radar or something.”
“But you don’t approve.”
A wistful pout overpowers her face. “Aidan is just like the rest of them. When the time comes, he’ll choose his birthright and duties over his heart.”
I bite my bottom lip. “Maybe.”
“I’ll take you to him.”
We weave through a series of long hallways and cross a mezzanine. Devi motions me forward to a set of double-doors with gilded frames and amber knobs. “Here he is.”
I give the panel a soft knock, and almost immediately, Aidan cracks open the door, his hair disheveled. The sight of him in his bedroom fills me with a mix of heat and dread, and I wish I could have come here under different circumstances.
A bright smile stretches across his full lips as our gazes meet. “Songbird.”
I turn to acknowledge Devi and thank her for her help, but she’s gone—evaporated, just like that. Poof. I squint at the empty corridor, my guts in knots.
Aidan opens the door wider. “I’m so glad. I was dying to come and see you.”
“I don’t want to be alone tonight, but I can’t— Will you just hold me?” I whisper.
He nods solemnly, as if he can see every emotional scar etched across my face, and drapes his arm around me. “Always.”
Out there in Wintermere, the only thought that kept me going was how much I missed him. How different his touch feels—how it registers in a way no one else’s does. Deep down, I believe Aidan would protect me from even the most vicious of kings.
He wraps his arms around me as we settle onto his mattress, spooning me, but I accidentally bump my ass against his crotch. My lids flutter at the notion that he’s already that hard, even though we haven’t even kissed. I don’t want to escalate this any further, but his warmth and scent lull the horror of the night away, my neck flushed. I bite my bottom lip, resisting the temptation to grind against him.
“Now this is torture,” he pants, squeezing me closer but keeping his hands in a safe, innocent spot.
I sleep better in Aidan’s royal bed than I did the entire break.
The shadow of my siren heritage looms over us, threatening to steal another night like this, so I hold him tighter, savoring every moment. I won’t have sex with him—not when his free will is in question—but it feels so good to hold him.
Because, in spite of my best efforts, I’m desperately in love with him.