Page 126 of The Prince from a Cruel Summer
“Let me go?” I repeat, so full of shock and disbelief that I can barely believe this is real life. “Is that what he asked you to do?”
“Yes.” Aidan grips the side of my arm. “Now that he knows the truth about you being a siren, you’re in danger. You wouldn’t have passed the academy trials if not for your siren’s song. If Ethan reveals what you are, what you’ve done, you’ll be arrested. Being a Sea mutt is one thing, but using your song to cheat your way into the Royal Academy—into my heart—could mean death.”
“Are you saying you only love me because of my song?” I squeak.
Sometimes, when fear is too raw, it becomes an unshakable ghost.
Aidan’s jaw ticks. “The optics aren’t good, Beth. People would never believe me if I vouched for you. You have to leave Faerie. I’ll make sure Ethan and my father keep your secret.”
“Why would they do that?” I ask, my voice hollow.
“My father would agree to it just to save the academy from scandal,” he answers quietly, his new plan apparently all figured out.
“Speak louder, please,” Ethan orders. “I don’t want to miss anything.”
“You need to leave tonight, or they’ll arrest you,” Aidan says louder, a mere puppet to the monster standing behind him, and my heart breaks into a million pieces.
“Leave Faerie, little mutt. Aidan understands the stakes. He won’t come after you,” Ethan adds, twisting the knife where it hurts most.
This is the end of us. We’ve stretched the fantasy as far as we could, but it ends tonight in a cloud of ash. There’s nobutormaybeabout it. Aidan is saying goodbye. For good.
Chapter 40
Brave New World
SONGBIRD
The towering bookshelves of the bibliotheca offer me some cover, my heart pounding, bleeding,achingwith all the horror of my secret midnight rendezvous. Ethan’s vile kiss still chafes my lips, the hollow look on Aidan’s face imprinted in my retinas.
“Ezra?” I call out, my throaty, uneven voice echoing through the silent halls.
Ethan ordered for me to leave Faerie at once, and I tremble at the thought of what he might do if I dared to disobey him. Somehow, I fear death wouldn’t be his first choice of punishment.
"Lady Snow, what's the matter?" Ezra answers from the heart of the stacks, his voice filled with concern.
Shadows and light move on the ground, the glow of his powers casting patterns on marble as he weaves a path out of the maze to meet me.
The Prince of Light has spent many evenings here of late. He hasn’t said so out loud, but he’s clearly been burying himself in work to distract himself from the trauma of his wedding, as though he’s searching for a way to erase the indelible mark left in his bones within the ancient books.
"I need your help. You have your Shadow mask on you?" I ask quickly.
“Yes.” He scans me from head to toe, his frown deepening. “Beth, you're scaring me. What's happening?"
"I was supposed to meet Aidan in the gardens. We were about to—we planned to go to the new world together, but he ended things instead.”
Ezra clasps my hand in his. “Breathe, Lady Snow. You’re not making sense.”
My eyes flick to his face, the shadow swirling in his ice-blue irises mirroring my unease. “Your father was there, too."
“Ethan was in the gardens?” Ezra’s eyes widen, and he rests both hands on my shoulders. “Did he hurt you?”
I wrap my arms around my frame. “No. But he will. Unless I leave Faerie for good.”
Ezra combs his hair back, giving me a bit of space. “What did Aidan say?”
“He told me to go,” I squeak.
“What? He’s giving up on you?”
