chapter twelve
PHILLIP
I didn’t give her time to think or change her mind. I gathered her into my arms and melded my lips to hers, swiping my tongue across hers. She mewled and fisted the front of my shirt, pulling me closer, then her fingers raked through my hair and over my scalp and it was my turn to growl. Pressed tight against my body, she tasted sweet, dark, and magical. I knew in that moment, I was hers.
I’d been hers since I saw her hovering over her bed, if I was being honest with myself, and I didn’t understand it. I’d been brought up to fear her kind, but she wasn’t anything like father or the priests said. Luna was fierce, brave, and kind, and God, she was beautiful. I didn’t want to ever stop kissing her.
Her lips were sweet. My hands found the curves of her waist and hips, tightening on them possessively. She pulled away slowly, her eyes warily taking me in. Did she already regret the kiss, or did she want another?
I placed a chaste kiss on her cheek to erase the fae’s other mark and the crescent faded away, leaving only pale skin behind.
“We should go inside,” she said breathlessly, pushing her hair behind her ears.
I took up the dragon egg and followed her into the cottage. In the candlelight, Luna was glowing. I reached out my hand to raise her chin. “The marks are gone,” I marveled.
“You erased them,” she said simply.
It was my turn to gloat. “Of course I did.”
Luna smiled and walked back onto the porch. “Will you put the egg in my spell room?”
With those words, the locks slid open and the door parted. I sat the egg on the counter, careful to set things all around it so it didn’t roll away and break on the floor. The last thing I wanted was to go near a dragon ever again.
I joined Luna on the porch. The moonflowers blooming all around it seemed to grow as she outstretched her hands. “One more ingredient before dawn. Think we can do it?” she asked.
“I have no doubt in you, Luna.”
And I didn’t. If she could outrun a dragon, comfort a wolf while she removed his eye, and capture a ghost, the woman could do anything.
She smiled sadly. “You’d be the first.”
She was the dark witch. She’d invented her reputation to keep people away, but she did it to keep them safe from her, even though she wasn’t a danger to anyone but her sister.
She must be so lonely.
She was desperate to stop Aura, isolated from the world she once knew, and yet brave enough to face her fears. She knew her own demons well enough to keep them at bay. Luna was unapologetically who she was; darkness illuminated in pale light, kindness cloaked in snark, cold at times, but with a warmth bubbling beneath the frosted surface.
She was beautiful anger, an unabashedly wild thing living in the heart of the forest.
And while I ached for her because of her isolation, I was thankful for it at the same time. Because if anyone would take the time to peel back the layers of her, they would fall in love with her the same way I did. And where would that leave me in a long line of heart-crushed suitors?
I pinched my eyes closed.
She and I could never work. We were from two different worlds.
My father and mother needed me.
My Kingdom needed me.
She jogged down the steps and took up her broom. “Are you ready to fly?”
“Need you ask?” I teased.
But then my stomach sank. “What are we retrieving?”
“Another eye. This one from a blind person.”
I opened my mouth, unable to form words.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “I don’t feel as guilty about this one. It’s not like the person will need it.”
Callous. She was absolutely callous at times.
She sat on her broom and I joined her. I shook my head, held her waist, and we took off into the sky.
LUNA
As the blind man slept deeply under my spell, I took his eye. It was like I told Phillip. He didn’t need it. His vision had already failed him, and now it would keep my sister blind to my approach.
At his side, I placed a pouch full of all the coin he would ever need if he used it wisely. I slipped into the shadows and found Phillip waiting in the darkness for me.
He raked a hand through his sandy hair. “Did you get it?”
“Yeah.”
He cringed a little. Inwardly, so did I, but I had to have the eye.
The sky was lightening overhead. We would be pushing our luck to go after another item. Best to save it for tomorrow.
“Where to next?” he asked.
“Home. Dawn will be here fast. We’ll retrieve the rest over the next few nights.”
“And then? What happens when you have all the ingredients? You cook everything up and go feed it to Aura?”
