Page 99 of A Bride for the Winter King
Crabs feed at high tide,my mother once said.
“I’m going back in a couple of hours, actually,” I lie, the words flying out of my mouth with ease.
He frowns. “Why?”
“I’m going to marry the King,” I whisper.
“Oof. Nice one.” A bright chuckle pops out of his mouth. “You really had me going there for a second, sis.”
“I’m not kidding.”
Even though I’m bluffing, the words ring true. So true in fact that I begin to believe them myself.
Ayaan rolls his eyes at what he clearly considers not only to be impossible, but absolutely ridiculous. “You can’t marry the Winter King, Nightshade.”
“Why not? He needs a wife, and he chose me. The solstice ritual starts in only a few hours.”
My brother’s brows furrow, the lines at the corners of his eyes making him look even more like our father. “You’re lying to get me to talk about our plans. Who put you up to this?”
“What plans, Foxtail?”
“I’m not going to say another word. I know for a fact that the Winter King picked someone else.”
“News travels fast here, I bet,” I muse, injecting a shit-load of sarcasm in my voice. Without giving myself the time to chickenout, I reach into my pocket and pry out the frost apple. “Are you 100% sure your sources are correct?”
Ayaan’s face loses all color. “Is that—” He draws away from the door, his gaze fixed on the mythical fruit.
I rub down the apple with the sleeve of my uniform, its vibrant blue peel like a beacon in the murky air. “What’s going to happen, Ayaan? Because like it or not, it’s going to happen to me. Not a stranger, and definitely not some spoiled Fae princess.”
His gray eyes dim. “The tides will rise tonight and wash the Winter King from our shores. You can’t be standing next to him when it happens.”
A hot pocket of grief flares in my chest. “Who’s their leader? Morrigan?” I search for hints of recollection on his face, and a small wince escapes him.
“Don’t believe everything you’ve heard. Morrigan escaped the Shadow Court. Rye is one of us, now.”
“Us?” I inch my shirt up to showcase my rotting scar. “See that? Your preciousRyedid that to me.” My teeth grit together as I summon the will not to yell. “Who’s the leader? The Gray Man? Do you know who he is?”
“I’ve already said way too much. Just…don’t go back to Wintermere, and let the Winter King marry someone else.”
The rune pinches my arm, signaling the fifteen minute mark, and I tuck the apple safely back inside my pocket. “I love you, Ayaan, but I have to go.”
“Don’t marry him, Nightshade! You’re going to get yourself killed!” he shouts after me, the door of his cell rattling on its hinges.
Shadows glide along my arms and legs as I break into a run. Seth is already waiting by the warded mirror with his mask when I return, his bloody palm pressed to the surface of the glass. I slip inside the sceawere without a hitch, and he follows after me. Histie is undone, and a smudge of red lipstick mars the white collar of his undershirt.
“Is everything alright?” he asks, the cold kiss of the sceawere biting deep into the sensitive skin of my neck.
“We have to hurry,” I rasp, the tightness in my chest morphing into a dull ache. “The Tidecallers are coming for the soulstonight.”
Chapter 40
Forever
LORI
As her sponsor, Seth is supposed to give Daisy away. The ill-fated bride is sitting on a stool in front of the backlit vanity mirror of the dressing room, two women hovering around her.
The three of them are speaking in hushed voices, wrinkled cloth handkerchiefs tucked in their tight grips. The oldest of the two strangers is clearly Daisy’s mother, with the same slim nose, blonde hair, and blue eyes.
