First Kiss (17 page)

He nods, “I was. I was a boy of twelve.”

I take a step back, “You? The duke? But you’re to be king? Did
you always know it was
me
? All along?” Oh my God. Oh
my God. I think I’m going to throw up. He has been my betrothed all along?

He nods again, taking another step. I match him, step for
step, but I am backing away until I am across the room and against another
wall. “You are the duke and the king?”

He laughs, “Do you want it written in blood? Yes. The eldest
son in my mother’s family always has the title. My mother married the
king—not much her family could do about it. Tradition is tradition. I get
both titles.”

I can’t feel my legs. I swear I’m losing my mind. I give him
my best pleading look, “Please, just tell me the truth. Just stop screwing with
me. I don’t want any more lies. I just want to know what’s going on. You and I
were betrothed all along? That’s the truth? Not some stupid lie you’re making
up to make me feel better about this whole situation?”

“It is the truth. I swear on the God of all that is just.”

I look down, “Why wasn’t I ever told it was you? Why did they
keep it secret?”

He takes the last step, “My mother wanted it kept quiet. It
would make you a target for abduction, and we would be forced to pay the
ransom.”

I scoff bitterly, “Yeah, that worked out well. My own family
ended up abducting us both—so awesome work.”

He gives me a look, “It was done in your best interest, smart
ass.”

I scowl at him, “Do you think your parents know I am me? That
I’m Lynnie?”

He shakes his head, “No. I think they think it’s remarkable
and strange you look like Baylor. But no, you should be an eleven-year-old
girl. They won’t think it’s you.”

“So they’re okay that you’re making them go back on their word
to my mother? You’re supposed to be betrothed to me—Lynnie. Won’t they be
angry at you breaking the engagement off?” I think I’m getting confused and I
know my heart is.

He points at the door, “That awkward alliance my mother was
discussing in the grand hall—that was me and you. My parents have wanted
the alliance broken since I turned sixteen. They found a more suitable bride
for me, closer in age. They wanted me married and crowned by the time I was
eighteen, but we had to wait for you to turn sixteen before I could marry you.”

I grimace, “You would have been twenty-four and I would have
been sixteen?”

He sighs, “Why are you making that face? You’re older than I
am now. You’re twenty and I am still just older than eighteen.”

I sigh back, “Okay, I don’t want to think about how much older
I am. I want to know why your parents didn’t just break the engagement?”

He cocks an eyebrow, “Your mother—she sealed our fates.”

I close my eyes, holding my hands over my face for a second. I
take a few deep breaths and then look at him, letting the rage run loose. “JUST
TELL ME WHAT THE HELL YOU MEAN! STOP TALKING LIKE I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE SAYING!”

The candles in the room all light at once, brightening
everything dramatically. I gasp and hold myself, fighting the trembling in my
hands. The flames flicker as if a wind were in the room. Did it follow me here?
I look around, waiting for it to blow me in the right direction. But it doesn’t
come. The flames flicker, but I don’t feel anything.

He starts to laugh, “You are a daughter of a black blood, like
your mother and Baylor. You are a witch, like I told you, you were. On your
nineteenth birthday, your gifts would finish filling you. They always do in
your family. My family always likes to maintain a certain level of witch blood
in the family. Keeps us strong. Every few hundred years, one of your witch
ancestors and my royal ones are written in the stars. That is you and
me
.”

Something doesn’t ring true. I rip my gaze from the flames and
give him a skeptical look, “How did Baylor send us to Lakeland if she was only
eighteen?”

He shakes his head, “Your aunt, I assume.”

I point at him, “Do I know everything you know now?”
Everything feels like I am in a haze and he is
lying
his ass off.

He shakes his head, “No.” I look up into his eyes and instead
of seeing a burning
there,
I see a look of worry. I
know he sees the anger in mine.

He puts his hands up defensively and backs up, instead of
touching me again. He sits on the bed and gives me a hurt look, “When Baylor
had her fit of anger over not being queen,
it
wasn’t
just that. She also learned you would be queen. Your aunt predicted you would
be the strongest witch in the family in five hundred years.”

“What?”

“It’s why they chose you for me and her for my brother.” He
nods, “Baylor wasn’t angry that you would be queen, but that my parents chose
you for your magic, over her. They sealed our fates together, so no matter
what, your magic would be bound to help me.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“You and your magic must serve me, in return I would marry you
and make you my queen, therefore making your family royal. It is the
arrangement they have had for ages.”

I drop to my knees, “My mother agreed to this? To bind me to
you like a servant?”

He nods, “But Baylor was jealous so she sent us to Lakeland,
somehow. Using the aunt’s magic, I imagine.”

Shock and confusion are all I feel. I can’t hate him—he
was a twelve-year-old boy when the decision was made, and yet, I am angry he
never told me the truth. I look up at him, making him laugh again. “I wanted to
tell you, Lynnie. I did. But you didn’t know anything. It was crazy enough that
we were in another world or country or whatever. It was crazy you weren’t
actually a Lake. It was crazy . . . a crazy story. Adding this, without proof
of your magic, was impossible.” He smiles, “Needless to say, I was excited when
we came up with a way for me to marry you and be with you, without you dying
like your sister will.
I am going to my father’s chamber and
telling him all about her.
You will be my new bride, but we will still
be the soul mates we were all along, and no one will be the wiser.”