I wished it were that simple. And he wasn’t going to like what I had to do next. “I have to take the ingredients to Malex.”
Prince Phillip muttered a curse that would make a normal female blush.
He tore at his hair again. “You have to be kidding!”
Wincing, I shook my head. “I wish I were, but I need his help to make the spell.”
“Why do you need him?”
“Because he’s powerful.”
“He wants you,” he said.
I shook my head. “He wants something from me. He only pretends to want me.” That much had been clear from my visit to his cave. He watched my body, but didn’t ask for more than a couple of fairly chaste kisses. And those kisses weren’t romantic. He’d used them to gather information. Malex didn’t want me the way Phillip did. He wasn’t hungry for me in the same way.
Nor did I want him.
Kissing Phillip was a colossal mistake. Even if it was perfect, and even if I loved it. Even though it had been explosive in a way I didn’t expect, sending sparks from my scalp to my feet. The memory of Phillip erasing Malex’s mark from my skin was enough to send goosebumps over my body. However, the mere mention of Malex made Phillip cold.
The flight back to the cottage was silent. There were no warm whispers at my ear. His grip on my waist was tense and as harsh as the words he’d spewed when he found out that Malex had to help me.
If there were any other way, any other option, I would take it, but this was the only way I knew to take.
When we landed, Phillip wouldn’t look at me. He waited as I climbed off the broom and together, we walked to the cottage as the coming dawn began to paint a watercolor sky. “You said you’d tell me,” he said sternly.
A weight fell on my chest. I had promised, and I would tell him, but it would hurt. It would hurt me to relive it, but worse than that, it would hurt for him to imagine it. In the end, the truth might be the wedge that separated us.
Ember was waiting at the door. I sank onto the porch steps and waited until Ember came to me. I stroked her fur to thank her for keeping watch over the place, and to calm my nerves. Phillip settled beside me, arms braced on his knees.
“I want you to know this will be the most difficult thing you’ll ever hear, and I’m sorry.” I took a deep breath before continuing. “I’m sorry it happened, and equally as sorry that you have to hear it from me. But I’d rather it be me who tells you, than someone who will lie to you about the details. If you want this truth, I’ll give it to you, but I won’t be able to spin it into something lovely. There’s no other way to describe William’s death but tragic and brutal.”
“Very well,” he rasped, staring at the sky.
I cleared my throat. “As I started to tell you before, William and two of his men came to Virosa the spring before last. Eighteen months ago. He said he’d accidentally strayed onto our land and hunted from our forests. He said he came to apologize and ask if he could repay the debt. It was only a bear and a few stags, but William was upset that he’d taken them from us.”
Phillip turned to me, his brow furrowed.
“My sister and I forgave him. We thanked him for being forthcoming, and told him he was welcome to stay for as long as he liked. He was troubled. He wanted to make his father and Kingdom proud, but wasn’t ready to be King.
“He sent his men back home with their kills, but asked to stay with us for a few weeks to clear his head. During his stay, the three of us became close. William liked Virosa, and he liked my sister and me. During his stay, he learned of our strange... habits. And while he spent time with Aura during the day, he would often stay up late to speak with me at night.
“William and I had a special bond. While he said he only considered Aura to be a friend, he felt somewhat differently about me.”
Phillip stiffened beside me. “He fell in love with you.”
“Yes.”
“And you with him?”
“Yes,” I said softly.
“Aura discovered us. She told me she felt nothing for him at all, but she lied about her feelings for him. It turned out that when she uttered those words, she was testing me. She knew we were spending time together. She could smell our scents mingle. It was just before dawn when Aura woke and flew into a rage when she caught William kissing me goodnight.”
“How did she kill him?”
