43. Princess Davina
Chapter 43
Princess Davina
“Love is something sent from heaven
to worry the hell out of you.”
— Dolly Parton
I ’m still alive, which means the curse must be broken.
I slump onto a stone bench in the hall, my body feeling as heavy as the despair that clings to me. I’m still trying to make sense of it all. I stare at my hands, wondering why I’m still here, why I’m still alive. I should feel grateful, but the emptiness gnaws at me, and I feel nothing but cold and empty.
I’ve been spending the last couple of days alone in my bed, staring at the ceiling as if it might offer some answers.
Thoughts of Cole bring a sharp, raw pain to my chest.
What are you supposed to do when the only person who can fix your broken heart is the one who broke it?
The sound of footsteps breaks through my despair. My heart leaps as I look up.
Cole is here.
“Not who you were expecting?” he says, his voice a mixture of apology and defiance. “Sorry to disappoint.”
My emotions are a tangled mess, torn between relief and anger. “How did you get in here?”
“You were safe with me,” he replies, almost too calmly. “They don’t see me as a threat.”
“Let me guess.” I stand and fold my arms over my chest. “You controlled their minds, didn’t you?”
He merely shrugs.
I huff out a breath. “Of course you did.”
His gaze softens, concerned green eyes roaming over my body. “Did you arrive safely? Are you hurt?”
“Of course I’m hurt,” I snap, the pain lacing every word. “You did that. You hurt me.”
He flinches, his face tightening in pained empathy. He closes his eyes. “Davina, just listen. I don’t have a fiancée.”
“How dare you lie to my face? Rafe himself told me you have a fiancée, and I don’t see any reason why he would lie to me.”
“I don’t have a fiancée,” he insists, his voice rising with desperation. “I don’t know what?—”
“Stop,” I cut him off, my throat burning with anger and betrayal. “I don’t want to hear it.”
His jaw tightens as he opens his mouth to speak, but the words don’t escape him.
I wrap my arms around my body. “I want you to leave.”
He takes a determined step closer. “It’s not safe here. You need to come back with me.”
“What are you talking about? You told me this castle had a protection spell on it too.”
“Lorelda wants to lure your father outside tomorrow. She’ll find out that you’re in here.”
I shrug. “We won’t go outside. We’ll be fine.”
“Davina, this isn’t a negotiation. You’re coming with me.”
“No.” I take a step back, my voice sharp. “As you can see, I’m still alive, and I don’t need your protective palace halls anymore.”
He sighs, the desperation in his voice making my heart ache. “And I’m so fucking glad you are. But you need to come with me.”
“I don’t trust you. And if Lorelda wants to kill him, I’m not going anywhere.”
His face darkens with frustration. “I can’t let you stay here.”
“What the hell, Cole?” I explode. “You have a fiancée, and you’re using me?—”
“I do not.”
“However, it’s a mistake to go back with you.”
“I’m going to make sure it’s the best mistake you’ll ever make.”
Why is he so persistent?
Because he needs me for his plan, I remind myself.
My mind races, but I can’t ignore the raw desperation in his eyes.
He begins to pace, his steps heavy with agitation. “Your father isn’t the man you think he is. And it drives me insane that you still care about him.”
I scoff. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Listen to me, I’m not telling you this because I’m on Lorelda’s side. I just want you to know what really happened,” he begins. “Lorelda didn’t just take your mother away out of sheer jealousy. Your father had an affair with her. He got her pregnant and then tried to force her into an abortion. And then he went and married your mother. Lorelda wanted revenge.”
My stomach churns violently. “ What? How do you even know all of this?”
“My father was close friends with yours. When your father pushed Lorelda to terminate the pregnancy, my father took pity on her. He helped her escape, keeping it a secret from your father. Remember when I told you that she’s my stepmother? Well, that’s how they ended up together.”
I feel sick as I try to process this. “Where is her child?”