I feel sick. I push myself up and walk for the door to the
room. He jumps up and grabs me, “What are you doing?”

I look up at him, “I need to tell Sam he has to go home alone.
I can’t risk being this, there. I’ll end up as a science experiment for the
government. Magic isn’t real there but I still did it there. What if I can’t
stop myself and I hurt him?”

His eyes search mine for a second. He releases me after a
second and nods. “Hurry up.”

It is my king giving me those orders. I can feel it.

When I get out into the hall, I feel like collapsing and
crying, but I force myself to get to the door to Sam’s room. I knock quietly.
He opens the door
slowly,
smiling when he sees it’s
me. “Running away already?”

I nod, “Yup.” I push him into the room and slam the door. I
press my back against it and slump onto the floor. He drops to his knees,
tilting my chin up, “What’s wrong? Did he hurt you? Do I have to kill him?”

“I’m a slave. My parents sold me into slavery so my babies
could be royals and improve my family’s standing.”

He looks confused, “Like real slavery?”

I shake my head, “No. I have to marry Bastion even if they
find out who I am. I am his betrothed. He is the duke who my parents agreed I
would marry when I turned sixteen. I am far past that now. There is no escaping
marrying him.”

Sam frowns, “You don’t want to marry him?”

I think for a second and then look up into his eyes, “No, who
wants to get married like that? I want to be free of this. We have to run. I’ll
come for you in the night and we’ll go to my aunt’s.” I swallow, “I mean,
unless you want me to try to make a mirror thingy for you to go home. But I
could screw it up. We should get to my aunt’s and get her to help us. You have
to go home. Bash has it all planned out. We will never escape this.” My heart
breaks a little.

He brushes my hair from my
cheek,
“I’m not leaving you here. I already said that. I love you.” I smile when he
says it. He nods, “It’s taken me a long time to be man enough to say it.” He
leans in, “I should have been man enough before. I should have been willing to
die for just one kiss.”

I close my eyes and savor every second that his mouth hovers
above mine, until he finally whispers over my lips with heat, like firelight is
brushing against them.
 
“Can I kiss
you, Lynnie?”

I want so badly to nod, but I am afraid for him. I shake my
head, “Not yet. If they see us kissing, you’ll be put to death. This isn’t
Lakeland, Toto.”

He laughs, “Come and find me in the night.”

I nod, “I will.” I get up and leave his room. My insides are
on fire, and I swear I am having an out-of-body experience. Nothing feels
right.

Chapter Fourteen

Bastion’s scars are the main things
picking at me.
He’s a wolf
,
he’s a
beast
. He’s going to turn again, and I won’t be here to save him. They
will make me come back and save him. If I run, he will eventually tell them all
who I am, and Sam will be put to death.

The later it gets, the more clearly I
see things.

I have to stay—I have to stay and
keep Sam safe until I can get him to leave me here.

I roll onto my side and
sigh—unless going to my aunt’s is the right choice. I don’t remember her.
I know she exists, but I don’t recall her. If I cure Bastion, will he have any
need of me?

I glance over at him sleeping and
decide that is my best bet. I need to run, hide Sam with my aunt, and find the
cure for Bastion so he will leave me alone.

I can’t marry him.

He stole my heart as a mysterious guy
who defended my honor. Now as a king, who would use me for my powers, I am less
than captivated. Someone could find out I am a Devereaux, and I would be
burned. Not to mention, I don’t know how to control my magic; I could kill him
by accident and be burned for that. Either way, it is a bad scenario. I will
save Sam and get the answer to the curse and come back. That is the plan.

I slip from the silken sheets. I am
halfway across the room, when I hear him make a noise. I turn back, jumping
when I see my sister looking at me in the dark. I open my lips to scream but
she shakes her head, “I beg of you, Lynnie. Let me save you.” I scowl but she
points, “I have Sam in the tunnel already. Hurry.”

I back away from her, “You sent me to
hell.”

She shakes her head, “I didn’t.” She
slips across the floor to me and holds her hand out. “Press my hand to your
temple if you don’t believe me.”

Her face is so like mine, I am stunned.
It’s hard to not trust her—she is
me
or I am
her. Either way, we are the same. I can see it and feel it. Tears fill her
eyes, “My sister.” I see them stream down her cheeks, glistening in the dark.

I take her hand and pull her to the
back of the room. In the corner, I press her hand to my temple. I see it
instantly.

Baylor is a bit younger than she is
now. In the vision, I can see the woman she is becoming as opposed to the woman
she is now. She is slinking along a corridor, hurrying with mother. They rush
past lanterns and torches until they reach the end of the hallway. There is a
woman all in black standing with her back to them. When she turns, she has a
black veil over her face, but her ginger hair hangs out the bottom. She puts
her hands out. Mom and Baylor take her hands. The three of them start to chant.
I can’t hear any
noises,
just see their lips moving.
It’s a freaky scene, like out of a horror movie.

