Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
He chuckled. “You’re cute when you’re scared.”
“I’m not scared. I just want to be prepared. My memory’s a bit fuzzy, but didn’t I get attacked by one when we were walking… to the village?”
Oddly enough, I remembered the walk, the village, and holding Benjamin’s hand, but nothing about the wolf except I screamed so loud Ben thought I was getting murdered.
“You scared him, poor guy. I think he almost pissed himself when he saw you conjure up ice from your bare hands, your eyes going nearly white with terror. You were magnificent, by the way.” He pulled me to his side.
“Thank you.” I beamed. “Lead the way.”
“For the record, this is a bad idea,” he muttered. “But I know you’ll just find a way to come back when I’m sleeping—just stay close.”
Of course, I would stay close.
I wanted to live my life by this man’s side.
We walked hand in hand, and I wondered if Ben even noticed that with each step, a flower grew up out of the forest floor. I remembered him being embarrassed about it the first time we met, but I’d thought it was so sweet that even the earth couldn’t help but respond to his magnetism.
Even though he didn’t have all his magic, he still had some of the things that made him who he was, who he’d been when I’d fallen in love with him all those years ago.
It was strange, combining the life I had now with the past. It was nearly seamless like I’d existed and then been in a coma, only to wake up in the future with him by my side.
We walked in silence, and then we came upon a small path that led toward a clearing. We picked up our pace as the path led down into a sort of valley near a cliff that overlooked the ocean.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.
“It’s clearly not abandoned,” he answered.
Another blur of white appeared to my left, and I turned just in time to see the large werewolf morph back into a man—a very angry-looking man with brown hair, a sharp jawline, and nearly black eyes.
He sniffed the air as a growl purred past his full lips. “Fae.”
“We aren’t here to cause any trouble,” Benjamin said smoothly. “We just got lost in the forest… it happens.”
The man was standing in front of us fully naked and didn’t seem to be in the mood to shift back or move anytime soon; I was careful to keep my eyes locked on his. “Do you ever see a man in his mid-forties coming through the forest and visiting the center?”
“Who’s asking?” His biceps flexed while his nostrils flared.
“Me.” I smiled. “I’m asking. My name’s Luna—”
“Damanta,” he finished with a look of pure agony twisting his face. “I saw you die over two hundred years ago. You were in the woods. He was with you.” He sneered. “I’ve served this area of the forest for years. I didn’t take your death well.” He bit down on his bottom lip. “I thought he killed you.”
“Oh, he did.” I shrugged toward Ben. “But that’s kind of our thing, Romeo and Juliet and the poison, and we have a curse.”
“A curse?” His brow furrowed even more. “What kind of curse?”
“A horrible one,” Benjamin said in a bored tone behind me. “Can you answer the question, please? The woods aren’t exactly safe for us during the week of a full moon.”
“Aw, too many werewolves?” His eyes narrowed. “And you go first. What sort of curse?”
I sighed; what was the point of keeping a secret? “It’s a Matchmaker’s curse.”
“And have you found a cure?”
“No.” I wanted to kick something or, at the very least, scream.
“Maybe the curse isn’t so much about finding a way to cure it but overcoming it…” He jerked his head toward the center. “All those years ago, you were here searching for something. You’re probably still searching for the same thing. While I can’t give you straight answers, I’ll tell you what I did then. There’s a man he visits every week. And every week, he reads to one of the patients in the private part of the house. She has her own room. She’s beautiful, like a fairy princess with shimmering hair. I imagine her eyes are a deep green or maybe a light blue. My family was paid very well to protect this section of the forest and to kill anyone who may come asking questions. But in the last few hundred years, the man who visits has gotten—more erratic. He killed one of my brothers the day you died, Luna. He said you were too close to breaking the curse. It didn’t take long to deduce that you’re the cursed Spring Fae Prince and you—” He nodded to me. “—the missing Winter Princess.”
I couldn’t breathe.
Everything he was telling us felt right, even though I couldn’t remember meeting him in the past lifetime. That meant we’d gotten close more than once. That gave me more hope than it should.