by Chelsea Fine
“So be it.” Scarlet straightened her shoulders.
Gabriel stood speechless. He was confused, relieved and upset. All at the same time.
Tristan would not be happy about this.
Well, then he should not have fallen in love with such a stubborn girl.
“Scarlet,” came a whisper down the hallway.
Gabriel turned to see Scarlet’s mother swiftly approaching.
“Mama,” Scarlet said, walking toward her. “We have been deceived and—”
“I know, child.” Ana covered Scarlet’s mouth. “Listen to me closely. You must marry this boy.” She looked at Gabriel.
Through her mother’s cupped hand, Scarlet said, “What?”
“You must do as I say.” Ana removed her hand and looked deep into Scarlet’s eyes. “You must take Gabriel’s hand in marriage with a happy heart and be kind to the earl, do you understand?”
With her mouth open, Scarlet started shaking her head. “But why?”
Ana placed her hands on Scarlet’s shoulders. “Because I am dying and Tristan is gone.”
Scarlet’s face fell into fear and disbelief. “Y-you’re dying?”
Ana nodded. “I am ill and will not live long.” She swallowed. “So I need you to do this for me.”
“No, mama. I can take care of you. I can make you better—”
“Hush!” Ana’s eyes hardened, but quickly went soft. “I need you to promise me that you will accept this noble union. I need to die knowing that you will always be safe and cared for.”
“But, mama—”
“Promise me,” Ana repeated.
Scarlet looked as though her whole world had crumbled. She glanced back at Gabriel, horror and hopelessness in her eyes, before looking at her mother.
“Promise me,” Ana said again.
Scarlet swallowed and whispered, “I promise,” as a tear fell down her cheek.
Ana kissed the top of Scarlet’s head. “Now, you will compose yourself and march into that dining hall with a smile for the earl.”
Scarlet nodded as she stared at the floor.
Not knowing what else to do, Gabriel gently took Scarlet’s arm in his as Ana began shuffling them toward the dining hall doors.
When they entered the dining room, Gabriel forced yet another smile upon his tense face.
40
Laura had another “late meeting,” so the Baxter family had invited Scarlet over to spend the night.
Scarlet and Heather stood in the kitchen, scooping bowls of chocolate ice cream for themselves.
“So, you just, like, broke up with Gabriel?” Heather put two scoops of ice cream into her bowl and handed the scooper to Scarlet.
“Yep.” Scarlet shoveled a scoop of ice cream into her own bowl.
“Did you cry?”
“No.” Scarlet added another scoop to the first.
“Did he cry?”
Scarlet glared at Heather. “No.”
Heather shook her head. “You’re insane.”
Three scoops. Scarlet lifted a brow. “For not crying?”
“No. For dumping a hot, immortal boy.” Heather eyed Scarlet’s tower of ice cream.
Scarlet sank the ice cream scooper into the tub of frozen goodness before her again.
“You were right.” Scarlet dropped a fourth scoop into her bowl and put the ice cream scooper down. “My relationship with Gabriel couldn’t be real with the curse hanging over us and I don’t want to date someone whose heart isn’t completely their own.” Scarlet shrugged. “So Gabriel and I aren’t dating. We’re going to be friends. It will be better this way.”
Heather picked the scooper back up and removed two scoops from Scarlet’s bowl, plopping them back into the ice cream tub.
“What are you doing?” Scarlet asked.
Heather licked ice cream off her finger. “If you keep eating ice cream by the quart, you’re going to die of heart failure unrelated to any curse.”
Keeping her eyes on Heather, Scarlet found the ice cream scooper again and re-scooped the cold deliciousness back into her bowl.
Heather raised a brow before grabbing a spoon and sinking into her treat. “I still think you’re crazy for breaking up with him. Now, every girl at school is going to be all over him and you’re going to be super jealous.”
Scarlet put the ice cream away and thought about other girls hitting on Gabriel. Kristy Stevens came to mind.
“No. I’m going to be mature about this whole thing,” Scarlet said. “I’m going to be Gabriel’s mature and not-jealous ex-girlfriend.”
