by Jade, Ashley
Wicked Princess
Royal Hearts Academy - Book Three
A. Jade
Contents
Wicked Princess
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Epilogue
Bonus Epilogue
Royal Hearts Academy
About the Author
Wicked Princess
Royal Hearts Academy - Book Three
“The evil queens are the princesses that were never saved.”
—Maleficent
First published in USA, August 2020
Copyright © Ashley Jade
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be circulated in writing of any publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictional manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or deceased, or events is purely coincidence.
Wicked Princess
Cover Design: Lori Jackson at Lori Jackson Design
Editor: Ellie McLove
Rosa Sharon
Kristy Stalter
Prologue
I gesture to the shoebox containing my new ballet slippers. “Are you sure you got the right ones?”
If they aren’t the same exact ones Julianna has, it will only give her more ammo to make fun of me.
Mom sighs heavily as she brings her cell phone to her ear and hands the lady at the counter her credit card. “Positive.”
She’s been on edge more than usual today.
Probably because of the fight she had with my older brother Cole this morning.
Evidently, he wanted to join the peewee football team, but Mom told him no because he’s failing all his tests at school.
Annoyed, I look at Cole’s twin, Liam.
“Why does Cole always have to ruin everything?”
I expect him to agree because Cole irritates him even more than he irritates me, but Liam simply shrugs.
Thanks to Cole starting with Mom and putting everyone in a bad mood, everything felt off today.
I didn’t like it.
“Can we get some ice cream?”
Liam wrinkles his nose in disgust.
He claims ice cream is too cold and should be banished from the planet.
I wholeheartedly disagree.
“Come on,” I groan, turning my annoyance on him. “I stopped eating meat for you, don’t make me give up ice cream too.”
Three months ago, he decided he wanted to become a vegan in order to save animals. However, he soon realized he loved cheese too much, so he settled on becoming a vegetarian instead.
Because I love him—and because the video he made me watch of cows being slaughtered gave me nightmares—I agreed to join him.
But ice cream is where I draw the line.
Liam crosses his arms defiantly. “It’s too co—”
“No, it’s not—”
“Would the two of you stop fighting,” our mother snaps as she hastily signs the receipt and throws her phone in her purse. “We are not getting ice cream.”
Wow.
“But, Mom—”
“Bianca, please.” She gestures to the shopping bags full of leotards. “One more word out of you and so help me God, I’ll return everything I just bought.”
My mouth drops open in shock.
Not only was it her idea to go to the mall today for my new ballet slippers and leotards—she never, ever yelled at me.
Although she loved all her children, it was well known that I was her favorite, and Liam was a close second.
Ever since I could remember, the three of us always had a strong connection.
As if on cue, Liam reaches for my hand.
Cole could be such a big, fat jerk sometimes.
Some days he was so mean she’d end up staying in her bedroom for days at a time.
She claimed she was sick, but we all knew better.
Mom wasn’t sick. She was sad.
Too bad Jace—our oldest brother—wasn’t here.
He always knew the right things to say and what to do.
Given our father was at work all the time, it felt like Jace was more of a dad to me than our actual father was.
However, I only had one mom…and right now she was mad at me.
Which made me sad.
Her expression softens when she looks at me again. “Bianca.”
No. This wasn’t fair.
I wasn’t like Cole. I never told her I hated her or fought with her.
I always told her I loved her…because she’s my favorite person.
I thought I was hers too.
Unclasping my hand from Liam’s, I storm out of the store.
“Bianca, come back here,” she yells behind me, but I pick up my pace.
In one fell swoop, she grabs my arm. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re not my favorite person anymore,” I inform her through tears.
“You don’t mean that, baby girl.”
She was right. I didn’t.
Our bond was unbreakable.
But still, the way she treated me before hurt. A lot.
Like Liam, I was sensitive too. Only unlike him, I didn’t put my weakness on display.
Because my mother told me I needed to be strong.
Stronger than she was.
Spinning me around, she wipes my tears away with her hand. “I love you.”
I look down at the floor, unwilling to meet her gaze. “Love you too.”
The wall of ice I built thaws as she wraps her arms around me.
She always smelled like warm vanilla and coconut, and her hugs were the best thing in the world.
Like a cocoon.
