Page 41 of The Shattered Kingdom (The Cursed Kingdom #2)
ABBY
KIE EFFORTLESSLY TRANSFORMS into the perfect host, an award-winning smile plastered across his lips as he guides my family into the living room.
My mom holds my hand, her grip borderline painful.
I’m sure she has a million questions—I would if I were in her position.
My dad is quiet, and he’s wearing the expression of a man who’s mildly convinced that nothing happening around him is real.
His mouth is slightly open, and his gaze continually flickers around the room.
It’s not every day a woman magically appears in your home and tells you she’s taking you to a faerie realm where your missing daughter is about to be crowned queen.
“So…” Aaron says, sitting on the edge of the couch. He looks between Kie and Mason. “You’re a faerie, and you’re a… werewolf? That’s what the woman who brought us here said.”
“They call them shifters,” I correct him. “But, yeah, it’s pretty much a werewolf. Just without all the whole moon and garlic lore.”
“Garlic is vampires,” Dad absentmindedly says.
I nod. “Right. ”
Aaron drags a hand through his hair. Mason blinks, his eyes narrowing in on my brother. I wince.
In an effort to keep him calm after I was attacked, I told him all about my childhood. Amid my panic, I didn’t think to explain that despite Aaron calling me a troll and bullying me relentlessly, I still love him.
Mason’s holding a useless grudge in my honor. It’s cute, and it makes me feel a bit bad for conveniently leaving out the parts where I was just as mean to Aaron.
“Mason’s the shifter,” I say, placing my hand on Mason’s shoulder.
I give him a warning look, one he either doesn’t notice or chooses to ignore.
I assume the latter. “I left the human realm to save Lill, and I met Kie and Mason shortly after arriving here. They were traveling together for some personal reasons, and they’ve kept me safe.
” That’s a lie. I continue. “They’re also my mates. ”
I’m met with three blank stares.
My back breaks into a cold sweat. “The people here have predestined soulmates. I’m theirs.”
Mom gulps. “ Both of them?”
I nod. I don’t care to get into the nuances of my relationship, and I mentally prepare for the questions to come. My time here has been complicated, and my family doesn’t need to know about it. If they stay here, which I hope they will, they’ll eventually learn.
I hope they choose to stay.
My brother has a budding career, but my parents don’t have much tying them to the human realm. They have jobs and friends, but they’re both only siblings and my grandparents are dead. I want us to stay together, and me leaving isn’t an option.
Dad clears his throat but doesn’t speak. He looks at a loss for words. I don’t blame him.
“And Lill?” Aaron asks.
Fuck. “She’s…” I start. “Things are complicated with her right now. She was here for a while, but she left. It’s a lot to explain.”
Dad nods. “And where exactly is here ?”
This might be harder to explain. I tighten my grip on Mason’s shoulder, unsure where to begin. Probably from the beginning.
I start with Lill’s sickness, something they’re already aware of. Her health has been visibly declining for years, and I explain how delysum helped preserve her magic before diving into my grand plans to save her.
Even Kie and Mason are hanging on to my every word, and I realize I’ve never shared the full story with them.
I talk about Samuel, how he bought me dinner and gloves in exchange for a kiss. Mom and Aaron manage weak chuckles. Kie, Mason, and Dad don’t find it nearly as funny. Mason’s shoulders don’t pop out of their sockets, though, which I consider a victory.
I talk about my walk from Callonton to Farbay, leaving out the part where I slept in a stranger’s barn.
Mason trails a hand down my spine, his lips brushing against my ear a second later. “You’ll never be hungry again.”
I momentarily pause. I haven’t said anything about being hungry, but he’s reading between the lines. I was practically starving, but that’s not a piece of information I care to admit to. I want everybody to think I was independent and resourceful as I navigated the faerie world by myself.
I was being heroic. At least, that’s the picture of myself I’m going to paint.
Kie props his elbows on his knees as I begin discussing my time in the Redstall Forest. I give a watered-down version, conveniently leaving out how Kie and Mason threatened to murder me and then decided to gift me to Zaha .
My voice grows hoarse as I get to the part about Lill.
I explain that Callie is alive and found a way to fake a bond between Lill, Kie, and Mason, and tears begin leaking down my cheeks as I share the queen’s murder and Lill’s disappearance.
I leave out the details of Lill being responsible for the murder. I just can’t bring myself to say it.
Kie takes over when it becomes clear I’m struggling to continue.
He lightly touches on the conflict between the faeries and shifters before finally dropping the bomb that I’m going to be crowned queen consort this evening.
“This evening?” Mom repeats.
I nod.
She falls silent again. It doesn’t sound real. None of this sounds real, and I didn’t realize how absurd everything has been until I said it out loud. It’s no wonder my parents are staring at me as if I’ve grown two heads.
“I think I need to sit down,” Mom eventually mumbles.
She’s already sitting, and Dad wordlessly rubs her back. Even I’m struggling to wrap my head around everything, and I’m the one who lived through it.