“Right.” Heather nodded sarcastically.
Scarlet could be mature about her breakup with Gabriel.
She would be mature.
***************
Sunday morning Gabriel waited as everyone met at the cabin per Nate’s instructions. Scarlet and Heather stood by the couch in silence, while Gabriel stood by the fireplace waiting for Nate.
Heather was tapping her nails on the back of the couch and Scarlet was keeping her eyes fixed on the floor.
Breakups were awkward.
Gabriel could feel the tension in the room and he hated it. He didn’t want Scarlet to feel uncomfortable around him, but he didn’t want to walk over and give her a makeup hug, either.
Nate finally came down stairs, holding the map in his hand. He was wearing earmuffs. The replacement window still had not come, and Gabriel was starting to think it never would.
Carefully setting the map on the living room coffee table, Nate said, “We have a problem.”
Everyone stared at the map.
Gabriel asked, “What’s wrong?”
Nate ran both hands through his hair. “We have no starting point. I’ve studied this thing for days and I still can’t figure out where the map begins.” He tugged on the Superman sweatshirt he wore. “It could be that we’re missing a piece of the map.” He pointed to the ripped edge of the drawing. “Or maybe not. I don’t know. But without a starting place, the map is useless.”
Gabriel stared at the map on the coffee table, looking for something that could tell them where to begin.
Maybe an ‘X’. Or a door. Or an arrow with the words START HERE on it.
But no such luck.
Nate said, “It would help if we had a really old map of Avalon and the outer forest. Maybe an old hiking map or a map of the first city plans. We need something that we can compare to the geographical clues on Scarlet’s map.” He paused and looked at Heather. “I think we should go back to Mr. Brooks’ cellar.”
Heather nodded. “Okay. I’ll talk to Mr. Brooks and see when we can come back. If at all.” She glared at Scarlet and whispered, “Thief.”
Scarlet rolled her eyes.
And her eyes accidentally landed on Gabriel.
They stared at each other for an awkward moment.
Yep. Breakups sucked.
41
Scarlet’s first opportunity to act “mature” about her breakup with Gabriel came on Monday morning.
It didn’t go well.
The first thing Scarlet noticed when she entered the school halls, was the ridiculous amount of attention Gabriel received as he gathered things from his locker. Girls were stopped in the halls, staring at him like they were hunters and he was their prey.
Apparently, word was out.
Scarlet entered chemistry and headed for her seat with her eyes turned away from Kristy.
“Good morning, Scarlet.” Kristy’s voice was extra cheerful. “How are you today?”
Scarlet sat down and opened her chemistry book. She tried to sound normal. “Fine.”
“Are you sure?” Kristy leaned over with big, innocent eyes. “Tough weekend?”
Scarlet looked at her and shrugged. “Not really. I just hung out with Heather.”
Kristy nodded in a pseudo-understanding way. “And got dumped by Gabriel?”
Scarlet lifted her eyebrows. Dumped?
“Gabriel and I broke up, yes.” Scarlet ga
ve a single nod. “But we’re cool.”
And I’m mature.
Kristy pouted her over-sized, glossy lips. “I’m so sorry things didn’t work out,” she lied. “I thought you guys were—what did you call it?—on fire?” To Kristy’s credit, she managed to keep a straight face as the sentence slid from her tongue.
But Scarlet saw the mocking glint in her eyes and briefly contemplated slamming her chemistry book into Kristy’s abdomen.
But she didn’t. Because she was mature.
Scarlet shrugged. “It just didn’t work out.”
Chocolate wafted into her nose and Scarlet turned to see Aaron leaning against the side of her lab table.
What did he do, eat M&Ms for breakfast?
He was so close to her, his hip brushed against her ribcage. It was like he didn’t understand personal space at all.
“I hear you’re single now.” Aaron gave a white-toothed smile and tossed his hair.
“Where did you hear that?” Scarlet cocked her head, hoping to find the leak.
He pulled his stool over and sat down. “A little bird told me.”