“You still want that ice cream?”
I nod, clinging to her like a koala.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Liam sulking.
I loved my brother more than anything, but he had this annoying habit of wanting everyone to conform to his way of thinking.
Deep down, I knew it was because of his anxiety, but sometimes I ran out of patience.
My mom always understood it though.
Nine times out of ten she was able to stop Liam’s meltdowns before they happened.
She untangles one arm from around me and places it around him. “We’ll get you some pancakes too, baby. Okay?”
Pancakes were Liam�
�s favorite. But only the first two in the stack.
According to him, the rest are never as fluffy and they don’t taste as good. Weirdo.
Fortunately, Liam agrees. “Fine.”
Mom stands up. “Let’s haul these bags out to the car and head to the waffle house down the street.”
I start to protest, but she adds, “They serve ice cream there too, Bianca.”
Yeah, but not the soft serve kind.
Whatever. I’d deal.
We start walking, but she pauses abruptly, glancing at her watch. “Shi—shoot.”
“What?”
“I need to stop at the school first.”
Liam and I eye one another.
“Why?”
“So she can sign Cole up for football,” Liam declares with a sour expression.
“But I thought you told him no?”
She pinches the bridge of her nose. “He really wants this. I’ve never seen him so—you know what? I’m the mom and what I say goes. I’m signing your brother up for football.”
Liam snorts. “You know he’ll be bored in a week.”
Liam was right. Cole had a tendency to drop out of things quickly.
Mom ruffles his hair. “Well, if he does, maybe you can take his place.”
Liam looks at her like she sprouted another head as we make our way to the car. “Never. Sports are the worst.”
Mom laughs. “They aren’t so bad.” There’s a gleam in her eye when she looks at me. “Who knows, maybe you can be a cheerleader one day just like your mama.”
Huh?
“There are cheerleaders in India?” Liam and I ask at the same time.
She laughs again. “Of course there are. Granted, they don’t dress like the cheerleaders in America, but—”
The sound of her phone ringing cuts her off.
“Hold that thought,” she says, bringing her cell to her ear. “It’s your father.”
I make mock kissy noises.
My dad might be gone at work a lot, but there’s no denying how much he loves her.
He had flowers and chocolates delivered to her almost every day last week.
Liam pouts. “I wish Dad would let us go to India.”
“Mom’s taking me one day,” I tell him smugly as we climb inside the car.
Liam’s mouth drops open. “No fair.” He looks at Mom. “You have to take me to India too.”
Mom shushes him as she peels out of the parking lot.
“She can’t,” I inform him. “We’re going on a mother-daughter trip. Girls only—”
“What the hell is this?” my father’s voice booms over the car speakers.
Liam and I exchange another glance. Dad never yells at Mom.
“You can read, can’t you?” Mom says curtly.
“Rumi,” he says, his tone somber. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on…why you want this.”
“I can’t right now, Jason. You’re on speakerphone and I have your children in the car with me.”
“Want what?” Liam whispers in my ear.
I was just as confused as him. “I have no idea.”
“I’m in Texas for a meeting,” Dad states. “But I’ll fly home right after, okay?”
“Fine,” Mom tells him. “But it won’t change anything. My mind is made up.”
“Rumi,” Dad pleads, like her name is his lifeline. “Please don’t do this. I love you—”
“Sorry, Jason. I’m driving through a tunnel. Gotta go.”
Eyebrows pinched, Liam looks around. “What tunnel?”
* * *
“What was that about?” Liam hisses.
Mom told us to wait in the car while she ran inside to sign Cole up for football.
I repeat my earlier statement. “I have no idea.”
I was only eight. How the heck was I supposed to know what our parents were arguing about?
Liam juts his chin. “Mom’s on her way back.”
I shoot my gaze out the windshield where sure enough, she’s walking back to the car, cradling her cell phone against her ear.
But from the looks of her glassy eyes and tense face…it’s not a happy conversation.
“She’s fighting with Dad again,” Liam says, stating the obvious.
“Should we do something?”
“Like what?”
Suddenly Mom stops walking.
“Do you have any idea what I’ve given up for you?” she screams, snatching the ends of her long dark hair.
My stomach drops.
“India,” Liam and I say at the same time.
