I stepped toward the window, avoiding his gaze. “I would have dealt with Acacia. I would have defeated her somehow.”
His lips brushed against my nape as he whispered, “Is that what you really think?”
Slowly, I turned around, my hips flush against his. “I have to, don’t I? When we get to the palace for the final competition, you won’t be able to protect me every second. I have to stand on my own two feet.”
His throat bobbed up and down. “The thought of losing you…” He inhaled deeply. “I don’t think I could bear it.”
I forced my lips into a smile. “Then let’s make sure it doesn’t come to that.”
His lips crashed against mine, his tongue pushing my mouth open, circling my tongue. I melted into the kiss, disappointed when he pulled away much too soon. “We banished Acacia. We could leave, go somewhere else. You don’t have to face Madam.”
I shook my head. “Yes, I do. She has the queen. She’ll use her to bring the king down to his knees. I can’t leave them to their own devices. They are my family, even if I barely know them, and Arcadia is my home. I can’t leave.”
Lorenzo sighed. “I thought you’d say that, but can you blame me for trying? Whatever lies ahead of us won’t be easy, and there’s a good chance we won’t survive it.”
He was right. Tonight might be our last time together, and I’d be darned if I didn’t make it count. My hands came around his neck, and I pulled his mouth down to mine. As I kissed him hungrily, drinking in his tongue as if were air, I wrapped my leg around his hip, pushing my body against his. Lorenzo’s response was instant. His hands explored my curves in a tantalizing motion that set every inch of my skin alight in the most pleasant of ways while desire gathered inside me. I pushed him back step by step until he sat down on his bed, and I sat astride him. Tonight was all about us. Our worries and our fears could wait. Tonight was about love.
One by one, our pieces of clothing came off. We pulled our shirts over our heads. I pressed my palms against the hard planes of his chest while he caressed my stomach. His lips trailed kisses from my collarbone to my hips.
His fingers paused at my bra straps. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I want this.”
I felt beautiful the way Lorenzo looked at me, longing and gentleness in his gaze. He lay me down on the bed, lying next to me, and continued kissing me as we explored each His touch was heaven. In his arms, I was safe.
He brought his face down to mine. “Halia.”
“Mmhh.”
“I’m falling in love with you.”
My breath hitched, and I opened my mouth, but he continued. “We have known each other for only a short time, but I’ve never felt around anyone the way I do with you. You’re special. You’re my person.”
Tears stung my eyes. Home, I had finally found my home. “And you’re my person.” I bit my lip. “As scary as it is, I’m falling in love with you too.”
His face lit up with happiness, and I pulled him down to me, sealing our words with a kiss. At first, the kiss was sweet, but soon, it turned passionate. Everything around me exploded into a thousand beautiful stars
Twenty minutes later, I was completely spent, every muscle in my body a gooey mess.
I yawned. “We need to plan for the competition.”
“Shh. That can wait. Rest now.”
I fell into a deep, sweet sleep. At least, it was sweet for a while…
Lorenzo, Tia, and Mikka were running next to me through a field filled with thousands of different blooms and gorgeous butterflies with all kind of wing patterns. The heady scent of lilies and roses filled my nose. I made a flower crown of carnations and twirled in a circle until I dropped to the ground, the grass pricking my body.
Lorenzo threw down a blanket on the ground, and Mikka produced a delicious spread of tiny sandwiches with lobster, smoked salmon, and even caviar. Tia popped open the champagne. She poured me a crystal glass of the sparkly goodness, and I moaned as I gulped down a mouthful of the acidic bubbles. It was so good, I couldn’t stop myself from finishing the whole glass.
“That’s right, drink up,” Tia whispered in a strange voice.
I emptied the glass and put it down on the blanket only to find it was gone. I looked up. Lorenzo, Tia, and Mikka were gone too. The flowers around me were rotting away, and the butterflies were turning into nasty brown bugs and spiders. I jumped to my feet, searching for my friends. “Lorenzo, Tia, Mikka, where are you?”
There was no response. I broke into a run. The field turned into a thick forest, and wolves howled nearby. The more I sprinted, the more confused I got. Carelessly, I tripped over a root and fell forward, scuffing my elbows and knees.
