Page 21 of Foretold

Even if it is a witch’s magic?

“Dad might be mad if I broke you out,” he replies, knowing exactly where my mind went. “But I don’t think you should have to stay in here all alone.”

“I agree.”

He then stands and holds out his little hand.

Smiling, I take it.

And then Rave’s son breaks me out of the prison his father put me in.

CHAPTER NINE

Astrid

Zipping back to my father’s kingdom will not solve anything, and I know that. However, I do need to see them before they show up on Rave’s doorstep with an army. I know they all have to be pissed, especially Bane, who was adamant about me only leaving when I wanted to. So, instead, I go fishing with Vale, who apparently spends a lot of his free time doing just that whenever he’s not training with his sword.

“Should we be doing this when it’s so dark?” I ask, staring up at the bright moon. “And when vampires are around?”

“I don’t know… you’re the adult,” he reminds me, which means we are in deep shit because I’m usually getting myself into some sort of trouble. He shines his torch light. I suppose as a void, he’d have to be used to not relying on magic. Holding up my palms, I close my eyes and envision what I want to create—a bright orb forming. It rises above our heads until we can see all around us.

“You’re going to chase away the squid with that,” he points out, staring at it with awe.

“Does your mom know where you are right now?” I ask, stepping away from a loud frog near my feet.

“No, she thinks I’m in bed,” he replies casually, cheering when he pulls up a fish on his line. “Look at this one.”

“Very impressive,” I reply with a wide smile. “Grab your fish, and let’s get out of here.”

We aren’t far from the castle. In fact, I see it from here, but if anything happens to Vale, I know how bad the situation would be and what it would look like for me.

We walk back side by side, his fish in the bucket we broughtwith us, his little rod leaning on his shoulder.

“I had fun tonight, Vale. And thank you for getting me out of the room,” I say to him as we step back inside the castle, where he leaves his rod by the door.

“Any time.” He beams.

We stop at the kitchen, where he hands his fish to the chef to cook for him.

“I’ll walk you back to your room,” he then announces.

My eyes widen at this little kid’s show of chivalry. “You’re a lot like your father, you know that?”

He laughs an adorable, musical sound. “I get told that…a lot.”

We stop at the front of my prison, but then I keep walking to the next door and open that one instead. This is the room that had become ‘our’ bedroom before he put me in my old room to hold me captive. “I’m not going back inthatroom.”

“I wouldn’t want to either.” Vale nods, coming in behind me. “I’ll break you out again if you need me to, so don’t worry.”

I study him as I sit on the edge of the black silk-covered bed. “And why would you do that, knowing it would upset both your parents?”

He takes the spot next to me. “I feel bad about what happened. And I don’t like seeing my dad sad. And he’s been really sad since you left.”

Shit.

You’d have to be evil not to like this kid.

How could Rave think that I’d banish him?

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