Suddenly, a mist swirls at their feet
and then it slithers like a snake under a grey blanket down the hallway. The
lady, I assume is my aunt, nods at them both as she takes Baylor’s hand and
vanishes. My mother reaches for the
stone wall
,
gripping to it almost. Her back shakes like she is sobbing. When she turns, I
can see the tears rolling down her cheeks.

She looks crushed.

I open my eyes and look at Baylor,
“Why?” I whisper.

She shakes her head, “We had to. The
prophecy was coming true.”

I don’t care about a friggin’ prophecy.
I care about the fact I am with the person guilty of betraying me all these
years. “Take me to Sam.” I need to get away. I saw the truth. She, Mom, and our
aunt sent Bastion and me away. They did it on purpose. Mom wept at leaving
behind her home and Baylor. She never cared for me.

None of them ever did.

I can feel the seed the vision starts,
building something inside of me. Something angry. I want to cry, I want to ask
her why she never came back for me—only Rosie.

We creep behind a bookcase and into a
dark opening. I expect her to snare me in a trap, but in the torchlight I see
Sam. He looks different in breeches and a tunic.
I smile
,
I can’t even help myself
.

He shrugs, “Easier to blend in.”

Baylor closes the secret door and turns
to me. In the orange glow of the torch, she looks worried. “How did you get
here?”

“Rode horses?”

She shakes her head, “Back into our
world.”

I look at Sam and then her, “The mirror
portal you made when you took Rosie.”

She looks confused, “But how did you
find it?”

“Who cares?” I snap, shoving her
against the bricks, “YOU LEFT ME THERE TO ROT! TO BE BEATEN EVERY DAY AND
LOCKED IN CLOSETS AND TO GRIEVE MY ENTIRE FAMILY DYING!”

Her
lips
tremble. Sam
takes my hand in his, pulling me back into him. “You’re going to wake Bastion,
then we’ll have to stay. Let’s go. You can fight in the woods.” He pulls me
away from her.

She looks lost for a minute. She runs
after me, “I never knew. I never knew what it was like. I never stayed long
once I realized how it was—how the time was so different. Mary caught me
once. I told her I had come to visit, and I was your older sister. She was rude
to me so I was rude back. She told me Mother had died.”

Her eyes are wide and watery. I fight
the urge to tell her I know she is lying and that Mary saw her there the day
Mother died. But I don’t. I let her finish. “I came for Rosie when I assumed
she had been born, like I had promised Mother I would. But Rosie was two,
almost three years old. It made no sense. You were a teenager and I hardly
recognized you. I saw you walking away from Mary’s, through the window. Your
face was so cold and distant when you crossed the street. I wouldn’t have known
you if my life had depended on it, apart from your hair. I thought Mother had
done it. I wanted to wait for you, but Mary was acting crazy so I fled. I came
back again once to get you both, but you were gone and Mary wasn’t there. Rosie
was home alone. So I took her back with me and then I couldn’t get the portal
open again. I went for our aunt, but she said
the portal must
be controlled by you
now. Your magic was finding its way to you. You had
to be the one to open it.”

Sam looks at her and then me, “We need
to go.”

I nod, “We do.” I look at Baylor, “I
don’t forgive you. You’ve lied to me and betrayed me and left me to suffer for
a decade. It might have passed in only a year for you, but I felt every second
of it. I know you are lying about being there the day Mother died. I don’t know
why you’re still lying to me and I don’t care.”

Baylor grabs my hand, “You have to
forgive me. Your magic is strong, but it’s easily corrupted. That’s the
prophecy. You are the strongest in hundreds of years—the royal family
knows about the prophecy. Once you give your heart to the king, he can control
your magic. That’s why they wanted you to marry Bastion.”

I shake my head, “I don’t care
anymore.” I turn to Sam and take his hand. He pulls me through the tunnels.
When we get to the bottom of a steep incline, Baylor goes to the front and
leads us through winding tunnels that get quite moist.
 
I can barely breathe through the wetness
in the air.

Sam grips my hand harder, the closer
the walls get. Suddenly, there is a grey light ahead. We leave a small cave
entrance that is behind a large bush. We are in the field that separates the
castle and my father’s land—the field where I saw the cloaked woman.

The moon is high, lighting the mist on
the dark fields with light. My heart is in my throat.

We run across the field to my father’s
stable. Baylor steals two horses, “Ride to our aunt’s house. She will help
you.”

I shake my head, “I don’t know the way,
and we only need one horse; he doesn’t really ride.”

She gives him a look and then me, “She
is a full-day’s ride east of here. Can you get there on your own?”

I shake my head but Sam nods, “Yeah.
Does the sun rise in the east here?”

She laughs at him, “Of course.”

He points to the side of the sky that
is a fraction lighter, “It’s that way.” He climbs into the saddle. Baylor grabs
my arms, pulling me into her embrace, “Aunt Cécile will explain everything.” I
am wooden and detached from her body wrapped around mine. I hate her. I can’t
even fight the hate, and I don’t even want to.

I turn and let Sam pull me into his
lap. I give the horse a nudge and we leave her behind. I don’t look back.
There’s nothing there, as far as I’m concerned.