Page 82 of The Prince from a Cruel Summer
He sounds so sure again, he almost makes me doubt. After landing on the ground, he blows me one last kiss and spins around, burying both hands in his pockets.
I follow his silhouette until it disappears between the bushes.
“Morning.” My stomach clenches at the unexpected greeting, and I jolt around to find Devi sprawled over the empty bed on the opposite side of the room.What in the seven hells? How did I miss her, before?
Thanatos be kind…The gleeful smile on her lips is terrifying.
“So… you and Aidan. How long has that been going on?” she muses.
I open my mouth to blurt out a defensive mention of St. John’s Eve, but Devi doesn’t wait for my answer. “Since he helped you in the trials, I bet.”
My insides coil to a standstill, and my breath frosts in front of my face, the temperature in the room dropping below freezing.
“You know, it’s been driving Damian crazy, how you—a moth with no special training—managed to cross Aidan’s deadly maze in record time. But last night, as you were singing, I finally got it.” She rakes her black manicured nails across the pillow propped over her lap. “Aidan helped you. The thought had crossed my mind before, but I couldn’t figure out why. Aidan is a ruthless competitor. Why would he help a moth, of all people?”
“I suppose you’re not actually asking?” I crack.
She slinks to her feet. “What do you know of your mother?”
My brows furrow at the sudden turn the conversation has taken, but I know better than to tell Devi Eros to mind her own business, not when she’s holding me by my metaphorical balls. “Not much. She died when I was young, and she had no family.”
She draws a sharp intake of breath. “So you don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“And your father has kept you away from the sea, of course. He never taught you how to swim,” she whispers, mostly to herself.
“What are you getting at?”
“You’re a siren, moth. That’s why Aidan helped you in the labyrinth. He never suspected of course, because of all the silly Summer legends about love at first sight, and his own vanity. He never suspected for a moment thatyou, a nobody, could have enchantedhim.”
“Err— No chance.” I shake my head, her hypothesis absolutely ridiculous. “That’s impossible. Sirens kill their lovers.”
“How do you explain last night, then? You basically bewitched everyone.”
“No,” I repeat. “If I was a siren, the whole audience would have been under my thrall. There would have been a riot and bloodshed?—”
“I figure you might be half siren. A quarter? An eighth? I’m right about the trials, yes? I bet you sang your heart out in that labyrinth…”
The instinct to deny it at all cost takes a life of its own, and my fists curl at my sides. “It doesn’t mean that I’m a siren, because I’m not.”
Sea Fae aren’t allowed to live on the continent. They’re vicious and violent, luring many to their deaths.
“A man like Aidan, cheating himself of a major win against his nemesis and risking his mother’s ire for a girl he’s never even met? It doesn’t make sense.”
A small voice in my head agrees, and I swallow hard, replaying the trials in my mind. “You’re wrong.” I turn away from her, retreating to the foot of my bed, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.
“I’m not,” she deadpans, stepping closer.
A wince escapes me. “Wrong or not, people will believe you over me, no matter what,” I whisper. “So I might as well pack my bags and crawl into some hole in the wall.”
Her demeanor shifts in an instant, going from dry and accusatory to amused. “Oh, you haven’t been paying attention, moth. One day, this secret might become a weapon in some major battle, and I wouldn’t waste it just to see you expelled.” She takes a meaningful pause, then crawls over my duvet as though we’re friends gossiping at a sleepover. “But I do need you to tell me about the impending nuptials I caught wind of. Did you hear anything about it?”
Cold sweat pearls above my brows. “Who’s getting married?”
She squints, her stare raising goosebumps on my arms. “That’s what I’d like to know. It’s supposed to be aSummerwedding, and aroyalone at that. I figured you’d be open to sharing secrets now that we’re... better acquainted.”
ASummerwedding? My throat tightens. Devi’s obvious enthusiasm for coercion sinks like an anchor in my chest, dragging all my hopes and dreams down with it.
