Page 52 of Fated

It took every ounce of willpower not to burst into laughter but when I turned and saw the sparkly pink unicorn painted above the desk, I immediately lost the battle. I doubled over, laughing so hard I could barely breathe. Seeing Ash—this tall, intimidating figure—in a room looking as though it came straight out of a fairy tale princess dream was too much.

Tears welled in my eyes from the sheer hilarity of it all, and for a brief moment, amidst all the chaos in my life, it felt so good to laugh.

I took a deep breath, trying to compose myself, but when I glanced at him again—arms crossed in petulance and glaring at me with those dark eyes, the laughter bubbled back up. Snorting, I clapped my hand firmly over my mouth, trying to stifle an attack of giggles.

Unfortunately, the effort only made it worse.

Suddenly, something soft and pink whacked me in the face.

Ash had thrown one of the frilly bed pillows at my head, his expression still grim, but there was the faintest twitch of a grin playing across his lips.

“I’m sorry,” I managed to gasp through my laughter. “Really. Forgive me,Princess Sebastian.”I curtsied dramatically, struggling to keep a straight face.

He now had a death grip on his lips, fighting hard to keep his face straight.

I hurled the frilly pink pillow back at him, and he caught it with ease. I chuckled again, and then he lost the fight, his grin finally slipping out.

My stomach growled again.

“Let’s go get you food,” Ash said and laughed, shaking his head.

“Where?”

“Anywhere but here.”

We both set off chuckling again as we left the absurdly pink room.

As we made our way down Main Street, walking in the direction from which we had come earlier, Ash turned to me. “What do you want to eat?”

“I don’t know.” I glanced around at the unfamiliar surroundings. “I’m so hungry—anything would do at this point.”

We walked a few more minutes until we came to a sign right off Main Street, pointing down a stone path lined with trees. It read simply:Beach.

“Beach?” I said aloud, glancing at Ash who just shrugged.

“Can we see what it is?” I asked him.

“Sure.”

The trees formed a natural tunnel along the path, and after a short walk, the stone beneath our feet gave way to soft sand. “How do you think there are trees down here?” I asked.

Ash looked thoughtful for a moment, clearly searching for an explanation, but he finally shrugged. “No idea.”

We kept along the sandy, tree-lined path until it opened up into something that took my breath away—an actual beach. The waves crashed against the shore, and beyond the water, there was no end in sight, just the vast expanse of ocean stretching out before us.

It looked exactly like every picture I’d ever seen of the ocean.

A deep ache settled in the pit of my stomach, remembering that Mom and I were supposed to see the ocean for the first time together.

“How is this possible?” My voice cracked.

Ash watched me closely as I stared into the water, willing the tears to stay away.

“Is this … the ocean?” My lips were barely able to get the words out.

“I—I don’t know,” Ash admitted with a sigh. “It turns out there’s a whole lot I don’t know.”

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. “Today would’ve been the day Mom and I would have arrived at Linden Beach.” My voice was subdued, faint. “Neither of us had ever seen the ocean, so we’d been planning the trip to celebrate my twenty-first birthday, for years.”

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