“She never spoke of it. And frankly, it doesn’t matter.”
Is this some kind of trick? “I—no. I can’t believe he’s capable of something so cruel.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s what my father has told me.”
I shake my head in utter disbelief, my entire world tilting on its axis. I don’t even know my own father even though I’ve known him my whole life.
Cole inches closer, his hand brushing through my hair before he pulls me into a tight hug. I breathe in deeply, enjoying the way he brings me comfort and hating myself for needing it.
“I need to know,” I say slowly, “how you really feel about me.”
“If I were to tell you every little thing, every little detail, we’d be here forever.”
“Tell me something real.”
“Just being near you is a kind of dream I’m terrified to wake from.” His hand cups my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Being with you feels like the closest I’ll ever come to heaven.”
I want to believe him. I want to believe every word pouring from his lips, but the doubt, the hurt, it’s all still there.
I try to look away, but his grip on my chin tightens ever so slightly, holding me in place. “Should I go on?” he asks, his voice both pleading and demanding at once. “ Please , just come back with me. I swear there is no fiancée. No other woman. There’s no one else, and there never has been.”
“But Rafe?—”
“Rafe lied,” he cuts me off. “I can’t even recall the last time I was with someone before you.”
The sincerity in his eyes hits me like a blow. Everything I believed to know turns out as a lie and sits heavy on my chest.
“I’ve been feeling so weird lately,” I whisper, more to myself than to him, and I take a tentative step back, indecision weaving through me.
He follows, closing the gap. “I miss you,” he says, his voice breaking with raw need.
My mind is a mess, and I shake my head. “I don’t know if I can trust you, and I don’t want to depend on someone else anymore.”
“It’s like you want me to beg. Is that what you’re after, Davina? To see me begging?”
“I—”
He falls to his knees.
He falls to his knees.
“Is that what this is? You like bringing me to my knees?”
All I can do is stand there, staring down at him.
“Look what you make me do,” he says, his pride shattered. He drops his gaze to the floor, huffing out a desperate breath. “From the very moment I saw you, you’ve somehow managed to consume me entirely. Even if I’m a goddamned fool for it, I’d rather take my own life than let go of you.”
His gaze meets mine with an intensity that makes my heart race. “I am a fool for you,” he whispers, his voice a trembling vow, “and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
My heart hammers against my ribs, each beat a frantic drum echoing his intense stare that feels like it’s searing through my skin.
“Remember when you said you could bring me to my knees?” His smile is lazy. “Well, you’re damn right?—”
“Cole, I?—”
“I can handle it if your heart needs more time to accept what your mind already knows. Just don’t make it forever. Because when you walked away, when you chose to leave, it felt like someone had my heart gripped in their fist, squeezing tighter and tighter until I couldn’t remember how to fucking breathe. You think I’m a sinner? Fine. I’ll own that. I’ve made my mistakes, done things I’m not proud of. I’ve hurt people, maybe even hurt you. I’m a sinner. You’re the saint. You’re the one who makes me believe there’s still good in me, even when I can’t see it myself. You have this hold over me, unlike anything I’ve ever known. And that’s why?—”
He breaks off, running a hand through his hair as if he’s trying to find the right words. “That’s why there’s nothing you can’t make me do. Nothing . I let you walk away. I let you run from me, even though it nearly tore me apart, because that’s what you needed. You asked me to let go, and I did. But it nearly destroyed me, Davina. Being without you? It’s killing me softly, piece by piece.”
The intensity of his confession leaves me breathless. My heart pounds against my ribcage, my mind a chaotic swirl of emotions. He kneels before me, stripped of all pretense, laying himself bare in a way that I could have never anticipated. Warmth blooms in my chest, a bittersweet ache of longing and regret.
And then, like a cold splash of reality, my father appears, making me stiffen.
I haven’t revealed why I returned, but it’s irrelevant now. With the knowledge that I no longer rely on Cole’s protection, it’s clear he doesn’t want him near me.
