Cade’s magic buzzed through him as Poppy swung a dagger at his throat. He blocked it with his sword, twisting her dagger away from his face.

Ever since he inhaled Scarlett’s pain during the ritual, power surged through Cade. Her emotion had always been delicious, but with the added effect of the ritual, it was the most delectable thing he’d ever tasted.

Poppy sliced at Cade’s stomach. His sword clinked against her dagger. She swiped her other dagger at his neck, stopping before she severed his jugular.

How was she such a good fighter? With magic blazing through him, he thought he’d have an advantage. Apparently not.

“You’re getting better, but your sword is still too slow.” Poppy retracted her blade. “You should practice with the bow and arrow.”

Cade groaned. He’d always hated the bow. “The sword might be slow, but with a bow and arrow Raith would defeat me in mere seconds.”

“Not for the battle,” Poppy snapped. “For The Hunt.”

Right, The Hunt. Cade would have the pleasure of chasing down a boar. He couldn’t contain his excitement.

As Cade shot arrows across the room at a target, missing nearly every time, Poppy gave him some tips. “The boar will be drawn to the creek, so if you find the water, follow it.”

“Got it.” Another miss, but at least this one was respectably close.

“What’s going on with this human girl you’ve brought here?” It was the first time Poppy mentioned Scarlett.

“She refills my magic.”

But it was more than that. Sure, the main benefit to Scarlett was the ecstasy of magic she filled Cade with, but something else about her soothed him. He hadn’t felt as relaxed as he did the other day when he took her to the beach behind the castle in years. Maybe ever.

Duty. It was the pressure he’d felt his whole life. He was a prince—with certain expectations heaped upon him at birth. His older brother flew through life on a careless wind, but Cade wanted his people to respect him. Most of all, he didn’t want to disappoint his mother.

“And that’s all?” Poppy asked.

Cade shrugged. He shot another arrow, this time through the target’s center. “That’s the most important part.”

A flicker of curiosity shot through Poppy’s eyes, but she didn’t ask any more questions about Scarlett. Instead, she brought up Raith. “And what’s the story behind you and your brother?”

“What story?”

“You seem...distant.”

Cade chuckled. “You’re quite the observant one.”

“He’s going to try to get into your head,” Poppy said. “During the battle.”

Raith would try. He always tried to stir Cade up. But Cade would keep his focus and show his brother just how powerful he had become.

Things weren’t always bad with Scarlett’s mom. In her lucid moments, her mom was her best friend. Someone she could go to about anything, no matter how embarrassing or taboo it was.

After Scarlett broke things off with Teddy, she was a mess. She spent the entire weekend in her bed, unable to eat or drink more than just a sip of water here and there. It was pathetic, really, because Scarlett was the one who broke up with him. But it wasn’t because Teddy wasn’t great—he was too wonderful. Scarlett was a mess when it came to guys. She didn’t want to brush her curse onto Teddy.

On Monday morning, despite feeling like a zombie as Scarlett went through the motions of getting ready for school, her mom barged into her room and told her it was a sick day for them both. She told Scarlett to put her pajamas back on and come out to the living room.

Her mom made French toast for breakfast, with strawberries and syrup and whipped cream. “Breakups require lots of sugar,” she told Scarlett. They made themselves comfortable on the couch, Scarlett wrapped up in her favorite hot pink fleece blanket, and spent the morning watching soap operas and mocking the sheer cheesiness of them.

Afterward, Scarlett’s mom asked her what had happened.

Scarlett told her she was too afraid to ruin something good, so she broke it off before anything amazing could happen.

Scarlett’s mom pulled her into a hug. “My girl, you aren’t damaged goods. Not at all. Any guy would be lucky to have you, no matter how it all turned out. You can’t worry about the future like that.”

Scarlett squeezed her mom, thankful for a normal mother-daughter moment. Despite the unpredictably of Scarlett’s mom, she loved her more than anything.

“Now, it’s chick flick time.” Her mom switched the TV to Netflix and they browsed the romantic comedy section until they agreed on a movie.

Maybe things were looking up. Her mom had been stable for a while.

Scarlett’s hope was shattered a week later when she came home and found her mom on the floor.