“I was weakening by the second.” I swallowed the tears clogging my throat, but couldn’t stop the ones that escaped my eyes. “Aura smiled this insanely bright smile, her lips red and teeth sparkling, but it wasn’t pretty. It was sinister. She suggested that we share him. I thought she meant that we could both spend time with him, but Aura was being literal. She backed us onto a balcony where her roses grew high up a trellis, and then she used the thorns to latch onto his arms and legs. The vines literally tore him in two, splitting him up the middle, and when he was halved...” I choked up, pausing a moment to regain my composure. “She told me to choose which half I wanted, and left me there with him as the sun rose. I tried to heal him, but couldn’t. That’s one power I don’t have. I was cut when I unraveled the thorns from his wrists and feet. The sun sealed the scars,” I said, motioning to my face.
Phillip was quiet. I sat with him until the sun began to rise and I began to slump over beneath its warmth. He carried me inside.
I reached out for him, grabbing his hand. “I’m sorry.”
“For loving him? Don’t be.”
“For not being able to save him. But I will get revenge for him. I promise.”
“I’m not sure I want you to take that risk, Luna. I’m not sure William was worth it.”
PHILLIP
The sun rose and Luna released a pent-up breath, slumping into my shoulder. I lifted her and took her inside to her bedroom, placing her on the mattress. Slowly, she rose and levitated above her bed as I eased the door mostly closed behind me. I needed to fix the hinge for her before I left.
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I leaned against the wall, a bundle of rosemary tickling my ear.
My brother never could have loved Luna. He was cold and calculating. The only person William cared about was William, but he could be charming when he wanted to be. It was an act, of course, but he was a very skilled actor. Or maybe not as good of one as he thought.
The spell room was open. I took her diary and settled by the fire, flipping through until I found the section about William’s arrival at the palace of Virosa...
We entertained an unexpected guest today. Prince William of Grithim. He is the first born son of King Edmund and Queen Catherine...
It was exactly as she’d told me. He showed up to apologize, acted like he was overwhelmed, so they offered him a room and to let him stay for a time, which he accepted. My stomach turned, wondering what my brother had done to them.
I flipped ahead.
William is nothing like I expected. He projects a proud and strong manner, but when we talk at night, he’s tender and understanding. He listens. He never interrupts and seems to want to know everything about me. Not that there’s much to tell. And he knows about the curse of sleep and about our parentage. Better yet, he doesn’t judge or hate us because of those things.
He doesn’t want to be King yet. He feels uneasy about being responsible for a kingdom and its people.
LIE. My brother loved the thought of being in control.
He told me I was beautiful. I told him that meant he thought Aura was, too, and while he didn’t deny it, William said that I had something my sister didn’t. When I asked what that was, he put his hand over my heart. I thought it would flutter away. No one’s ever looked at me the way he does. No one’s ever seen me before.
I’ve always been the afterthought. Aura is to be Queen. I am just here because I’m tethered to her. But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t live somewhere else, or be someone else. It’s silly, but I wonder if he could love me. If he might ask me to be his queen one day.
Ember jumped onto my lap and curled into a ball. I closed Luna’s journal, stroking the cat’s silky fur. She looked up at me and then closed her eyes. It had been a long night and she was right. We both needed rest. I closed my eyes.
Luna hovered over me, her long, dark hair spilling onto my chest as she smiled. I reached up to stroke her cheek. “God, you’re beautiful.”
“So are you,” she said with an ornery grin.
It was daylight. “How are you awake?”
“I’m not. We’re both dreaming. I can come into your dreams.”
“How?”
“It’s just a power I possess.”
I was damn glad she possessed it. We were in her bed. She moved to straddle my hips and found me aroused. Her eyes glittered, and then the familiar yellow-green turned blue, Luna’s hair turning from midnight to blonde. “Aura?” I gasped, trying to throw her off me.
She laughed. “You naughty prince. Thinking of my sister in such a lewd way. I should punish you.”
I couldn’t budge. My arms strained against whatever force she held me with.
“She didn’t tell you the whole truth about William, and I thought you might want to hear my side of the story. I know you got my note. Why didn’t you read it?”
“I don’t care about your version of the story.”
She smiled. “My sister already has you under her spell. I’m not sure how she does it. How she enthralls every man—every prince—who looks her way.”
