Page 42

I thrashed within my skin, urging my muscles to respond. I’d break my bones if I had to. I didn’t care if my marriage would enchant everyone in the kingdom. I would not allow them to marry me to someone other than Fletcher.

“Let’s not waste everyone’s time, shall we? I’m sure these two would like to get their celebration started. Today marks the beginning of a bright future for our kingdom, and the end,” the queen took a large breath and belted, “of enchantments!”

The civilians applauded as a variety of petals fell over my head and toward my feet. The noise was deafening.

Fuck! How’d I get myself into this? They tricked me!

These people were supposed to be my parents, were supposed to protect me.

But instead, they were using me for their own benefit.

Just like Mother. A crushing feeling decimated my heart and constricted my throat with the realization that I still had not learned anything .

I had been so overly cautious about falling into a trap again.

Yet, here I was on my knees being controlled by others, powerless to move even a muscle.

Whoever this male standing before me was, I knew not to trust him.

No one in my life was safe except Fletcher.

His warning when I had first met him blasted in my head with clarity. Everyone is your enemy except me, Ripley.

“You may place the crown upon her head to bind you two together and strengthen your ritual bond.”

The vibrations of my internal screaming reverberated throughout my muscles instead of my vocal cords. A trickle of sweat flowed down my back with the exertion.

The feeling of a heavy crown weighed my head down.

“Let’s congratulate the prince and princess of Elizy!”

Their celebration grew louder than ever before. It rattled my core as my heart flipped, and charged malevolence began churning in my gut.

All at once, I was released. But, I remained frozen where I was, deciding if I was going to rip the queen’s throat out or my new husband’s. I stood gradually, eyes fixed on the ground, edges of my vision blackening. It frayed my nerves, spiking in all areas of my body.

Loud booms detonated, rattling me to my core and scaring away the darkness.

My vision cleared as Mother’s videos I had grown up watching blared through my mind in warning.

I was in danger. Another explosion akin to gunshots stole my attention.

Light flashed across my surroundings and infiltrated my eyes with dark disturbance.

The deep sound trickled up my forearms and made my hairs stand on end as I looked at the crowd, searching for the enemy.

With yet another boom, I saw it for what it was.

They weren’t gunshots. They were fireworks.

Up in the air. Several Elizians had their hands reaching upward, glowing with mauve and cyan magic.

Fireworks zipped into the air and combusted in a cloud of colors and shapes.

I flinched and yelped every time one went off, shrinking into myself. Where was Fletcher? God! I needed Fletcher. He was the only person who could calm me. The only one who fucking knew me!

I searched the trees for him as my heartbeat pounded in my ears.

I searched each tree, each branch, but he was no longer there.

Had he left? Had he turned his back on me?

Did he think I wanted this marriage? He must have known I would never marry another.

I had made my promise to always return to him. He must have known I’d come back.

But what if he did not believe me? Twenty-four hours in Elizy away from him had done it. It had changed my mind. He knew it would happen. And now he had proof.

Tears gripped me by the throat at the possibility of him thinking for even a second that this was what I had planned—to be married to anyone other than him.

Frantically, I let my eyes roam the outskirts of the barrier, not allowing myself to believe he actually had thought I wanted another man. Could he feel the hysteria wreaking havoc in my body?

Then, I spotted him. He was at the barrier, hands pressed against it with frantic eyes and an air of utter devastation surrounding him. And it didn’t matter that he was a mere quarter mile out of reach, he still felt like an ocean away.

Slowly, I reached up, touched the pointed crown upon my head and dragged it off. As I brought my hand down to my side, I let it fall to the ground from the highest distance, hoping it would be enough to shatter it to pieces.

With a reverberating clang, it crashed to the floor while my eyes remained transfixed on Fletcher.

The fireworks ceased. So did the cheering.

The entire kingdom silenced.

I took a step down the stairs.

“Ripley,” the queen whispered harshly.

I took another step and another, letting my heels slip off my feet—letting my bare feet guide me away from the crown and toward Fletcher.

And soon, I was threading through the crowd that was parting for me.

Faster and faster toward him. When there was a direct path to the barrier, I fell into a sprint .

He seemed both farther and closer. Fletcher, Fletcher, Fletcher! God! Fletcher!

I could see the betrayal in his eyes. Because of me? Did he think… I lifted my arms to jump into his.

“Stop!” He pounded the barrier with his fist. “Ripley, stop. Stop!”

I came to a screeching halt right in front of him, liquid-glass between us.

He shook his head, hands flattening on it. “You can’t.”

The two words clenched around my throat as I lifted my hands and tested the unforgiving barrier.

Then, I slammed them against it. I couldn’t leave.

Why? Why couldn’t I leave? “No!” I reached for my magic, picturing its swirls and urging it to fight against this prison.

Nothing happened. Not even a wisp. I didn’t even feel it prickle down my arms, didn’t see its glow in my peripherals.

Searching through the depths of me, I knew my magic was there, but it was just as stuck as it was when I was on the platform.

This wasn’t my unpredictable magic not working, this was still someone else controlling me. “ No! ”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he tried to say, but his words were coming out in chokes and broken syllables.

“They tricked me! I-I didn’t want this! ”

He lifted his chin, letting his hands drift down the barrier that swirled with misty clouds of aquas and lilacs at his touch. “I know. It’ll be okay.”

“I don’t want to be married to him. I want to be married to you,” I cried. “I don’t want to be locked in here without you.” I shrieked the words so loudly, the entire crowd somehow got even quieter. I could feel their eyes lingering on my bare back—on Fletcher.