“Ouch!” Tears spilled down my cheeks. “Lorenzo! Tia! Mikka! Why did you leave me?”
“They’re done with you,” a vicious voice whispered. Where had it come from? There was no one around me.
I rose to my feet, brushing off the mulch and leaves stuck to my clothes. There had to be a way out of the forest. I needed to think, focus.
“You’re trapped. You’ll never escape.”
“Go away!” I yelled at the pesky voice and pumped my legs. No matter how fast I went, there was no end to the forest. With my chest heaving and my side stitch killing me, I sank to the ground. A spider scuttled over me, and a snake slithered by. What was this nightmare? How could everything have gone so badly all of a sudden?
I paused. A nightmare. I was trapped in a nightmare. I needed to wake up. I pinched my arm, then slapped myself across the cheek. When that didn’t produce the desired effect, I rolled around the ground, hoping I would fall out of bed. Instead, all I got was mud stuck to my hair and skin.
Why wasn’t I waking up?
A voice cackled. “You’ll never be a match for me, child.”
Acacia. But no, it couldn’t be her. The magic contract was binding. She had to stay away from me. At least in the real world. But this wasn’t real. This was a dream.
“Acacia, leave me alone!” No response. She had promised not to harm me, so how had she managed to trap me in this nightmare? I had heard that some people purchased sweet dreams from the faes, which meant they could create nightmares, but how did Acacia get to me? She had been forced to leave Arcadia.
I gulped hard as I remembered the storage supply in the opera house. It had magic potions. Acacia didn’t take them with her. They were still there. Madam. Oh, god, no. Madam would finish what Acacia had begun. If she had somehow witnessed any of my exchange with Acacia, Madam knew that I was the queen’s adopted daughter.
Something huge advanced toward me. A panther.
I tried to stay calm. “Good kitty.” The beast pounced at me, and with a yelp, I darted away.
This was not real. I needed to fight this dark magic.
I opened my mouth and sang, “Leave me alone.” Or rather, I tried to because no sound came out. I tried again. Nothing. Where had my voice gone? The massive feline pounced again, its claws swiping for my throat. I jumped to the side. Again and again. I was getting winded while the panther seemed to enjoy itself. I couldn’t keep this up. I grabbed a branch and heaved myself upward, cursing that I had never worked to strengthen my muscles. Every climb was hell, my arms protesting, my skin chafing at the rough bark. A claw swiped my leg. Pain exploded through me, and hot blood ran down my pant leg. I jerked my bleeding leg upward. The panther jumped and jumped, but I was too high.
Before I could relax, there was a caw, and a raven dived for my head. Its beak took a bite out of my scalp. Another raven ripped a strand of hair out.
“Stop it, stop it,” I mouthed. More birds dived for me while the panther sat under the tree, waiting for me to fall into its jaws.
I cursed and gritted my teeth. “Stay away!” My voice was but a croak. There had to be something else I could do. The iron dagger. I reached for my weapons belt and almost cried when I found that I was wearing it, and the blade was in its sheath. I faced the next bird that dived for me and stabbe
d it. It burst into a thousand black particles.
“Your darn dream is finished, Acacia. It has no power over me.” I leaped off the branch, angling my dagger straight for the panther’s chest. I gripped the blade hard as it went through tissue, fat, and muscle. The feline mewled, and then it too exploded into a thousand black particles.
I expected the nightmare to dissolve, but instead, a crystalline laugh shook the ground, and Acacia’s voice said, “Well done. I hoped you’d solve this first part, so we could really play.”
“What do you mean?” There was no response. The forest dissolved and turned into a grassy field, but I felt no relief, only foreboding. Then I spotted him. Lorenzo was sitting on the blanket all by himself, staring into space. I pumped my legs, running toward him. At first, it seemed that I would never reach him, and I wondered if that was the next illusion, but then, I was next to him. He glanced at me, confusion in his gaze.
I dropped to my knees. “Lorenzo, are you all right?”
He grabbed my neck and pulled me down. “Fine, now that I have you.”