A growl came from nearby and I looked up to see Luna staring at us, her fists clenched.
“What is this?” Luna seethed.
She was staring between me lying on the bed and her sister, straddling me. Aura eased off me and climbed off the bed, gliding toward her sister. “You seemed to like my gift. I merely wanted to make sure he was as good as I thought he would be.”
I sat up as Luna glanced from me to her sister and asked, “Gift?”
“Phillip, of course.” Aura smiled cruelly. “I sent him to you. He’s been my eyes and ears lately. And I know what you’re up to, but you and Malex won’t succeed. Even if you somehow manage to break our bond, we’ll be equally matched in power. You won’t be able to kill me.”
“We’ll see about that,” Luna said calmly.
“I was just about to show him a few memories. Would you like to watch with us?”
“Memories of what?” she asked.
Aura just laughed and waved her hand, and a scene appeared in the air. A scene with Aura and William, strolling through her garden.
“You like my sister?” Aura asked him.
William’s hands were folded casually behind his back. “She’s a nice girl.”
“Nice? You spend a lot of time with her while you should be sleeping to simply think she’s nice.”
“Are you jealous?”
“Of course not. I don’t have it in me to be jealous.”
“No, I suppose you don’t. You and I are cut from the same cloth,” he said. “But first borns, heirs, have to be. It’s why I like you, actually.”
She smiled, but didn’t give him any indication that she was smitten at all.
“You’ll break her heart if you toy with her,” Aura warned.
He stopped and cupped her arms, drawing Aura into his chest. “And what about yours?”
Her eyes locked on his and he bent to kiss her, but before their lips touched, she whispered, “I would have to have a heart in order for you to break it.”
William smiled and kissed Aura anyway.
I glanced at Luna, who was covering her mouth. “This is a lie!”
With a wave of Aura’s hand, the scene disappeared. “It isn’t. He pretended to love me, and he pretended to love you. But in the end, I learned of his plan. He was playing us. He only wanted Virosa.”
My mouth fell open. Of course. That was what he wanted. To take their kingdom. He couldn’t have married a half-fae princess. He was playing them against one another, thinking they would tear one another apart and he could swoop in and take the kingdom after they did. Father would have been so proud.
But it backfired. William played with fire and it burned him.
Aura waved her hand again.
A scene appeared of her and William passionately kissing, tearing at one another’s clothes. “I love you, Aura of Virosa,” he vowed, kissing a trail up her neck.
Aura simply smiled. She never said it back. She knew he didn’t mean it, didn’t she?
Luna erased the scene with a flick of her wrist and showed her own scene of William placing gentle kisses up the column of her neck. He breathed her in and smiled. “Moonflower. You smell of the moonflowers.” They stood on her balcony, the fresh vines of spring wrapping around the stone. Her nightgown fluttered in the breeze.
“Does Aura know that you’re coming home with me?” he asked.
“Not yet, but I’ll tell her soon.”
“In the morning. We should tell her in the morning. Together.”
Luna sank back into his chest. “Together.”
Aura laughed, erasing the image. “You think he was going to sweep you off to Grithim? He had no intention of doing so.”
“You know nothing.”
“I know he didn’t want either of us, and you’re a fool if you believed a word that came out of his mouth. But I’m growing tired of your constant attempts to make me miserable. First you bind me to the palace grounds, and now to the palace itself. Didn’t you know I can control the roses from my room? You received a token from everyone who entered my garden yesterday. Bethany and the others are dead because of you. If you would stop this feud and stop forcing me to take drastic measures, we could be civil.”
“You don’t know the meaning of civility!” Luna raged. “Everyone believes you’re perfect, but they have no idea what kind of monster you truly are. And I won’t stop. I don’t want to be bound to you for an eternity. I can’t live like this anymore, Aura. I won’t.” Luna sighed. “I can’t believe you used Phillip to spy on me. As if sending Pieces wasn’t enough!”
Luna’s eyes darkened a shade. “You just won’t stop.” she said. “So I have to stop you.”
