“What is it?” he asked, stepping closer.
“No matter what happens, you protect her. If it means I die, you protect her anyway, do you understand?” I asked firmly. His lips parted, a rebuttal prepared. “Ely, please promise me,” I insisted again.
He nodded his agreement. “Okay, I promise, but—”
“No. It’s a non-negotiable point. You save her if it comes to a choice, or I will never forgive you, do you understand?” I asked.
“Yes, of course. I’ve given you my word, and where I come from that means something. What you don’t understand is how difficult that will be for me, Sierra,” he said, inching still closer.
“Some things in life are difficult, aren’t they?” I asked, forcing him to see things from my perspective.
He swallowed with difficulty and took a breath.
“One day you will regain the memory of your first life and all the things you did in Goldene Stadt before you died. When you do, you will understand what this means to me.”
He took one small step closer, any farther, and he’d be on top of me.
“I will honor your wishes, but you better learn to fight because I can’t lose you.”
“I know you don’t want me to get hurt. As you said, I’m the rightful heir to the throne, but that’s a chance...”
“No, it’s because I love you.”
“... you’ll just have to take if you... what?”
“I love you, Sierra, and all that other stuff pales in comparison.”
“You mean, you used to love me when I was a princess in Goldene Stadt centuries ago,” I corrected.
“No, I loved you then, and I love you now. One day, I hope you remember that you used to love me, too.”
Chapter Four
“Um...”
“You’ve said that four times already. Do you know any other words, or have I alleviated you of your senses?” Ely asked, still staring at me after dropping a line on me I’d never heard from any man in my life.
“Um...”
“Alright then, back to the apartment we go,” he stated, physically turned me around, then urged me back toward my apartment building. He walked beside me in silence. I knew I should say something to him, but I didn’t know what to say. Everything was happening so fast, and a person shouldn’t go throwing the L-word around like that.
His cadence was a little faster than before, and he didn’t dare look at me. I wouldn’t look at me after saying something crazy like that either, but it was clear he knew things about me, past me, that I didn’t. More like everything—hush brain, I’m busy! I found a little courage and stopped him.
“Hey, wait a minute,” I managed to choke out. He stopped but continued to stare at a crack in the sidewalk. “Please look at me, Ely.”
His leveled his gaze to mine, but his eye contact was fleeting. I’d hurt him, but what did he expect?
“Ely, I’m sorry. I wasn’t... you can’t just go around...,” I exhaled and tried again. “It was difficult enough to accept that you loved me in a past life, but to hear those words... it was shocking, and it made everything else sink in all at once, okay?”
“I shouldn’t have pushed it on you like that. I’m sorry.” He finally made real eye contact, and the tension began to ease. “I remember things you don’t, and that’s okay. One day you’ll remember, somehow. I can wait for you to remember, but I couldn’t keep the way I felt a secret, not like Wil did. I watched my sister’s husband suffer immensely because he kept his love and their marriage a secret from her to protect her. He didn’t want her to feel guilty if she never remembered their life together.”
“We’re married!” I exclaimed, feeling like he just let a cat out of a bag he didn’t realize he was holding open.
“No, not officially... oh, geez,” he said. He ran his hands down his face, frustrated with himself. He took a moment to gather his words then said cautiously, “We were married but in secret. It would not have been a marriage recognized by your kingdom or mine, but we were very much in love, Sierra. I don’t expect you to honor a promise you made in another life. This is all a bit scary for me, too, but I have the benefit of memory on my side. I’m just as overwhelmed as you are, especially since I had no idea I’d remember you when I saw you again. Then bam, there you were in the diner, a face I hadn’t seen in centuries, and all those memories flooded my mind.”
“Okay, okay, I can understand that. But how about we shelf this... whatever it is for now, and we worry about the crazy princess who wants me dead? I promise, after we deal with that I’ll try to wrap my mind around the other crazy things you’re saying to me.”
He laughed, his shoulders relaxed again. “Yes, we can do that. We good now?” he asked, gently taking my hand in his.
“Um...”
“This again? Honestly, who was your English teacher in high school, because he failed you miserably,” he said, gripping my hand tighter.
I instinctively jerked my hand back, not because I was appalled by the gesture, but because of the way it felt. My skin prickled with heat again, and I was worried I would light him on fire. I chastised myself for pushing him away and refusing to believe him, even as the evidence supporting his case grew. Wolves and spontaneous combustion, what more did I need to trust his story?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“No, it... it wasn’t that,” I replied, trying to find the words to explain my new gift—because turning into a dog wasn’t enough. “Something happened... I need to tell you...”
What are the words, Sierra? Come on, speak, you silly girl!
“What, Sierra? Do you remember something?” he asked, his voice filled with anticipation and hope.
I shook my head. “Not a memory, no. It’s a feeling like my skin is melting.”
He misinterpreted my intent entirely, and a smirk grew over his face. Instantly, the cocky Ely from before returned. “You know, Calla’s spell was broken when she kissed her husband. Maybe if we kiss—”
“You’re an idiot if you think I’m going to kiss you. You’re an okay guy, but you’ve done nothing but annoy me since the second I met you,” I teased, scoffing at his advances.
