Bonus Prologue
Three years ago
Seven days before Christmas
Luc and Rylee decided to spend the holiday at the Kingley winter estate in the French Alps.
No one understood how he managed to convince Rylee.
She hated the cold, and two weeks in the snowy mountains was the last place she would have agreed to spend the holiday.
Perhaps he didn’t need to convince her at all.
Rylee had been trying to make up for leaving her sister Luna. Even though it wasn’t her job to protect her or her fault that they had a shitty mom. She thought Christmas in the mountains might make her happy, and the big grin on Luna’s face as they stepped out of the car said she was right.
Luna’s eyes went wide as she took in the view. Snowy mountains in the distance and tall white trees surrounding the estate made it look like something out of a postcard.
Then something made her look up toward one of the upstairs windows. She thought she saw something at first like a shadow, but it vanished so fast, she wasn’t sure it had been there at all. Her brows drew in slightly as she tried to make sense of the feeling in her chest.
She wrapped her arms around herself without thinking, not because of the cold, more like she was hugging someone.
“Come on,” Sophie said gently. “Let’s go inside.”
With one last look toward the window, Luna followed her sister inside through the double doors.
Rylee led Luna up the grand staircase to her guest room.
It was bigger than her old apartment in Connecticut.
Even though she’d been staying in France with Rylee for a year now.
Her room at Luc’s mansion had its own en suite bathroom, a walk-in closet, and a sitting area with loveseats.
It felt like she was living her own The Princess Diaries fairytale, only without the tiara.
But Luna kept waiting to wake up and find it all gone like it was all a dream.
“Do you like it?” Rylee asked from behind her as she took in the room.
She nodded and smiled but didn’t tell her that she didn’t care about how big the room was. Her eyes were already on the window where the frozen lake stretched out in the distance.
“I’ll let you settle down and rest a little. Dinner will be ready soon.”
“Thanks.” Luna gave her a quick hug before she turned to go.
The door closed softly behind her, and Luna flopped on the bed, staring at the ceiling. That feeling in her chest from earlier hadn’t gone away. Was it anticipation? Anxiety?
She wasn’t sure.
Maybe it wasn’t supposed to make sense at the moment.
A dull pressure built behind her eyes, and the room suddenly felt too bright. She hadn’t had a migraine in a few days, and she wanted to keep it that way. A nap might help. She just needed to rest and stop thinking too much.
Her eyes fluttered closed, the silence settling over her until she fell asleep.
When she woke up from her nap, the pressure was gone.
She took a quick shower and changed into a soft blue sweater dress with a pair of boots.
Her braids went up into a half up and half down style before she headed down the stairs.
She didn’t even bother with makeup other than a dab of lip gloss.
Even at sixteen, she wasn’t really into the whole makeup thing.
Everyone was already gathered in the living room around the grand fireplace with a tall Christmas tree on the side.
Mia, Rylee’s best friend, was with her husband Jake on one couch.
He whispered something in her ear that made her smile.
Mrs. Kingley sat nearby, Mr. Kingley in his wheelchair next to her, listening while his wife recounted something while waving her hand.
Luc perched on the couch across from them with Rylee sitting beside him.
Luna paused at the bottom of the stairs, taking it all in. She still couldn’t believe this was her life now.
Sophie caught her eyes from across the room and grinned, patting the spot next to her. Luna smiled back and walked toward her, giving Mrs. Kingley a small smile as she passed by her.
“You look gorgeous,” Sophie whispered into her ear as Luna sat beside her. “I’m taking you to the ski resort tomorrow so we can meet some hot guys.”
Luna chuckled slightly. She didn’t really have interest in boys like that, but she loved Sophie for it.
They moved to the dining hall, where dinner was served. Everyone was eating, laughing, and talking. Except for Luna. She picked at her food, smiled when people looked her way, laughed when Sophie whispered something, but something was still off.
By the time they were done with dessert, she politely excused herself, saying goodnight to everyone, and went back upstairs.
Up in her room, the silence didn’t help. She was still restless. That feeling hadn’t gone anywhere. So she did the only thing that made sense.
She grabbed her skates, slipped on her coat, and headed for the frozen lake that had been calling to her since the moment she arrived.