Page 72 of When Wishes Bleed

Tauren wasn’t waiting in any of the gardens I could find. Rose’s potion must have done the trick.

I pushed through the kitchen’s heavy swinging steel doors and almost ran into Knox again. He laughed, holding up two glasses and a bottle of Champagne. “We have to stop meeting like this, Sable.”

I stared at the twin glasses. Did Tauren send his brother to retrieve them for him and Rose?

“He’s not with her,” Knox supplied, reading my thoughts. “He’s in his room, but will be down soon.”

“I wasn’t looking for him.”

“Liar,” he whispered, a knowing smirk on his lips. A long, silent moment stretched between us. Knox bent forward, whispering, “For the record, I’m all for shaking things up in the Kingdom.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“A witch and a prince? What an interesting match.”

Didn’t he tell Knox that I couldn’t marry him?

“You seem upset,” he mused, watching me carefully. His eyes were sharp, like his mother’s.

“I’m starving.”

He gave me a look like he didn’t believe me, but then used the Champagne bottle to point toward the back of the room. “The refrigerators are right there. Help yourself.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded once, gave me another quizzical look, and then bid me goodnight, pushing his way through the door.

On the center of one of the cutting board counters was a basket of fruit. I found a napkin and filled it with a bunch of grapes and a green apple, then left the kitchen to return to my room. I met Tauren in the hallway.

“How did you know where to find me?” I asked.

“I bumped into Knox.”

He stood in front of me, close enough that I could smell his cologne. Something spicy and rich. He didn’t smell like Champagne or rose hips, thank the goddess. Tauren studied my dress. “You look beautiful, Sable.”

“There’s nothing beautiful about this old rag.”

“You wore it the night of the Equinox, didn’t you?”

I nodded. That night would be permanently etched into his memory, and no matter what I did from this point forward, I would always be the Daughter of Fate to him, the girl who hung a criminal in front of a crowd of his people. The girl who told him he was going to die.

I might as well have been wearing my noose as a belt.

Silently, he brushed my gloved hand. “Too much residue?” he asked.

“Yes.” I nearly choked on the lie, but allowing him to see my necrotic fingers was not something I was willing to do. Not until I knew why Fate had altered them.

“Will you come outside with me?”

“Of course.”

He led me to a garden I hadn’t seen before, one that was partially enclosed with glass. Pale white moonflowers bloomed all around us, their musky fragrance perfuming the air. There was a small pond with a fountain in the center, its surface covered with pink waterlilies that craned their delicate necks toward the moon. “This is the Night Garden,” he told me once we were inside.

A simple, wooden plank swing hung in the corner. Tauren gave an encouraging nod. “You can swing if you’d like.”

I made my way to the swing and unwrapped the food I’d smuggled away. “Are you hungry?”

“No, thank you.”

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