He shrugged and tossed his hands in the air.
“Fine, have it your way. Probably wasn’t the kiss, anyway. I mean come on, true love’s kiss? Please, you’d have to be a fool to believe in such nonsense.”
He fell back in line beside me as we walked, the building in view ahead of us.
“You’re not going to taunt me into kissing you, Ely.”
“Was worth a shot, right? I mean, Wil was all broody and basically impossible for anyone to put up with, then all of a sudden Calla kisses him, and he’s suddenly pleasant as can be,” he said, threw his hands in the air again, and finished with, “But if you like me annoying you, then by all means continue to withhold the kisses.”
“Still not kissing you, sorry.” I turned the corner and started down the sidewalk that led to my building, catching sight of Cecily’s boyfriend’s car in the parking lot. “Oh no, Brian’s here.”
“Who is Brian?” Ely asked, pausing momentarily.
“Cecily’s boyfriend. Oh no, is she married to someone wherever the heck you said we’re from?” I asked, hoping the answer was no because I quite liked Brian Wilde.
“No, nothing like that. I was just hoping to speak about this some more with the group, figure out the game plan and all,” Ely replied, staring at the apartment building as if it would give him the answers he sought. He ran his hand through his hair again, his mahogany eyes scanning the lot. “Does he know?”
“About our condition? No. No one knows.” He was worried but didn’t say anything else, which concerned me since he didn’t seem to have a problem voicing his thoughts. “Ely?”
“Sorry, I’m just a little out of touch with this reality. I’ve spent the last few years in Schwartzwald, so I’m on edge that’s all,” he admitted. “It’s fine, let’s go.”
He reached
for my hand again. It seemed so natural for him, like it was something he’d done so many times it was in-character. I let him do it, and the heated feeling returned. It was warm at first, then grew hotter—too hot to bear, but he didn’t seem to notice it. Just when I couldn’t take it any longer, he yelped in pain.
“Ow! What on earth...” He shrugged his coat off and dropped it to the ground, then stomped on it to put out the flames. He glanced up at me, totally in shock.
You lit him on fire, Sierra!
“There you go again speaking out loud what you mean to think. Please, explain to me how you just produced fire from... from your hands?”
“Yeah, about that, um... See, it’s never happened before today. At the diner, I accidentally caught paper towels on fire on two separate occasions. Weird, isn’t it?” Weird? What is wrong with you, of course, it’s weird!
“It’s bizarre when you speak to yourself aloud. You might consider... never mind, I’ve seen weirder things, but this can’t be good. When Snow discovered we were all together and we had found the last of the Salien Seven—”
“The Salien Seven?”
“Story for another day, the point is, apples started rotting in Calla’s hands, maggots filled her refrigerator—it was a sign, a trigger that Snow was coming.”
“Are you telling me Cinderella is coming here?!”
He shook his head and shrugged, but I could see the fear in his eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe?”
“That is not comforting. What do we do?”
“This doesn’t change anything. Here or in Goldene Stadt, she’s coming for you either way, so what we do now is return to your apartment, pack what you need and get back to Schwarzwald as fast as we can.”
I nodded frantically, suddenly feeling quite ready to follow him anywhere. “Okay, yeah, but what about Brian?”
“Crap. I guess we’ll think of something. Come on.”
He started to take my hand but thought better of it and just made sure I didn’t lag. I hated that he now feared I’d light him on fire, a valid concern, but it still bothered me more than it should. Aside from the fire, holding his hand was kind of sweet, familiar even.
“Sierra?”
I heard his voice, but it sounded so far away. I was more interested in understanding what the sensation was, the strange feeling when he took my hand before the fire started. I concentrated on it, the way it seemed to take over my senses, lulling me into a euphoric state that I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave.
“Sierra?”
He shook me, breaking the daze and lifting the haze that had settled over me. I hadn’t even realized I’d stopped walking.
“What’s wrong? Why did you stop?”
His eyes scanned mine, waiting for me to give him an answer, an excuse for my odd behavior.
“Kiss me,” I said, definitely not the response he was expecting.
“What? What’s going on with you? First, all the ‘ums,’ and now this nonsense.”
I ignored his questions and draped my arms over his shoulders. He tensed but didn’t stop me.
“Are you gonna light me on fire again?”
“Just do it before I change my mind, Ely.”
He didn’t question me a second time. Instead, he leaned in and gently pressed his lips to mine. The same warmth spread through my lips, to my cheeks, warming me to the tips of my fingers and toes. I pulled him closer, feeding the addiction to the feeling that had taken over my entire existence. I’d felt that feeling before, in another time and place. It was welcoming, but it also scared me like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
He sensed my momentary hesitation and released me.
“Anything?” he asked.
I swallowed my fear long enough to respond. “No, but I’m not so sure that was a good idea.”
“Why is that?” he asked, genuinely concerned.
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop whatever this is now that we’ve started it. So much for putting it on the shelf,” I admitted.
“Sierra, this thing we’ve started, it didn’t start today. It started centuries ago, and it’s been burning this way ever since, just waiting for us to find each other again,” he said. “But I meant what I said. I don’t think it was the kiss that triggered Calla’s memories. I think it was acceptance.”
