*Canaan*
Several days have passed since Bexley first arrived at the castle. I’ve been trying to talk myself into visiting with her, but it’s been too difficult. The more time that slips away, the more desperate the situation becomes. Finally, I decide I have to bite the bullet and do something. She can’t get to know me if I never see her, and while Ellison and the others tell me she asks about me, I haven’t seen her in person in far too long. It’s time to remedy that, so I’ve called in the experts.
“Ask her questions, but don’t be too nosy,” Olive suggests. “Take an interest in her, but don’t pry.”
“And compliment her,” Naomi offers. “But make sure it sounds genuine.”
“Don’t mention her boobs, though. No girl wants to hear a guy thinks she has nice tits. It just makes us feel like meat,” Olive insists.
“I would never
*Bexley*Warm light bathes Canaan’s form as he turns on the light next to us. I don’t make a sound. Not a gasp. Not a whimper. Not a sigh. Nothing.I’ve prepared myself for this moment. Over the last several days as I’ve explored the castle and spoken to his staff and friends, I’ve gotten an idea of what he looks like now.The portrait in the library? The handsome man I’ve been hoping to see in my dreams? That’s what he used to look like. I only got a glimpse of that painting, but I know that was him.This is him now.His description of himself is pretty spot on, though I don’t see any slobber, and his tongue isn’t hanging out of his mouth as I expected it to be. He does appear to be caught in a transformation. His shoulders aren’t even, like his spine is twisted, with one higher than the other. His fur isn’t patchy that I can see. It’s a lovely gold color, similar to the hair I saw in the painting. He does have large fangs that don’t fit inside his mouth when it’s closed, as it is no
*Bexley*The castle ballroom has an ethereal glow to it. Shimmery and clouded with a blanket of mist, I step into the center of the floor, my long blue ball gown billowing around me. The faces of the crowd around me are obscured by the mist. They don’t quite come into focus, but that’s okay. None of them are important. I hear their cheers above the sound of the orchestra playing in the corner, which I cannot see. It’s all so wispy and dreamlike. I feel like I’m floating on air.A man steps through the crowd, his face the only one I can see. His smile is genuine, his hazel eyes twinkling in the sparkling candlelight. He’s unbelievably handsome with his blonde hair tied back and a dazzling smile. His royal blue suit is fitted, showing off his rippling biceps as he extends a hand to me.I slip my fingers into his, and he pulls me close, and I can feel his heart beating beneath my palm as we begin to dance. “You&rsqu
*Bexley*After breakfast, I go back to my room for a warm cloak and mittens. I decide against wearing a hat, even though I know I’ll be colder without it. I don’t want to look silly in front of the king.Anna is at my door as I bound out. She smiles and says, “I thought maybe it would be helpful if I show you to the gardens, dear.”“That would be wonderful.”We walk down the same staircase as usual and down the hallways I’m familiar with until we are almost at the atrium, and then she turns a different direction down a path I’ve never explored . As we go, we chat. She asks about my mother, and I ask about her duties here at the castle since she’s already told me she has no family. She’s so sweet, and being around her is sort of like having a mother or a grandmother here, even with mine so far away.We arrive at an exterior door, and she pushes it open. &ld
*Canaan*Bexley’s dark eyes are wide with terror as she stands pressed against the wall in the infirmary. For the first time in ages, I don’t feel like I’m the only one in the room who doesn’t want anyone to look at them.I speak first, knowing exactly how she feels. “It’s okay, Bexley.”She shakes her head, that mortified look on her face not fading. “It really is.” Justin sets the needle and thread he was trying to use to sew Ellison's wound aside, no longer needing it, and takes a few steps closer to her. She tries to back away, but she can’t. “Bexley, you healed his wound. With your hands.”Once more, she shakes her head furiously. “No. That’s not possible. I don’t know what happened. It must’ve been… the orange juice I drank for breakfast. It must’ve… spilled on my hands.”“Damn, I need to get myself some more of that orange juice,” Ellison jokes, trying to lighten the mood. It doesn’t work. He picks up his shirt, which is bloodied and has a small hole in it, and stands. “Thanks
*Bexley*The fresh air cools my cheeks and helps clear my mind as I crunch through the freshly fallen snow out in the forest. It seems thicker out here, unlike the garden where it was a light dusting. I’m not trying to be quiet so that I can sneak up on any animals at the moment, so I let my footsteps crack, sending an echo through the forest.I find one of my favorite spots, an area where I’ve been watching a family of foxes until recently. They were living in a log, but I haven’t seen them in a few days. I’ve seen more large prints out here recently, and I think something must’ve scared them off.I’ve been suspicious that the larger pawprints are from a wolf—or several, honestly. I see a lot of those tracks out here, but I’ve never seen a wolf. With everything that’s happened recently funneling through my mind, I think it’s a little strange that I haven’t seen a wolf. I think of th