Why did people use that saying? Little birds didn’t talk. They chirped. And, unless Aaron spoke bird, he certainly wasn’t deciphering any bird chirpings.
“Now that you’re free,” Aaron said, “you can go to the town fair with me.” His eyes traced down Scarlet’s face and neck, and then lower. She wanted to slap him.
No, she wanted to punch him. Hard.
But she didn’t. Because she was mature.
“So, what do you say?” Aaron eyes returned to her face.
“I say no.”
Aaron’s lips parted. “Why not? I have a new car. I can drive you.”
Right. Because transportation was Scarlet’s biggest turn on.
Scarlet said, “I don’t do fairs. Or festivals.”
Aaron gave a cocky smile. “What do you do?”
She was starting to hate Aaron.
Scarlet imagined Gabriel beating Aaron up. He’d throw him to the floor and make him beg for mercy for being such a jerk.
But then Scarlet imagined Tristan beating Aaron up, and the visual was much more satisfying. Because Tristan wouldn’t give Aaron a chance to beg for mercy. He’d just rip him apart without question.
Scarlet blinked. Why was she envisioning Tristan beating anyone up on her behalf?
She had problems.
Narrowing her eyes, Scarlet said, “Not you.”
Kristy snickered beside her and Aaron tossed his hair again.
He stood from his stool. “You’re making a big mistake, Scarlet.”
I doubt it.
Scarlet didn’t look at him as he dragged his stool back to his own lab table.
“You should be nicer to Aaron,” Kristy said in a sticky voice beside her. “He might be the only attractive boy left in this school that wouldn’t mind being with you. Even if you have no fire.” Her smile was poisonous.
Scarlet turned her head and stared at Kristy. “You suck.”
Kristy raised her brows as her mouth fell open.
Okay, so maybe Scarlet wasn’t mature after all.
After chemistry, Scarlet headed to her locker without making eye contact with any of her fellow students.
“Hey.” Heather came up to Scarlet as soon as she reached her locker. “How’s it going today?”
From the look on Heather’s face, she already knew how it was going.
Scarlet eyed Heather sharply. “You wouldn’t by any chance know why everyone at school knows about the breakup, would you?”
Heather made a face. “I might have said something to Clare about it yesterday at work?”
Scarlet’s mouth dropped open. “You told your boss? Why would you do that?”
Heather shrugged. “Because Clare is cool, and she’s the only person I have to talk to at work. You can’t just expect me to work six-hour shifts and not chat about my life. That would be insane.”
Scarlet sighed in frustration. “But you were chatting about my life.” She leaned her forehead against her locker.
“I’m so sorry, Scarlet.” Heather looked genuinely upset. “I didn’t know other people were around when I told Clare.”
Scarlet pulled her head up and straightened her shoulders. “It’s okay. People were going to find out anyway. I just wasn’t ready for a Kristy/Aaron attack this morning. That’s all.”
Heather wrinkled her face. “Want me to beat up Kristy for you? Because I will. I will pull her hair and break her nails and smudge her eyeliner.”
“As hardcore as that sounds, I think I’ll pass.”
Just then, Scarlet saw Kristy approaching Gabriel at his locker a few feet away.
“Hi Gabriel.” Kristy pressed her schoolbooks against her stomach, making her chest rise and stick out. “I was just looking over our new history assignment and it looks like we’ll all need partners.” She took a step closer. “Wanna be my partner?”
Gabriel looked at her for a moment, his eyes scanning her face.
If Gabriel agreed to be Kristy’s history partner, Scarlet was going to smack him. And maybe egg his car.
Maturity was overrated.
“Sorry, Kristy,” Gabriel said. “I already have a partner for the assignment.”
“You do?” Kristy looked hurt. “Who?”
“Heather.” Gabriel shrugged and turned to his locker, silently dismissing Kristy.
From the corner of her eye, Scarlet saw Heather’s jaw drop.
Once Kristy walked away from Gabriel. Heather grabbed Scarlet’s arm and dragged her over to Gabriel’s locker with her.
