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“But they want you to marry rich,” I said. “That much is obvious from the profile of suitors your mother has compiled.”

Selene smiled. “True. But my father will decide. And I think he can be convinced. So … Aurelia Hart, will you marry me?”

I was dizzy from the turn this had all taken. Months of planning, and all it took was one underestimation, one mistake, and instead of all my dreams being shot to the depths of seventeen hells, I was being offered everything I wanted an hour into the con.

“What’s the catch?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

seven

. . .

Selene

Before I could thinkabout whether or not it was wise to answer that question, a voice called out from the top of the dune. Aurelia and I both startled. My mother stood waving. “Selene, darling, lunch will be ready soon. Bring your friend up.”

My friend. I nearly snorted. The things I’d been imagining doing with Aurelia Hart since she showed up on the beach were not a bitfriendly. Something molten coiled inside me, taut and burning for attention.Herattention.

The idea that she’d been about to con me into loving her was delicious. In truth, I wanted to be seduced. I wanted to see the act for myself—and lose myself in it. Nothing had been so exciting in years.

I leaned in, standing on my tiptoes to whisper in Aurelia’s ear. “Con me, Aurelia Hart. Seduce me. Make me yours.”

Her eyes hooded, her lips parting slightly as she took my arm, tucking me into her side. “Is that really what you want, Selene?”

The heat of her body against mine contrasted with the cool morning air. I had to clench my thighs to keep from exploding. What I wanted might be considered perverse to some people.But I was bored. So very, very bored, and this was the answer to all my problems.

“Make me yours,” I murmured. “In every way that counts, and you’ll have the bookstore.”

Aurelia nodded, a sly smile quirking her lips. “It would be myintensepleasure.”

After that declaration, I hardly dared speak as we made our way back up the dune and around to the cottage. My luck seemed to have shifted, but I would be wise to stay wary. Aurelia Hart was a con artist, after all. Who knew if her story even held truth?

Perhaps this was all part of the ruse. Maybe she knew about my thievery and planned to use it to blackmail me. I’d done it all for the Monas though, and on that I was almost certain that we agreed. I’d seen it in her eyes, that same wild longing to spend a life surrounded by books.

Was it even possible that I’d found someone who might share my vision for the future? In the end, I decided it didn’t matter. I wanted to be caught up in something. And more than that, I wanted to get my way. This was one way to do so.

As we made our way back to the cottage, something inside me shifted, a rearranging of my previous visions for what the future might look like. Aurelia looked down at me and smiled, and what had been shifting settled into place. My breath caught as the pieces fit together. This woman was the most dangerous thing that had ever happened to me, and I was tumbling towards her like a yew elf after too much Solstice wine.

There was no stopping this now, so I threw caution to the wind.

A few hours later, Aurelia had completely charmed my parents. She admitted to living off a small inheritance in such a disarming way that my mother actually offered investing advice. It was the kind of offer that shenevermade, not wanting anyone to depend on her for anything. My father offered her a cigar, and they went out to the front deck to smoke and discuss literature.

Obscene thoughts flitted through my head as I watched Aurelia’s deft fingers go through the ritual of smoking. She glanced inside at me, and as she brought the cigar to her lips, I flushed hot, damp heat pooling between my legs. This was more than just the convenience of when Aurelia had showed up. It was a cosmic attraction, a worthy match for my intellect. There was nothing more attractive than that.

I turned from watching Aurelia to help Mother clear the dishes. As I did, she rattled on to me about what a charming person Aurelia was.Shewas clearly smitten. All the heat from the moment before slowly oozed out of me. Suddenly, this all seemed like a terrible idea. I let out a loud sigh, and Mother spun around from the kitchen sink.

“Don’t do that,” she warned.

I rolled my eyes.

Mother shook her head, and it was like looking in a mirror. I was a nearly perfect copy of her, physically at least. “I mean it, Selene. Don’t sabotage this because we like her. You didn’t like any of our suitors, so you found your own as we asked. Is it pure spite that makes you behave like this?”

My mouth fell open. “Spite?” But she’d hit the nail right on the head. I was already resisting my feelings for Aurelia and we’d only known each other a few hours, primarily because my parents had so readily accepted her. I closed my eyes, trying to get my head on straight. “I just … I want things to turn out a certain way.”

Mother smiled gently, wiping her damp hands with a towel. “Life isn’t a buffet, darling. We don’t get to choose our futures. Sometimes it’s best to be grateful for the good things that find us.”

There was a kernel of truth in her words, but I wondered why she was so ready to give up all agency, any sense of control. I’d been my mother’s child for over a hundred years; I knew there was no use in contradicting her. And that the trials of her own life had forged these opinions, so they were not wrong—for her. For me, they didn’t work, but these were the rules as she saw them.

I glanced over my shoulder at Aurelia and Father, laughing about something on the front porch, and something warmed in me. There was a path out of a future that promised only incomplete happiness. There just had to be. And maybe that journey started with Aurelia Hart.