“Lorenzo, you’re hurting me,” I breathed, trying without any success to pry his fingers off me.
“I hate you!” He threw me backward, and I landed with a hard thump on my back, pain reverberating through me, my heartbreaking.
“No! You care about me. You said you—”
“It was a lie.”
Tears entered my eyes, but I swallowed them. I didn’t have the luxury of breaking down. No matter how much this looked like my Lorenzo, I needed to remind myself that this wasn’t him, but only a figment of my nightmare.
Lorenzo drew his dagger and advanced toward me.
“Put it down.” I unsheathed my own dagger halfheartedly, knowing I could never use it against him.
“Do you know that you’ll die in real life if you die in a dream?” Acacia’s voice reverberated through the empty field.
“Liar!” A shaking seized my body. “Stop it,” I sang. But while I had my voice this time, it didn’t stop Lorenzo brandishing the dagger at me. Dodging his swipes, I danced back until I was against a tree. The next time he lunged, the dagger got stuck in the tree. I could’ve struck him while he tried to pull it out, but I chose love over hate. I grabbed his shirt and pulled his face toward me. My kiss was fierce as I claimed him. His features relaxed as I broke the murderous spell that had captured him. I thought this was it, but then he dissolved right under my mouth and fingers into nothing.
“Seems like you always hurt the ones you love.”
I whipped around to find Tia behind me, her arms crossed. “I hate you. I wish I’d never met you. You ruined my life.”
My heart broke all over again. “I didn’t mean to.”
Tia ran at me and tackled me to the ground. I expected her to choke me, but instead, she pinned my hands above my head and snarled, spit flying on my cheek, “You are worthless. Nobody cares about you!”
“You don’t mean that.”
She let out a cruel laugh. “Both your birth and adoptive parents couldn’t stand you. Both gave you up.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Lorenzo was just nice to you because he wanted to get into your pants.”
“He cares about me—”
“Sure, the way one cares about an object. The way Victor cared about you.” Her nails dug into my wrists. “You’re nothing. You’re no one.”
I fought her words, fought the pain they inflicted. “Shut up!” I slammed my hips upward, and her eyes widened in surprise as she fell off me. “Shut up! I don’t care about your or anyone’s opinion! I’m my own person! I know my own worth!”
My friend disappeared. Acacia slinked toward me, her silver robes brushing the ground. “Poor little Halia, scaring away all her friends and loved ones.”
I gripped her hands, the way she used to hold mine when she siphoned off emotions from me, and sing-yelled, “Release me!” My voice crescendoed, and my ears rang as I hit the highest note. Acacia fractured as if she were made of glass, her mouth gaping in shock.
Then there was nothing left but darkness.
“Halia, Halia, wake up!”
I opened my heavy eyelids to find Lorenzo leaning above me. Behind him stood Tia and Mikka. All three were staring at me with concern, and something cold and wet was on my forehead. I shoved off the wet rag and sat up, pulling the sheet high around my chest since I was naked.
“Are you all right?” Lorenzo took my face between his palms. “None of us could wake you up.”
I rubbed my temples. “I was trapped in a nightmare by Acacia.”
Tia grabbed my hand. “I thought you banished her.”
I nodded. “Madam or somebody else must’ve discovered the potions Acacia left behind.”
“But how did she get in here? How did she administer the potion?” Mikka asked.
Lorenzo cursed and paced up and down the room. “Somebody must’ve snuck in and given the potion to Halia when she was asleep.”
I pulled my knees up to my chest,. Somebody had slipped into the bedroom while I had been asleep, naked, and vulnerable and slipped me a draught.
“I shouldn’t have left you alone.” Lorenzo ran a hand through his silver hair as if he wanted to rip it out.
I shook my head. “Madam would’ve found another way to attack me. She must’ve been hiding somewhere in the opera house when we fought Acacia. She probably overheard all or, at least part, of our conversation. She knows who I am, and she’s out for my blood.”
“I’ll go over there right now and rip off her head,” Lorenzo snarled.
“No. She’ll be ready for a counterattack.”
Lorenzo glared. “So, what do you suggest that we do, nothing?”