“Um…excuse me? We’re history partners now?” Heather flicked a wrist at Gabriel. “Were you going to tell me about this, or was I going to find out about it during our final presentation?”
Gabriel sighed. “Sorry. I needed an excuse not to work with Kristy. Her voice drives me crazy.”
“And I was the best excuse you had?”
“What’s the big deal?” Gabriel looked exhausted. “So, we’re partners. Who cares?”
“I do,” Heather said. “I was going to ask Derek Winters to be my partner.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Derek Winters thinks the Boston Tea Party was what the Mad Hatter had in Alice in Wonderland.”
Heather blinked a few times. “Okay, so he’s not the smartest guy in school. But he’s hot. And I need a date to the town fair.”
“Why does everyone take dates to this fair?” Scarlet asked. “It’s so weird.”
“It’s tradition.” Heather looked at Scarlet, then pointed at Gabriel. “We better get an A plus plus on our project or I’m going to throw a fit.”
Gabriel gave her a crooked smile. “Like you’re doing right now?”
“Precisely.” Heather turned to Scarlet. “See you at lunch.” Then she walked away, leaving Scarlet and Gabriel standing alone. Together.
Scarlet looked at her shoes.
“So…” Gabriel said.
“Yeah.” Scarlet bit the inside of her cheek.
It wasn’t uncomfortable between them. But it was weirdly quiet.
Aaron walked past them and wagged his eyebrows at Scarlet.
Now it was uncomfortable.
Great.
42
Three weeks after the engagement announcement, Scarlet sat at the large table in the dining hall with Gabriel. Guards stood at every door and servants brought endless platters of cheese and meat.
After years of hunting and foraging for her food, Scarlet was uncomfortable being waited on at a fine table with glass goblets and large plates.
She had been raised in wealth, and was familiar with having servants and fine meals, but she still felt terribly out of place. She did not belong in a castle or at a table covered in meat.
She belonged in the trees. She belonged with Tristan.
“How did you sleep?” Gabriel asked with a smile.
Scarlet bowed respectfully. “Well, my lord.”
> She had spent her first week in the castle angry at Tristan for handing her off to his brother. She’d spent the second week crying because she missed Tristan. And she spent last week plotting how to postpone her marriage to Gabriel until Tristan returned. If Tristan thought she was going to marry his brother, he was mad.
Gabriel looked around at the servants. “Thank you for our meal. We shall dine alone now.”
Bowing heads and shuffling feet made their way out of the hall, leaving only a single guard posted at the door.
“Tennius.” Gabriel looked at the guard. “We shall dine alone.”
The guard seemed perturbed, but left the room and closed the door behind him.
When it was just she and Gabriel, Scarlet took a moment to really look at him. He was identical to Tristan, right down to their perfectly placed dimples and square jaws but, somehow, Gabriel looked nothing like Tristan.
For a few minutes, neither of them spoke or ate. They simply sat.
“I’m sorry to hear your mother is ill,” he said sincerely, his voice echoing in the tall room. “We have our best healers with her.”
The healers weren’t helping at all, but Scarlet nodded anyway. “Thank you, my lord.”
Scarlet’s mother was getting worse. She was slowly becoming mad and had a fever no one could soothe. Although Scarlet spent every hour with her, trying to ease her torment, she knew her mother would die soon. And the thought made her stomach hurt. She did not know how to be herself without her mother. Without Tristan.
Gabriel took a deep breath. “How are you settling in the castle?”
“Well,” she lied. The castle was foreign and cold. She was already weary of playing countess.
An uncomfortable silence fell. Scarlet cleared her throat. “I am sorry for the obligation you have to me.” She had said it to be polite, but as the words came out of her mouth she realized how very true they were. She was sorry for Gabriel. He did not know her. He did not love her. Yet, he had agreed to marry her.
For Tristan.
Gabriel smiled at her. “I am not sorry. I have the privilege of honoring my brother with the company of a beautiful woman. If anything, I am sorry for you.”
Scarlet pressed a smile to her face. “You are kind.”