*Canaan*Pain ripples through my abdomen despite Bexley’s powers blanketing me in the soft light of her healing powers. It’s not just the gunshot wound that hurts. As I see her disappear over the wall in Garth’s grasp, I feel my insides begin to shatter.“We’ll get her back!” Ellison shots in my head. He’s a huge wolf and can jump over that wall, I know it, but he’ll only have a couple of hours to track them down once he’s there. We need a plan.“You six, go with Ellison,” I command, keeping a hand pressed against my stomach as I point with the other at the men I mean to go with him. I can hear horse hooves in the distance and know that Garth has a head start. My men will be faster, but the snow is beginning to fall, and that will make it more difficult to stay on his tracks and will help cover the scent.Something tells me Garth has more tricks up his sleeve.Jus
*Canaan*The world around me is muffled as I try to open my eyes. The intense pain I felt right before I passed out is still present, though I can’t feel it quite as sharply now as I could before. Justin hovers over me, holding a bottle under my snout .I assume it’s some sort of smelling salts. I almost wish he hadn’t bothered. I think I’d rather be out when my entire body feels like I’ve been trampled by a thousand stampeding horses.“Ellison and the others are under attack,” he says, jarring me back to reality. I try to sit up, but he won’t let me. “A mob of armed citizens intercepted them a few miles on the other side of the castle grounds. Three of the six guards you sent are down, and he’s wounded again. I told him to get back here, but he won’t listen. We need another plan. They lost track of Bexley, and their just getting slaughtered.”I nod in acknowledgement. He’s not wrong. With a deep breath, I close my eyes to concentrate and call out to my other best friend through the mi
*Bexley*I rush toward the castle, urging the horse to go as fast as possible, snow falling furiously around us. I have to warn Canaan. Not only is there a mob of villagers approaching the castle, Garth is somewhere behind me. He must’ve taken a horse from that barn.The guards at the gate listened to my shouts to let me in, so I didn’t even have to slow down as I rode through the front gate. I practically leap off the horse and rush inside as a commotion in the front foyer greets me. “Where’s the king?” I shout as David throws open the door.“Miss Bexley, you’re back,” he says, locking the door behind me and slipping a heavy bar into place. It’s a good thought, but I don’t think it will stop the attack that’s about to happen. They’ll figure out a way to get through the gates and then the doors, whether it’s this one or one of several others. The castle was built as a lux
KaelTerminus is always cloaked in storms. The raging, jagged mountain peaks shine white with every burst of lightning as I soar into Ashton’s territory, parting the angry clouds and sending thick mist coiling around my dragon body as I tuck in my wings and spiral down into the shadowed valley of his territory. Ashton’s expecting me, which means I’m not bombarded by his guards as I glide onto a landing platform and slide to a stop near a set of massive iron doors guarding the mouth of his fortress. Unlike Starfall, the largest city in my territory of the Emerald Coast, Terminus is built entirely within the mountains under Ashton’s rule. Tunnels pass between the mountains, connecting his cities while protecting his people from the unforgiving elements. I shake ice from my wings before shifting back to my human form, breathing deeply past the stretch and pull of the transformation to fill my lungs with crisp, frigid air. The massive doors open, and Ashton steps out, flanked by guards
KaelRaw gems make the obsidian walls glitter all around the meek, pale, mentally exhausted young woman loosely chained to a bed in the normally empty infirmary. A dragon shifter–a female–in a tidy black uniform and creamy white cloak moves around her, swiping another layer of thick, scentless salve made of crushed diamonds on Annabel’s arms and legs, healing the injuries she sustained in battle against the vines. I hadn’t noticed her injuries before. Not her hands, which were so raw they’re now bright red as fresh, new skin develops. Not the lacerations and blisters along her calves that are healing in real time. She’d fought, but for what? Her own life? The life of her princess, which she hasn’t said a word about in the hour she’s spent in Ryker’s company? That’s what he just told me in the hallway, his normally stern, unfazed disposition wore thin, like he’d just been through battle. I pull up a chair beside the bed and stare at the girl who refuses to meet my eyes. Ryker leans
MaxianaThe world is hazy and dark as I move through water so shallow it barely brushes my ankles. It ripples with each step I take, disturbing the millions of stars reflected on its surface. It’s totally dark here save for the stars hanging overhead, and silent, even as I splash through the water. I have no idea how I got here, but I feel like I’ve been stuck in an endless, watery, starlit loop for hours now. My long, white slip of a dress floats on the surface, gathered around my ankles, as I move through the nothingness, wondering when it’s going to end. Soft, whispered voices drift around me–unfamiliar and tangled, like they’re speaking underwater. I must be dreaming, right? There’s no way this is real. This endless, shallow ocean of stars is a figment of my mind, my too-active imagination. It has to be. I pause, squinting into the dizzying starlight. A small rise is just visible in the distance, I believe. An island cloaked in shadow and mist, but there is, in fact, land. My