“We’ll figure this out.”

“I don’t want this, Fletcher! They tricked me!”

Would I never learn? I should have just run away with Fletcher while I had the chance. I did not want to be part of a kingdom ruled by people who would stoop so low.

I watched him take a hard swallow. “Do you know what happens on wedding nights?”

“No.”

“I don’t think I can handle anyone else touching you after I saw you in your mother’s cage.”

I shook my head hard. “I won’t let him.”

His lips pressed in a straight line, as if he knew there was no hope for tonight.

“I won’t, Fletcher! I will find a way out of this. ”

“I know you will, princess.” He took a hard look over my shoulder at something, then his eyes darted back to me. “I miss you already.”

A large hand gripped my upper arm as I dissolved into particles and was whisked away by a powerful wind.

I came together in a large room in front of my presumed husband as I recognized the white shoes. My eyes trailed up his thick torso and into Graff’s pastel pink gaze.

“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, ripping my arm out of his grip and storming across the room.

He put his hands up and took a step back. “I won’t! I won’t.”

I bared my teeth, screaming, “Where the hell is my magic!”

“You have it, I swear. The queen just subdued you. But you still can’t leave Elizy. I’m in charge of that.”

With effort, I forced magic to pool down my arms, then I fanned out my fingers toward him. Split magic or not, I’d destroy him, maybe even take his magic also. “You better not lay a fucking finger on me.”

He brought his hands down and shook his head. “I would never harm someone I care about so deeply.”

“You care about me.” I lowered my lids halfway, bored at the statement. “Deeply.”

His brows set in a serious fashion and his jaw tightened. “Of course. We are bonded. Even more intensely now. I’ve been through everything with you whether you know it or not. And if you could just calm down a bit, we could figure this out. You’re a little overwhelming.”

“You care about me.” I huffed out a contrite, amused laugh.

“Yes, Ripley. Of course. Do not mock my feelings.”

If he was going to be serious then so was I. I pulled my brows down and tightened my jaw, straightening one of my magic-filled hands even more. “Then, why didn’t you come looking for me, you coward?”

“Believe me, I wanted to!” His fists clenched and he stepped toward me, leaning his shoulders even more into my space.

“But we all knew your best chance was Fletcher. It wasn’t a secret that he had found you in your room instead of your hologram.

Do you even know how insanely incredible that is?

” His square jaw feathered as he raked his blond hair up and back.

“He set out to find you, and we were all confident that he would, so the queen didn’t want to risk losing any of us options for you. ”

“So you all sat back and sacrificed him to the Cidris-riddled ?lden Lands?”

He threw his hands up and let his head fall back with an eye roll. “It was his choice! And he didn’t want our help.”

“No, it was your choice to not bother finding me. You do not deserve my hand in marriage.”

“Ripley, we were no match for him! The night of the ritual, the queen told us all to go get you away from Fletcher, that it was our duty. And when we tried, he kicked all our asses without magic just to keep you with him. Him and I are not friends. He made that very clear when he broke Decksin and Jarvy’s fingers. ”

My eyes darted to his hands a little disappointed. “And why aren’t yours?”

He threw his hands up. “Because I’m scared of him! After seeing what he did to the other two, I ran.” He gave a frustrated growl. “We all knew you had an affinity for him since you were born. We felt it was pointless to leave. You were always going to pick him.”

I dropped my hand and clenched both by my sides, anger boiling in me. “So that means you don’t come searching for the princess of your kingdom? ”

His face tightened.

“Coward!”

He huffed. “I am. I’m not denying that, Ripley.”

Heat filled my face, anxiety pierced my body, and disgust violated my soul. “Why the hell would you agree to marry me against my will?”

“Because of the enchantments. My cousin has been enchanted twice now. Everyone is constantly terrified. And out of the three of us, I am not planning on standing between you and Fletcher. Even though I love you.”

A grimace overtook my face. “This,” I gestured between us, “is not love. This is a stupid ritual that makes you believe that. Trust me, your love is no comparison to Fletcher’s.”

His straight nose crinkled as his pink eyes darkened. “I am brutally aware.”

“You think Fletcher is the one to be scared of? Well, you should be far more concerned about being alone with me.”

Graff closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, he looked like the gentle Graff I had met in the gardens. “Look, I do not want to anger you. In fact, I want to take you to Fletcher. I can feel your despair, and I do not wish that feeling upon my wife.”

Up came my hand again, gleaming with lethal magic. “I am not your wife.”

“You are,” he gritted out. “And start getting used to it because I’m the only way you can get out of the barrier to see him. So I will call you my wife whenever I goddamn please.”

Control was slipping away. My pride, my dignity, obliterated to pieces. “Take me to him now.”

“I will. After a meal. Then, I will take you to him.”

I stepped forward. “You do not get an ask!” I willed my magic to release itself. I felt its pressure build at my fingertips, pushing up on my nails, but nothing came out, and I grunted in deep vexation. “You married me without my consent. Take me to Fletcher right now!”

A smirk fled over his lips. He shrugged. “You know my demand.”

I roared as I tried my magic again. This time blue smoke billowed from my fingertips like a tidal wave of poison.

He sent his forward at the same time, lunging toward my release of magic.

When his wave crashed against mine, it ricocheted and petered out.

Even when I could reach my magic, it couldn’t overtake his.

“Careful how you treat your husband. I’m royalty now.

I have superior magic to yours. Just like the king and queen do. ”

I snarled. “Fine. One meal.”