Page 62 of Wicked Prince of Carnage
The prince had known where Nareth fled and hadn’t murdered him? “I don’t understand the things you choose to do almost all of the time.”
He shrugged. “Most don’t.”
“Tell everyone in Bloodstorm that your father had your mother killed.”
“It’s not enough.” Winter sighed. “He would blame my mother somehow so that it sounds as if he was right to end her life, and no one will stand up to the king. No one but me. Something I should’ve done long ago.” He placed a finger against her lips. “Now, wait here. I’ll return shortly.”
Sterling was getting everything she’d wanted. Her brother returned to her, a chance at freedom again, and reuniting with her closest friend. But still she warred with herself. It truly wasn’teverything.
Seconds ticked like a clock inside Sterling’s head until the carriage door opened and Winter handed her a bow and a quiver of arrows.Herbow and arrows. The gift that had once been given to her as a child by her grandmother.
“Your grandmother wanted to protect you and your mother. That’s why she stopped seeing my father,” Winter admitted. “However, I still don’t regret my wolves killing her.”
“You don’t have to regret it.” She missed her grandmother dearly, always would, but she shouldn’t have murdered the queen.
The door of the manor opened. Cyan raced outside, Amalli following behind him with a small piece of luggage. He hurled himself past Winter into the carriage and wrapped his arms around Sterling in a tight hug.
“You’re back,” he said.
“Of course.” She smiled.
As Cyan sat down, she faced Winter once more. He captured her lips with his. “Lijah will take you, your brother, and Nareth to an abandoned manor that I secretly purchased long ago in the Shaderain Court. You’ll be safe from my father once you cross the border out of Bloodstorm.”
Sterling swallowed deeply. “How long until I see you again?”
“Wicked princes don’t get happy endings—even if they fall in love.” Winter shut the carriage door. Before Sterling could think properly, the horses took off, and she stumbled back into her seat.
Sterling stared out the carriage window, watching as Winter discussed something with Amalli until they vanished from her sight. Her heart clenched, and a rawness, a vulnerability she didn’t know she had, ignited. It was as if her heart was tearing.
“Prince Winter told me we are going to see Nareth and we won’t be coming back here.” Cyan’s tone wasn’t as joyful as she expected.
It couldn’t possibly be forever unless Winter expected to lose against his father… “Aren’t you happy to see Nareth?” Sterling asked, keeping her voice even so Cyan wouldn’t notice her worry.
Her brother’s shoulders fell. “More than anything, but I’m going to miss Amalli.”
“I’ll miss her too.” Sterling studied him as he tugged two folded sheets of paper from his pocket to work on. Relief washedover her that her brother was free, but there was one missing piece lingering within her, one that she never would’ve thought she held, that belonged to the Prince of Carnage.
The carriage traveled for about an hour before stopping outside a meager cottage nestled in the middle of an emerald forest. A chestnut mare drank from a narrow river near the home.
“Wait here,” Sterling instructed Cyan as Lijah opened the carriage door. She had to be certain her friend was there. More importantly, that the king’s wolves hadn’t uncovered Winter’s plan and gotten here first. The wind rumpled her hair when she nocked an arrow against her bow.
Lijah inhaled the air. “No wolves are here.”
Sterling didn’t lower the bow and kicked the door softly with her foot, just to be certain. “Nareth, it’s me.”
The door opened quickly and Nareth stilled, his eyes on the arrow. “Is that how you reunite with your closest friend?”
Tears filled her eyes, and she set the bow on the ground before throwing her arms around Nareth. He looked the same, only his hair a bit longer. She brushed a finger across his cheek where faint bruises still colored his skin after his fight with Winter weeks ago. “You don’t have any scars.”
“I don’t care about that. You’re here. Alive! And Cyan?”
“I’m here,” Cyan said from behind her.
Sterling didn’t even reprimand her brother as she would’ve before.
Inside, footsteps padded against the wooden floor, and Sterling watched as a pretty brown-haired woman slipped into view.
Sterling recognized her as a customer who’d come into the meat shop every few weeks to purchase jerky.
