Page 94 of A Bride for the Winter King
“Yeah…”
“And is that…what you wanted?”
I press a pillow over my face for a long minute before a squeaky, “No,” whistles out.
Nell peels the pillow away from my flustered face. “Crops! Cece was right! You’re in love with him.”
“Told you so!” Cece beams as she joins us in the secluded hideout.
My arms slice through the air in an emphatic gesture of denial. “No nononono. No!”
Nell gives me one of her most patient smiles. “Lori… I’ve never seen that look on your face.”
I jolt to my feet and run away from her laser-like gaze, the Shadow Queen clearly using some dark mojo to pry the truth out of me. “No! That ice prick chose to marry someone else. As far as I’m concerned, he can choke on his damn curse and bring his entire kingdom down with him.”
Cece tilts her chin up, giving me her best haughty princess glare. “He chose someone elseto protect you.”
“How do you know?”
“His wives all die before spring, right? It makes sense,” she huffs.
“How does any of it make sense? How do you know he doesn’t just kill his wives?”
Cece shakes her head like she finds me irritating and unreasonable. “Why would he willingly put himself through this every year? Nell and I figured he was cursed or something.”
I raise a brow at her sister.
Nell’s chest heaves in commiseration. “Moody, tortured kings can be incredibly stubborn. And stupid.”
“Yeah, they are,” I grumble.
The new Shadow Queen takes a measured pause. “The only real question is… Are you willing to fight for him?”
My mind reels at the implications. “Aren’t you going to say I’m insane for falling for a man I’ve known for only a few days? That maybe I’ve been hit by a love arrow or a spell that stole my good judgment?
Her face crumples into a million lines. “Were you?”
“Not that I know of, but this conversation”—I gesture back and forth between the three of us—“iscrazy. You’re supposed to tell me to be careful and think this through. Talk me down from the ledge.”
She holds up her hand in a halting motion. “Don’t bother with what anyone else thinks. Trust your gut. What does it tell you?”
I grit my teeth together. “Nell!”
“Lori!” She imitates my angry voice and holds my gaze, her lips pressed together to suppress a laugh.
“Fuck-fuck-fuck!” I rake my fingers through my hair. “What am I supposed to do? Rush over there andbeghim to marry me?”
“Maybe.”
“He was so adamant that I should try and be happy without him. That all the Fae royals were in danger because of this coming war…”
A flash of worry shines in Nell’s gaze. “Damian has been extra-broody since he learned about the Tidecallers. I bet that he would have sent me away, too, if we weren’t already married,” she grumbles.
“The man I stabbed—I call him the Gray Man—he wants Elio’s magic.”
The air inside the library suddenly booms with power, and the shadows around Nell skitter along her skin, the dark tendrils vibrating with excitement. I stretch my neck to glance past the corner of the stacks in time to spot Damian marching toward us with his long bow propped at his back.
The magic he collected during his latest hunt still pulses through his body. “Lori. You’re back.”