KaelVaeloria is lost to slumber. I can taste the magic on my tongue–a heady, metallic sheen I can’t swallow down. Villagers slump against barrels and crates, snoozing peacefully, their bodies damp with the rain that passed through sometime yesterday. Thank the old gods it’s summer. They would have frozen solid last night otherwise. Even the children lie in heaps of homespun fabric as I move through the outer villages. The shutters and doors of the humble cottages I pass on my way to the castle clap against their stone walls, left open, unlocked. The air is still, and the silence is overwhelming, especially when I pass a group of chickens in the center of a dirt road, the entire flock asleep with their heads tucked under their wings. Warriors slump against the wall surrounding the castle. The gate is open, creaking in the warm wind that rustles through the immaculate garden. People dressed in finery spread out over the glistening, white stone steps leading to the grand entrance,
KaelI already know I’m dreaming when my eyes catch on rays of milky sunlight. Soft, white curtains dance in a warm breeze scented with salt and ozone, like a storm is passing over the mountaintops. Shadows dance through the beams, the familiar, yet dreamlike, room all around me fading into temporary darkness as the heavy clouds drift in front of the sun, but the air is warm and inviting as I sit up, smoothing the satin duvet over my lap, and turn toward the piano. I’ve had this dream enough times to know what I’m looking for and where to find it–to find her. Her thin fingers brush over the keys, plucking and grazing through each soft, echoing note of a song I know by heart but can never remember when I wake up. Golden blonde hair tumbles down her back, vibrating with each faint, practiced movement of her wrists and fingers, her narrow shoulders loose as she sways with the music, playing like the notes are coming from a place deep within her–her heart–her very soul. Sometimes I tel
KaelI cross into the shadows of a cavernous, echoing palace. Rain slips down the dark stone walls from tunnels funneling upward toward breaks in the mountain that guards the castle built against and within its depths. I adjust my cuffs, smoothing the dark, intricate fabric of my black jacket inlaid with shimmering, polished beads of obsidian, and look up, facing the twisting onyx columns as I cross into the sanctum–the very center of the dilapidated castle.Four men wait in silence, their eyes scanning and inspecting me as I approach. My footsteps carry, thundering through the wide, open space. The air is damp and scented with ozone as a storm of epic proportions rages overhead, casting the steep, unforgiving mountainscape in ribbons of electric blue, just visible through the holes in the ceiling.I fucking hate this place.“King Kael,” calls a man in the center of the group, giving me a sharp, shallow nod of his head.“King Titus,” I reply with little fanfare, returning his nod with
Beginning of Book 2***Max“Princess? Princess Maxiana? Where are you?”I slip further into the milky, rose scented water of my bath, closing my eyes against the soft pitter-patter of Annabel’s slippers as she searches for me in what sounds like desperation. Her exaggerated sigh and mumbles bring a smile to my face, but I sink under water until I’m totally submerged, my hair floating on the surface. I hear her gasp and cry out as she rushes to the tub, but I burst from the water, laughing as I brush my wet hair from my face. “You scared me to death!” Annabel snaps, her cheeks going a deep, rosy pink. “Goddess, Max, I thought you’d drowned!”“You think I’d be dumb enough to do that on the day of my own ball?” I slide to the side, resting my arms on the rim of the tub, smirking up at my lady-in-waiting–my only real friend, if I’m being honest. Annabel scowls as she moves through the spacious bathroom before whirling and resting her hip against the counter, her arms crossed and lower
*Bexley*Six Months Later…Mother is weeping.It’s nothing new. She does a lot of that these days. Ever since the day after the castle was attacked when Canaan and I showed up at the house she shared with Harvey and told her everything, she’s been teary eyed. She’s so proud of me. Even now, she says, “I can’t believe you’re the queen!”“Well, not yet,” I remind her, looking at my own reflection in the mirror. “There is the matter of getting married—and coronated.”“That’s all just a technicality,” she assures me. “I’m so proud of you, honey!”“I’m proud of you, too.” Carefully, I turn in my long white dress and hug her. The last thing I need to do is tear this gown, though I’m fairly certain Canaan will do that later when he grows impatient with all the buttons.&l
*Bexley*The hazel eyes I see every night in my dreams are staring up at me, wide and hopeful, waiting patiently for me to respond to his question. A simple question. The most important question I’ll ever be asked in my life.This is not a dream. This is reality. This is the real world—where people can turn into wolves, people can discover they have magical powers and use them for good, and people can come back from the dead—or like dead.It’s a world where an ordinary girl like me can reluctantly move to a different kingdom only to discover she’s been summoned to an enchanted castle to break a spell—and fall in love.I’m struggling to answer Canaan’s question not because I don’t know the answer but because I’m crying so much. The only thing that could possibly make this moment more special would be if my mother were here. She’s not, though, and I can hardly wait to give him an answer, so rather than speaking, I nod my head fervently.“Is that a yes?” he asks.“That’s a yes!” Elliso