Atone: A Fairytale (Fairytale Trilogy) (28 page)

“Wow,” he said.

“So apparently I’m like a portal now, too.” She looked at him, gauging his reaction. He’d handled it all pretty well so far, but one never knew when shock could set in.

“The mirror.”

She looked over at where it had stood. Nothing was left but a few charred and smoking pieces.

“It’s a good thing that didn’t set off the sprinkler system.” His voice was deadly serious and Becca blinked up at him.
Maybe this is how the shock is going to manifest?
Nicholas broke out into a laugh; it was deep and rich and full bodied. The smile lines she’d seen in the photo bracketed his mouth. Her eyes got even wider. She was torn between wanting to run a finger down them and insisting he lay down with his feet up and a warm blanket until he recovered. He took one look at her face and laughed harder, almost doubling over.

“Nicholas?” she asked tentatively.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t gone crazy. Or maybe I have,” he gasped out between chuckles. He straightened back up, placing his free hand at the small of her back and pulling her even closer to him. “I’ve had kind of an eventful day. First, the girl I love almost died, and then I went from being an overly large animal to a man, and then you transformed yourself into this insanely powerful fae. And I thought I wasn’t good enough for you before, you know when you were just a magical goddess bathed in purple fire.” He stared into her eyes and Becca’s breath caught in her throat at the intensity in that deep blue gaze. “I’m not good enough for you. Never have been, never will be, but I love you with every piece of myself. Can you possibly love me even half as much?”

Becca placed her hand on his jaw, running her thumb over the place where she knew that laugh line would appear when he smiled again. “How are my eyes?” she whispered.

“They’re fine. As beautiful and dark brown as usual.” His voice was steady, but she could see the hurt in his eyes.

“Good. I’d hate to have to wear contacts whenever you take me out in public.” She ran her hand from his jaw to the nape of his neck. “Of course I love you. More than I could ever tell you.” She pulled his head down to hers and kissed him like she’d been dying to in the Fae Realm. He let go of her hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her up against him. She ran her hands up and down his arms, reveling in the feel of them—of him.

“I guess the curse has been broken, then?” Alex’s voice cut through the haze in Becca’s mind. She groaned and lifted her mouth from Nicholas’s. Alex and Lilia stood in the doorway wearing identical expressions of amusement.

“The front door was open,” Lilia said by way of explanation. “Does this mean we can turn the air off now?”

Becca leaned her forehead against Nicholas’s chest. “Go away.”

Alex giggled. “I can see we’re not needed at the moment. I do love that you’re bringing Fae Realm fashion to L.A.; you’ll have to tell us all about it.”

“Another time.” Becca suggested.

“Oh, of course. Maybe at Magic Mountain this week? We’d love to have you join us, Nicholas.”

“Thanks.” Becca could hear the smile in his voice. “Seriously, thank you both.”

“Don’t mention it. I guess we should be going. Lilia?”

Becca looked up in time to see Lilia level a glare at Nicholas. “Treat her right or I swear I will knock you out and stuff you in another closet.”

“Oh my god,” Becca gasped in embarrassed laughter. “This is getting more awkward by the second.”

Alex pulled Lilia by the arm, tugging her out of the room. “See you guys, later!”

Nicholas tightened his arm around Becca’s waist. “She doesn’t need to worry. I plan to.”

“Treat me right?” she asked, tilting her face up to his. “Good. You can start by kissing me again.”

~ Epilogue ~

“Do people always stare like this?”

Becca glanced up at Nicholas with a smile. He looked so handsome in his dark green t-shirt that her heart felt like it was going to flip over in her chest. “Yeah. You get used to it after a while. Sometimes people stop and stare at her on the street. I don’t even think she notices it.”

Nicholas looked over to where Lilia was leaning against the waist-high metal bars forming the line for the roller coaster. She had her ankles crossed casually, her long, blonde hair falling forward as she scrolled through something on her phone. Though huge sunglasses obscured a good portion of her face, there was no disguising her unearthly beauty.

He watched uneasily as a group of teen guys jostled Lilia from the other side of the divider. “Am I going to end up having to beat up a bunch of punks to defend your friend?”

From behind them Luke laughed. “I was worried about that too, but she can take care of herself.” As he spoke, Lilia pushed the sunglasses up on her head and turned to the teenagers with a raised eyebrow. Her light blue eyes froze them in place, and they gaped at her for a moment before turning red and averting their eyes.

“You know I can hear you,” Lilia turning her severe gaze to Luke and Nicholas.

“Sorry,” Nicholas said sincerely. Becca stifled a giggle and squeezed his fingers.

“She’s messing with you,” Alex said from Luke’s side. “She’s nervous about going on this coaster, so she’s playing ice queen.”

“If you think I’m getting on this thing, you’re crazier than I thought,” Lilia retorted, flipping her sunglasses back down.

“So why’re you standing in the line if you don’t want to go on it?” Alex shot back.

“I’m keeping an eye on you four. The potential for awkward public displays of affection is extremely high. You need a babysitter.”

Becca laughed, wrapping her arm around Nicholas’s waist. “Oh please, like we can’t behave ourselves.”

“She might have a point,” Nicholas replied seriously. “It’s almost impossible for you to keep your hands off me.”

“And here I thought it was the other way around.”

“Oh, it is.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

Lilia shook her head mock-sadly. “I’d complain about being a fifth wheel, but then Becca would invite her cousin along on these things.”

“Poor Gabe,” Alex said sympathetically. “You’re way too harsh on him. He’s a cutie.”

