Page 53 of A Storm in Every Heart (Enchanted Legacies #2)

T he sky is turning pink with the first light of dawn when I finally leave the beach.

I run up the dunes and across the rocky cliff and along the path toward the garden wall. Salt crusts my lips, my calves ache, and the siren’s ethereal voice echoes over and over again through my mind.

Never be whole. Always lonely. I broke him; it’s what we do.

I shove my way through the iron gate and stumble into a jog, tugging the heavy wool blanket tight around my shoulders, blinking away tears that are half wind, half panic, and make for the palace up ahead.

I can already hear the castle kitchen stirring in the distance, the clatter of pans and the bark of orders, and further off, the rhythmic thud of horses’ hooves on packed dirt.

I keep to the trees surrounding the lush garden, moving as fast as I dare, heart hammering my ribs like it’s trying to punch through and escape.

I’m so intent on avoiding the gardeners that I almost miss the sound—a familiar shout, sharp and surprised. “Odessa!”

I freeze, heels digging into the mulch, the blanket bunched in my fists. Horror washes over me.

He cannot be here right now. This can’t be happening.

But it is.

I turn slowly and see Kastian riding toward me down the path astride a sleek dappled mare, his hair mussed, his coat half-buttoned.

Our eyes meet, and he grins. Before I can react, he’s already vaulting off the horse and closing the distance between us in five long strides. He stops so close I can smell the wood and citrus scent clinging to his skin. “Good morning,” he says, still grinning widely.

I don’t return his smile. “What are you doing out here?”

He blinks in surprise. His eyes lock on mine, and in an instant, his easy smile flickers, replaced by something wary and sharp.

He gestures toward the horse, like the answer is self-evident.

“I always go riding early in the morning.” His gaze drops to the tangle of my hair, the nightgown plastered damp to my legs, and finally to the blanket, where my knuckles are bone-white and shaking.

“But maybe I should be asking what you’re doing here. ”

There’s a brief, horrible pause in which I try to invent a plausible lie and come up with nothing. I consider telling him the truth—about the siren, about Lyra, and about every horrible thought racing through my head. But I can’t.

“I couldn’t sleep,” I say finally—at least it’s the truth, if not the whole truth.

He raises an eyebrow. “I don’t tend to sleep well either, but usually I get dressed before wandering around the castle.”

I feel my face flush. “Right…I wasn’t thinking.”

He studies me, and I realize how ridiculous I must look: bare-legged, hair wild, salt drying in streaks on my cheeks.

Kastian shrugs off his black coat and drapes it over my shoulders, right on top of the blanket. “There,” he murmurs.

I try to protest, but the words catch in my throat. Instead, I clutch the coat tighter, half grateful, half furious at how easily he sees through me. “Thanks.”

His smile reappears. “Go back inside and change. I’ll wait for you here.”

“Why?” I blurt out, not even trying to soften the sharpness of it.

He looks slightly confused. “I thought we might go to breakfast together. Did you have other plans this morning?”

I want to say yes; I want to say I will go with you anywhere, even if it is only to breakfast, but I can’t forget the siren’s warning. Can’t forget the icy certainty that nothing good can come of this.

I shake my head and force a bitter laugh. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Kastian’s brows draw together, and he looks at me with such raw confusion that it almost hurts. “Did—did I say something wrong?”

I force a smile. “Not at all.”

He steps closer, hand rising as if to steady me, but I sidestep his reach, hugging myself with both arms. My skin prickles with awareness of him, and the distance I’m putting between us is both a relief and a punishment.

He lets his arm fall, fingers curling in a frustrated half-fist. “Odessa,” he says, and this time there’s steel under the concern. “Seriously. What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“I thought you had fun last night.”

“I did, but that’s all it was, right? Fun. Tomorrow I’ll be going back to Vernallis.”

His dark eyes trace over me intently, and I can see on his face that he’s thinking hard. Steeling himself for something.

“But what if you didn’t have to leave?” he says finally, more of a statement than a question. “I thought perhaps you could stay longer. Your family can stay too, of course, as guests of the palace.”

My pulse pounds in my ears, and my vision blurs, darkening on the edges. “Why?”

“Because I want you to.”

“You hardly know me.”

Anyone else would flush with embarrassment, but Kastian is far too direct for that. He looks entirely unabashed. “I’ve known you for three days. Isn’t that how long you said? Anyway, I’m not suggesting we get engaged today.”

“No.” I shake my head again, panic rising in my voice. “This isn’t going to work.”

Prince Kastian grabs my hand, whirling me around so I’m forced to look him in the eye. “Why? Is it about becoming royal? You don’t have to worry about that. You’ll make a good princess. You’re already better suited to being royal than I am, and I have three sisters who can help you.”

My lungs seize. This can’t be happening. He’s thinking about a future. With me. And I can’t stop picturing all the ways it might end. All the ways I’m destined to ruin him.

“I can’t?—”

He still doesn’t understand, because his hand tightens on mine. “I’m not asking you for forever. Not now. Not unless you want it. You’re right that we don’t know each other well, but there’s something here. I like you. I just…don’t want you to go.”

My throat is on fire. “This is dangerous,” I croak. “Us. It’s not?—”

He takes a slow step closer, and his hand is warm and trustworthy where it meets my skin. “What’s dangerous about liking someone?”

I nearly choke. “You don’t understand.”

He steps even closer. “Then explain it to me.”

He’s so close now I can feel the heat of him through my blanket and his coat thrown over my shoulders, and for a second the world tips. I want to lean in. I want to pull him to me and never let go, but the warning is pounding in my skull:

When a siren loves, she loves down to the bone. All that’s left to decide is who you’re willing to hurt.

If I’m going to hurt someone, I don’t want it to be him.

I gather the blanket tighter and force myself to meet his eyes.

I’ve hardly ever done this before—only a few times, mostly by accident, when I really wanted to get out of lessons for the day or to have some trinket from the local shops. I suddenly wish I’d thought to ask the siren how it works while I had the chance, but there’s no use in regretting it now.

I push the siren song into my voice and use that coaxing note. “You shouldn’t trust me. You shouldn’t want me.”

Kastian’s eyes narrow in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

A tiny spark of panic lights in my chest. Maybe I’m not doing this right. It isn’t working.

I suck in a breath and try harder, stepping closer so I can more easily stare into his eyes. “Stay away from me.”

Again, I’m not sure it’s working. He’s staring at me, but it’s not with that vacant look I’ve seen a handful of times before. Or is it? His face has gone blank. Slack. Unreadable.

“Is that what you really want?” he asks finally.

I breathe out a sigh of relief. “Yes, that’s what I want. I want you to never speak to me again. Stay far away from me. Nothing would make you happier.”

He blinks a few times, and when he answers his voice is flat and emotionless. “As you wish.”