I blinked a few times, clearing a little more of the fogginess from my mind. “Acceptance?”
“Yes, accepting her duty to her people, accepting that Wil was her past and her future, being brave enough to decide she would be what her people needed her to be. She accepted her role, and I believe that is what truly broke the curse,” he said. “But the kissing, I mean I’m down for that if you are.”
“You’re incorrigible! One second you’re spewing philosophical rhetoric about destiny and responsibility, the next you’re behaving like a teenage boy.”
I pushed him away, but took his hand, my body still begging for the warmth he offered. Luckily, I didn’t set him on fire this time.
“I’ll have you know I am a gentleman.”
“You’re a liar, that’s what you are.”
He shrugged again and opened the door to the building.
“I try,” he said, moments before we heard arguing coming from my apartment.
Ely darted up the stairs ahead of me and threw the door open, finding Heidi standing between Brody and Brian. Brian was angry, irate even, and Brody appeared ready to rip his head off.
“If you ever lay a hand on my wife again, so help me I will tear you limb from limb!” Brody shouted. Felix was the only thing keeping Brody from doing just that.
“Babe, it’s okay. I’m fine, see? He didn’t even touch me.” Heidi pulled her husband back, urging him to sit on the sofa.
“What happened here?” Ely asked, his tone authoritative, and I remembered he was a prince, technically the one in charge of the menagerie of craziness in my living room.
“These people said you’re taking Cecily to Germany? Maybe for good?” Brian shouted the words, disbelief in his voice and in his eyes.
I knew it would kill him to lose my sister, but after speaking with Ely I also knew leaving was the only thing we could do. Cecily couldn’t talk. Instead, she huddled in the corner of the sofa and cried.
“Brian,” I began.
“No! You aren’t taking her away! She’s an adult, and she can stay if she wants to!” he shouted, but I doubted he knew Cecily wanted to fulfill her destiny long before I was even warming to the idea.
“Brian, it’s not... there are circumstances beyond our control, and we have no choice, I’m sorry. There are... things... events that happened that require us to...” Try as I may, I couldn’t figure out how to lie to him.
“What? Is it something to do with your issue?” he asked. “Did you find a cure? Because that’s the only good reason you could have for trying to take her away from the one person who knows what she is and loves her anyway!” Brian shouted again, his anger boiling over.
I looked at my sister, guilt written all over her face. Ely slammed the door shut behind us.
“Sit down, all of you,” he ordered.
“I don’t have to do anything you say. Who are you?” Brian mouthed off, but Ely wasn’t having it.
He shifted right there in front of Brian, right in the middle of my apartment living room, scaring the heck out of everyone. He growled a low, threatening growl that made Brian fall to the floor and scrabble to Cecily’s side.
“He’s... he’s one... what is happening right now?”
Ely barked at him, warning him one last time to shut his mouth and cementing in Brian’s mind who was boss in the room. He shifted again, not much caring that everyone in the room was staring at his nakedness—again.
“Dude!” Brody yelled, tossing him a blanket from the back of my sofa.
“As I told my sister, nudity happens. Get used to it.” He wrapped the blanket around his lower half, yet somehow managed to appear more dominant than anyone else in the room.<
br />
“Yeah, Ravenna already fixed that problem for everyone else, but you chose to keep it that way,” Brody said, motioning toward Ely and his nakedness.
“I’m sorry, just as soon as you turn into a wolf for a dozen lifetimes, you’re more than welcome to tell me what feels right. I like it this way, it’s more... it’s just me, so deal with it.” He turned around, looking for me. I shrank into my little corner of the room, afraid we were all in a great deal of trouble now. “I thought you said he didn’t know.”
I looked back to my sister with a glare she could feel from across the room. She shivered beside her boyfriend. “I didn’t know he did, and believe me, it will be a topic of discussion soon enough.”
“Sooner than you think. He’ll be coming along,” Heidi declared. “If Ella finds out about him, he’s a dead man walking. She’ll use him as bait to draw you in, and she won’t care much if he’s alive or dead.”
“What are you people talking about? Who are you?”
Brian’s confusion only added to the misery of the situation. I’d barely begun to believe it myself, now I had to think of one more person whose life was in my hands.
“You want the short version or the long one? You won’t believe either, so I recommend the abbreviated one,” Brody said, his demeanor calmed since Brian’s head was screwed back on properly.
Brian looked to Cecily who could only lick her lips and shake her head, her guilt too much to bear. She’d lied to me, and she knew how deeply it cut me. It was a matter for another day, one where lives were not on the line.
“Whatever. I don’t care. Just tell me what’s going on,” Brian said, looking to me.
“Me?” I asked.
“Yeah, you’re the only one I trust to tell me the truth right now.” His eyes fell on Cecily, and I wondered what lies she’d told him.
“Short version then. Um... um...”
“Here we go again. Sierra, spit it out, darling. Oh, and there I go again. Darn Wil Grimm to death,” Ely remarked under his breath.
“Um... yes, short version. Let me see, well...”
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