“Hey,” Luke protested.

“It’s true; he’s got those big puppy eyes.” She batted her eyes at Lilia, who ignored her. Alex leaned closer to Luke and whispered something. He responded by laughing and lifting their joined hands and placing a kiss on the inside of her wrist against her braided tattoo. The gesture, which a few weeks ago would have caused Becca to feel a mixture of happiness for her friend and sadness for what she didn’t think was possible for herself, now only made her feel happy.

“She might have a point about them; PDA city.” Becca bumped Nicholas with her hip and titled her head toward Luke and Alex. “But the real reason Lilia won’t date my cutie cousin is he’s not royal enough.”

“Los Angeles is a little short on royalty,” he admitted.

“There’s always that fera,” Alex suggested as the line moved forward. “Talon. He’s a prince, right, if his brother’s a king?”

“When hell freezes over.” Was Lilia’s only response.

Becca couldn’t stop the giggle this time. “Tell me how you really feel.”

“How many riders?” asked the park employee as they came up to the gate.

“Four,” answered Lilia. “I’m not riding.”

“Oh, she’s riding,” Alex insisted. “Five.”

“Rows seven, eight, and nine.”

Lilia glared at Alex as the shorter girl pushed her forward toward the loading area. “If you force me onto this thing, I will stop you…magically.”

Alex snickered. “Good luck, sister.”

“I could take you,” Lilia flicked her gaze over to Becca. “Maybe not if you decided to gang up on me. But you’d take my side, right?”

Becca shook her head sadly. “You should just get on the ride; get it over with. She’s never gonna leave you alone about it.”

“But it goes upside down!” Lilia eyed the ride with revulsion as the sleek, purple cars pulled into the track in front of them.

“I know! It’s an adventure!” Becca grinned at her and climbed into the coaster. She heard Lilia sigh in resignation as she followed suit in the row behind them.

Nicholas slid his long, jeans-clad legs in next to her, pulling the overhead bars down over his chest.

“What about you?” Becca asked. “You ready for an adventure?”

He looked over at her, those almost-but-not-quite dimples bracketing his broad smile. “With you? More than ready.”

She laughed and laced her fingers through his. “Then hang on.”

~ The End ~

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I have to thank Rebecca “Becca” Nyenhuis without whom Nicholas Hunt would never have been a hero. Thanks for seeing the spark of greatness in a character I saw as one dimensional, and pushing me to do the hard work of transforming him. I’m sorry I never fixed the neckline on your Belle dress, but I’ve made you Belle in your very own book…I hope this compensates somewhat.

To my wonderful husband and children, thank you for letting me sneak off into my made up worlds. I truly appreciate your willingness to share me with the people that live inside my head.

To my parents Mark and Sharon, thank you for reading me fairy tales…and for the love and sacrifice and everything else, but mostly the fairy tales.

A huge thank you to my wonderful beta readers and editors: Kimberly Truesdale, Rebecca Nyenhuis, Nancy Kelley, Rebecca Fleming, Mark House, and Melissa Buell. This story and I both owe you more than I could ever repay.

Thank you to Jennifer Becton for encouraging me to become a self-publisher and for sharing all of your experience and knowledge.

As always, this book would not have been possible without the invaluable input of the best story editor, encourager, cover designer, and friend ever. Thank you, Tori.

And to Southern California—and especially the city of Los Angeles—thanks for being a place that inspires stories.

Lastly, I cannot express how grateful I am to everyone who read
Awake
and told me that the characters resonated with them. You have kept me writing even when I wasn’t sure where the story should go. I hope you love Becca and Nicholas as much as I do.

About the Author

Jessica Grey is an author, fairytale believer, baseball lover, and recovering Star Wars fangirl. A life-long Californian, she now lives in Montana with her husband and two children, where she spends her time writing, perfecting the fine art of preschooler-wrangling, and drinking way too much caffeine.

You can find Jessica online at
www.authorjessicagrey.com
or email her at [email protected]

About the Fairytale Trilogy

The Fairytale Trilogy by Jessica Grey is a series of Young Adult fantasy novels that are a new envisioning of classic fairy tales.

The series follows three teenage girls as they are drawn into stories that they once thought were only make-believe.

Awake: A Fairytale

Atone: A Fairytale

Aspire: A Fairytale - Spring 2014

For more information on the Fairytale Trilogy, please visit
www.fairytaletrilogy.com
or
www.authorjessicagrey.com

Sample: Awake: A Fairytale

Please enjoy the following excerpt from

Awake: A Fairytale

by

Jessica Grey

A
LEX WAS OVERLY
aware of the squeak of her Converse on the linoleum that lined the back hallways as she headed toward the storage and display access areas. Her left shoe was squeaking louder than the right, and in the silence the unbalanced sound annoyed her. She deliberately tried to quiet the squeak of her left shoe by shifting her balance, although in reality she was trying to distract herself from the creepy feeling the empty, too-quiet museum was giving her.

She soon reached a fork in the corridor. To the left lay the storage rooms, or she could go right toward the back ends of the display areas for the front galleries. She hesitated. He’d been extremely excited and unclear in his message, so she wasn’t quite sure where to look for him.

“Nicholas?” Her voice reverberating off of the walls and linoleum floor was the only response.

After another moment of consideration, Alex veered left to check the storage rooms. She figured the only thing that could have made Nicholas so excited as to be basically unintelligible would have to do with the shipment he was expecting from Professor Gagnon in France and the most likely place for any new items would be the storage area.