The winds began to rage. All of a sudden, we weren’t in her bedroom, but in Aura’s garden. Rose petals were blowing all around us. “No!” Aura cried. “You’re killing them!”
“Better them than human beings,” Luna muttered.
The ground began to writhe and upheave, and then all hell broke loose as the decomposing bodies of every one of Aura’s victims climbed out of their earthen graves.
“What are you doing?” Aura screamed.
“Look at what you’ve done! LOOK!” Luna screamed at her sister. “You killed them all!”
“I did it to protect us, to protect you! They wanted to kill us for what we were or take our home away. I couldn’t let them win,” Aura argued.
Luna shook her head. “If what you showed me was really William, then you’re just like him. You only ever look out for yourself, which means you deserve every bit of wrath I can rain down on you, sister.”
“Don’t call me sister,” Aura spat. “If you think a spell to break our bond is going to stop me, think again. And you should know that if you come at me, I will end you. I’ll plant you in my garden along with the rest of them!” A decayed man placed his hand on Aura’s shoulder. She screamed in terror as he tore at her pretty white dress.
“Whether you or I die, I’ll finally be rid of you,” Luna said coldly. Aura disappeared and with it, the scene of horror.
I swallowed, watching as Luna turned toward me. Her voice was empty when she told me, “Wake up, Phillip.”
When she woke at twilight, her first thought was of William. “Before I went to sleep you said you weren’t sure William deserved my revenge. Why did you say that about him?” she rasped. What she really wanted to know was if what Aura showed her was really William. If he’d lied and deceived her. I was positive he had.
“Because I knew him better than anyone. You were sixteen when he arrived at the palace, right?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Luna,” I took a breath, “what Aura showed you was the truth.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because I saw William with girls. In Grithim, if he wanted to bed a girl, he would act the same way. Get close to her. Pretend to be caring and devoted. He would even tell her that he loved her and that he would make her the Princess of our Kingdom. And when he got what he wanted from her, he left her behind to face the consequences of a ruined reputation.”
A tear slipped from her eye.
“I know you loved him, but William,” he paused, “was very good at playing the part in order to get what he wanted. He was a good liar, an even better manipulator of persons, but I never even heard him tell our mother—not even once—that he loved her. Those words meant nothing to him. He only used them if they could get him the thing he wanted most.”
“I was stupid.”
“You were young.”
“My sister was right. I was pathetic, falling in love with the first boy who spouted what I wanted to hear.”
I shook my head. “It was what you needed to hear, and he preyed on that because he thought he could somehow kill you and Aura and take Virosa for Grithim. If he had come home and told our father that he’d slain two fae Princesses and taken a Kingdom, he would have been heralded as a savior and made into a legend, which is what my brother always wanted.”
“And you? What do you want?”
“I just want you to be safe.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re my friend.”
“Friends don’t kiss each other the way we do,” she laughed, her eyelids drooping heavily.
I kissed her temple. “I know.”
This was too fast. Our emotions were heightened by the direness of the situation, of the web of truths and lies that we were trying to untangle. She was still only seventeen, and I was only twenty. She needed to find herself before she decided how she felt about me. She needed to untether herself to have the freedom to learn who she truly was.
Maybe that would be enough. If she were free, and if now she knew what William had done and who he really was, maybe she could forget about seeking revenge on her sister and just live her own life. Her way.
Maybe I could be a part of it.
The sleep walking and sheer emotion of learning the truth, that someone she cared for wasn’t perfect after all, had worn her out. Luna and I stayed in that night. She argued that time was running out and it was, but she needed to rest. The fact that she didn’t put up much of a fight meant she knew it, too. She couldn’t garner the magic she needed, couldn’t fight Aura unless she got her energy back.
So I cooked and we ate dinner. We talked into the early morning hours until I could barely hold my eyes open and the sun began to lighten the sky. Our night together came to an end, but it had been worth it. She knew that she had to do this for herself. Not for William. And Aura could no longer use him against her. She’d lost an edge over Luna, and I couldn’t have been happier.