“I wasn’t aware we had a guest,” he practically growls.
Cole’s jaw tightens. “Nathaniel.”
“Already on your knees for her?”
A wave of disgust crashes over me at what he did. “Is it true?” I demand. “Did you really try to force Lorelda to abort your own child?”
For a brief moment, his eyes betray him—widening before he masks it with a sneer. “You don’t know anything. Spare me the drama.”
“Don’t treat me like I’m still a child,” I snap.
His gaze turns icy, and he just dismisses my words with a flick of his hand.
“It’s true, isn’t it?” I press on. “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”
He glares at me, his fury palpable. “Don’t you dare speak to me with such disrespect.”
I scoff, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. “You did nothing to earn my respect. And when someone tells you that you’ve hurt them, you don’t get to decide that you haven’t.”
He shoots Cole a murderous look. “Is this why you’re here? To accuse and punish me in front of my own daughter?”
Cole’s face twists in a bitter smile as he rises to his feet. “Living with the shame of knowing you’ll never be half the man my father was—now that should be a punishment far worse than anything I could ever offer.”
Turning back to me, Cole’s expression softens. “I can lose everything, but not you. Please, come back with me.” His voice breaks, desperate, and pleading, as if he doesn’t know what to do with himself if I deny him.
He grabs my hand, his touch a silent, trembling question.
My father starts to protest, but Cole cuts him off. “Try me, Nathaniel. I won’t leave without her. I’d rather burn down the entire castle than leave without her.”
“It doesn’t matter if you have fiancée or not,” I finally say. “I need to stay here and figure things out. On my own.”
He runs a hand over his face, a look of torment crossing his features. “That’s what you want?”
“Yes.”
“If something happens to you, I?—”
“Don’t worry about me.”
A frustrated breath escapes him before he presses a lingering kiss to my forehead. “Fine. I’ll give you a few hours. Then I’m coming back.”
“No, I—” But he’s already gone, leaving my protest hanging in the air. A few hours. I need days. Weeks.
I sigh and turn, bracing myself to confront my father.
“You’re not going anywhere with him,” he roars, his voice echoing through the hall. “Do you hear me?”
I scoff, my anger boiling over. “What else are you hiding from me?”
“You stupid , vapid girl,” he hisses. “You’ve spent some time with him, and now you are acting like a hussy.”
His words slice through me like a knife. My jaw drops, my heart splintering. I flee to my room, feeling numb. Numb because I don’t know the man who raised me. Numb because everything has gone so utterly wrong.
I lock my bedroom door, forcing myself to sleep.
When I wake up with another pounding headache, the late afternoon light filters through my window. I drag myself downstairs, the familiar faces a blur, and I gasp in relief when I spot Nora.
She looks up at me, surprised. “Davina?”
I sprint toward her, nearly tripping over my own feet before I wrap her small frame in a desperate hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
Her brows knit together in confusion. “You should be…” She pauses, her eyes widening further. “You’re not dead. How—?” She gasps, her eyes lighting up as if with a sudden realization. “Let’s talk in the garden. It’s not as beautiful as Cole’s, but you’re finally free to go outside, and you need to see everything.”
I manage a weak smile. “I’d love that.”
“No,” I hear my father’s voice boom from behind, freezing me in my tracks. “You won’t leave this castle.”
Anger slams into me, and I bite my tongue to stop myself from screaming. “You won’t lock me in here again?—”
“I said no .”
“But—”
He strides forward, his slap coming out of nowhere.
Pain explodes across my face, and I press my lips together, stifling the sob that threatens to escape.
A maid gasps in shock, her hand flying to her mouth.
I feel blood trickling down my nose, and my voice is shaky when I give him my last advice. “You should make sure to hide from Lorelda. She’s coming for you, and perhaps you deserve it.”
With that, I turn and run, leaving this castle behind me.