I smiled. “Quite the contrary. You, Tia, and Mikka go everywhere in Arcadia, spreading the rumor that I’m not waking up, that I’m dying.”
Lorenzo took my hand, his violet-green eyes serious. “I’m not leaving you alone.”
“At least, let Tia and Mikka go. Then tomorrow, I’ll slip into the palace with the other spectators, giving the Fontaine sisters and their mother the surprise of their lives when I suddenly show up on stage.”
Lorenzo pressed his lips against my temple. “I love you.” I blinked at him, and he cleared his throat, then chuckled. “I did not plan to say that. By Lucifer, you, Halia Bright, do things to me no one has ever done.”
“I think we’ll give you two lovebirds a moment alone.” Tia pushed Mikka to the door.
“Wait!” I looked at Tia. “Can I have a word with you first?”
Tia nodded. Mikka and Lorenzo exited, understanding that I needed to have some alone time with my friend. Feeling exposed, I quickly pulled a shirt over my head, then patted the bed. Tia sank down onto it, not quite meeting my gaze.
“I’m sorry.” I reached out but didn’t dare to touch her hand. “If I could, I would go back in time and change everything, make sure Acacia never got her claws on you.”
“I know,” Tia whispered.
I was terrified to ask, but I needed to hear her answer to the questions running on repeat through my head. “What did they do to you? Tell me everything.”
Tia cleared her throat, rubbing a worn-down patch on her jeans. “I was snatched immediately after I dropped off the note to you in prison. They were very quick. They grabbed me and threw me into a carriage where they pulled a sack over my head that muffled my screams and bound my hands and feet.”
Those bastards. I dug my nails into my palms.
“They took me out of the city. I could tell because our surroundings grew quieter. There were so many turns, I knew it’d be difficult to find my way back after I managed to free myself.”
My brave friend, never giving up.
“Finally, we arrived. I was dragged from the carriage and thrown into a room. It was a cottage.” Finally, she glanced at me. “There were lots of people. Mikka said you rescued them.”
I shivered, remembering the apathy, the empty face
s. “They were completely out of it. I had to compel them to get them back to Arcadia.”
Her hand trembled. “When they drain your magic, it does something to you.”
I leaned forward, taking her cold hand in my warm one. “Did they take your magic?”
She was silent for a long moment, and I worried I was pushing her too hard. Yes, I needed to know what she had been through, but I didn’t want her to relieve the trauma. “They tried. Mikka said they couldn’t take all of it, that the mating bond protected me.”
I let out a breath of relief. When Tia met my eyes, her gaze was stormy. “Mikka said it could take those other people decades to reclaim back a sense of hope, a joy for life. She said that at least half of them will attempt suicide.”
My throat locked up. “I wish I’d found them earlier.”
Tia’s hand jerked involuntarily, and she put her other hand above it. “According to Mikka, I’ll be fine in weeks or months.”
“I’m sorry,” I repeated, worthlessness and helplessness drowning me.
“I fought Acacia, so she separated me from the others and left my chains on.”
In that moment, I wished Acacia hadn’t been banished so that I could give her a good beating.
“She was surprised I was fighting back even after the first two days. The next day, Madam arrived by carriage, and Acacia suggested I should be moved to a more secure location. They fought. Madam didn’t want me moved, but Acacia won in the end. I don’t know what she said to convince Madam. They threw me back into the carriage. I could tell they were taking me somewhere into the city center due to all the city’s sounds, but I had no idea it was the opera house until you and Lorenzo showed up. To think that I was only a boat ride away…” Tears were in her eyes, and she furiously wiped at them.
“It’s all right. Let it out.” I could at least do that for Tia, let her grieve.
She sobbed, once, twice, then pulled herself together, never one to feel comfortable with emotions. “I had no idea how long I’d be there.”
Four days. I had let those bastards torture her for four days.
“Madam came a few times with Acacia. Madam watched me like a hawk while Acacia fed me and gave me some water before locking me back into the closet.” Tia rubbed her wrists as if she could still feel the bindings. “I thought they kept me alive to make a deal with you, but they never talked to me about you.”
Halia: Daughter of Cinderella Page 32
