Page 76 of The Dandelion Princess

“Should I?” he asks, his tone a lazy invitation. But I’m not about to drag him off to the shrubbery for a little light necking. There have been too many close calls.

I swallow. “You look tired.”

“You said I looked stupid hot.”

I grin. “With you it’s not mutually exclusive. Why are you tired?”

“Alix is making one of her passions my problem.”

I can hear the exhaustion in his voice as he holds the ragged ends of his responsibilities in too-few hands. Everyday I expect him to say he’s too tired for me, but he brushes his fingertips over my cheek and I flinch against the temptation to lean into his touch. Who is watching? I don’t even know.

His hand drops and I wave to Lady Greta, getting caught in another round of farewells. When I find my way back to him, it’s just me and Marc and a moonlight garden.

“You need to get some rest,” I say, holding his hand in mine, wondering if we could melt into a dark shadow and I could steal a proper kiss before he goes.

He slips his arms around my waist. “I can’t leave yet,” he says.

“Oh.” My hand goes to my head. “You’re going to want your tiara back.”

Midnight comes for every princess. There’s no magic strong enough to stop pumpkins and field mice from assuming their natural form. I’ll go back to what I was, too. A restless girl looking for a way out of this mess.

“That’s not what I meant.” He bends down to where the edge of the pool turns into cattails and native grasses, plucks a large, near-perfect dandelion, and holds it between us.

“What’s this?” Our deal doesn’t include gifts and dates, but this is the first flower he has ever brought me. I take itbetween my fingers, careful not to disturb the trembling seeds. Dandelions don’t last. This isn’t something I can press into a book of remembrance, even.

“It’s a wish,” he says. “I want you to close your eyes and wish for the one thing you’ve wanted more than anything else your whole life.”

It’s a wonder he can’t feel my pulse through my skin. In the darkness, I let my heart break wide open.Dominanstid. He asked me what I want, and the answer waits like an unstable snowpack before the crack and collapse—the wrecking slide and the billow of ice. I grip the delicate stem, and the wish forms before I grant it permission to exist.Give me Marc van Heyden and I’ll never ask for anything else.

I open my eyes, take a breath, and blow. The seeds fly in the cool air, glinting in the light like tiny flecks of silver.

Maybe this can turn into something real. Maybe I’ll kiss him really well. No matter how many commitments he’s made to his best friend and the Crown, he turns into pudding when I do that.

I take a breath.

“Ella—” He gets there first, his voice amused. “From the first time you ran away to Lindenholm, you wanted one thing.”

I nod. Yes. One thing.

“It’s probably a terrible idea—” he continues.

Gravity holds me with the lightest touch.No. It isn’t. It’s a very, very good idea.

“—but after everything you did for Seong, I wanted to find a way to make you happy.”

This is not the most romantic confession. Still, he’s a man, and allowances must be made. Making me happy is a good place to start.

He holds my face with his hands, pushing his thumbs over my skin. “So tonight…”

My heart beats loud in my ears.

He grins. “...we’re breaking you out of the palace.”

24

Crack Team

MARC