Mom left her family—and her career as a Bollywood actress—in India to be with him, and she never went back.
The last time she saw her family was their wedding day.
Liam’s eyes narrow. “I don’t know why Dad won’t let her visit them. They’re her family.”
I had an idea as to why, but I wasn’t ready to share what I recently overheard just yet.
“Maybe he’s protecting her from something?”
“Protecting her from what?”
Here goes nothing. “Last week I overheard Dad—”
A loud sob cuts me off mid-sentence.
Oh, no.
Mom was full-on hysterical crying in the parking lot of our school.
“Crap,” Liam says. “Should we go out there?”
I start to nod because Mom’s episodes—as Jace referred to them—isn’t something she’d want on display, but Mom starts walking again.
“Wait. She’s coming back.”
My relief is short-lived though because she proceeds to kick the side of her car. “I was going to give up everything for you!”
“Mom, what are you doing?” Liam whisper-shouts, panic rising in his voice as she continues kicking her Mercedes.
Whatever my father was saying to her was sending Mom into an adult temper tantrum.
The worst tantrum I’d ever seen.
“You can’t do this to me,” she yells, pounding her fists against the hood. “You promised we’d get married and be together forever.”
Yeah, our mom was definitely not okay right now.
“Maybe we should take Mom’s phone away and call Jace?” I suggest.
He’d know what to do.
Liam nods. “Yeah.” He eyes me warily. “How?”
I had no freaking idea.
“She’s on your side of the car, Liam. Open your door and grab it.”
My brother looks at me like I just asked him to kill a python. “Nuh-uh.”
Wuss.
“Fine. I’ll do it—” I start to say, but the pounding gets worse.
“She’s gonna break the window,” Liam says, scooching over to my side.
“She’s gonna break her hand.”
“Don’t do this to me,” Mom screams so loud we both wince. “I love you, Mark.”
Liam and I exchange a wide-eyed glance.
Who the heck is Mark?
* * *
“I’m fine,” Mom says, attempting to wipe away her mascara streaks with the back of her hand.
She tosses her head back and laughs. “Everything is fine.”
I clutch Liam’s hand. Everything wasn’t fine.
Mom wasn’t acting like herself.
“Can I use your phone?” Liam questions, sticking to the plan to call Jace.
“No,” Mom snaps.
So much for that.
I glance out the window in confusion. “Where are we going?”
“The waffle house is the other way,” Liam reminds her.
“Don’t worry,” Mom says. “There will be plenty of pancakes and ice cream soon.”
Liam’s face lights up. “Are we going to Disney World?”
I pinch his arm.
I had no idea where she was taking us, but it wasn’t Disney.
“Mom,” I begin. “I love you.”
Whenever I reminded her how much I loved her, it usually helped calm her down.
“I love you too, baby gir
l.”
“You’re going really fast,” Liam says. “Slow down.”
“It will be all right, baby.” A fresh set of tears roll down her cheeks. “Everything will be okay.”
Her words offered no relief to either of us.
Liam grips my hand tighter and whispers, “Do you think she’s kidnapping us?”
I open my mouth to remind him that Mom wasn’t a scary man on the news, she was our mom and therefore couldn’t kidnap us…but then I realize he might have a point.
My heart is nearly pounding out of my chest. As much as I complain about my family, I loved them, and I need us all to be together.
“Where are we going?” I croak, my voice trembling.
If I knew where she was taking us, I could call Jace and Cole and tell them what was happening.
“Someplace without pain,” she answers as the car begins to swerve.
“Where?” I urge, a bad feeling churning in my stomach.
It feels like forever before she responds.
When she does, it sends a chill down my spine.
“Heaven.”
Bile surges up my throat and the hairs on the back of my neck prickle.
For the first time in my life, I finally believed it.
This wasn’t normal. Mom was sick.
“No,” I choke out. “I don’t want to go to Heaven.”
I wanted to join ballet.
I wanted to get a cat.
I wanted to graduate elementary school.
I wanted to see Dad, Jace, and Cole so I could tell them I love them.
“Mom, please,” I plead. “You’re just having a bad day.”
“A bad life.” She punches the steering wheel with her fist. “So many things have been taken away from me.” Big, ugly sobs fill the car. “I refuse to be without you two.”
