Page 93 of Spearcrest Prince

“If you’re so certain you know the truth,” he snaps, “then why don’t you tell me?”

“Idoknow the truth.” I take a deep breath, steeling my voice to make sure it doesn’t break. “And the truth is this: if you wanted to come to this party with me, then you should have asked me.”

For a moment, there is nothing but silence and the melancholy sigh of the wind in the trees.

“You’re ridiculous,” Sev finally says in a puff of fake laughter.

“If I’m lying, then why did you follow me out here? Why not just let me leave this party?”

“Because…” He swallows hard, his throat shuddering, the gold chains glittering around his neck. “Because I want…”

It’s my turn to let out a mocking laugh. “You don’t know what you want, Sev. You want everyone to love you, but you don’t want to love anyone. You want me to go to the party alone, but you want to go to the party with Mellie. You want to be free, but you don’t want to break this engagement. You want to sleep with me, but you don’t want me to think you like me.”

“I know what I want,” he says in a low voice. “I fucked you because Iwantedto fuck you. You only fucked me to secure the Montcroix name.”

Chapter 32

La Méprise

Séverin

WhenIfollowedAnaïsinto the arboretum, I didn’t even know what I intended to do.

I followed her on impulse, like being blown somewhere by an explosion. Not a thought went into the process, and the closer I got to her, the less sense everything made in my head.

Touching Anaïs causes a short circuit in my head.

It makes my thoughts sizzle and fray, leaving only raw emotions behind. When I’m around Anaïs is when I need to be the most in control, but that never happens.

Anaïs always sends me spinning out of control.

Why else would I say something like that to her? Accuse her of fucking me only to secure the Montcroix name?

I didn’t say it because I believe it—I only half-believe it. Her family might be desperate for my name, but I know Anaïs now. She probably hardly cares. She probably doesn’t care at all.

So why did I say this?

Because I’m fed up with always being the one spinning out of control. Because I’ve fallen—I’m still falling—and I want to drag her down with me into whatever abyss I’m sinking in.

“You only fucked me to secure the Montcroix name.”

As soon as I say it, I wish I had the power to take it back, to burn the words out of existence.

But it’s too late; there’s nothing I can do. Anaïs’s eyes—that pretty shape I like so much—go wide for a moment. Then her features still, as if she’s suddenly turned to ice.

She goes cold all over.

“If that’s what you’re so worried about, Séverin,” she says quietly, dangerous ice in her voice, “then let me put your mind at ease once and for all. I don’t want your name. I don’t care about it at all. Here is the truth you’ve been so desperate to find out: I agreed to the engagement because I didn’t have a choice, but I came here because it was part of my plan to be free of it. If I liked you, it’s because I liked you, and if I wanted to sleep with you, it’s because I wanted to sleep with you. You don’t have a single thing in your possession—not your status, not your fortune, not your name—I either want or need. I have no intention of staying engaged to you. I have no intention of marrying you. I never had.”

My stomach drops. I have the sickening falling sensation of stepping into nothing. A horrible unsettling feeling, a pitting of the gut. I blink, and my mouth moves, wanting to form words, my voice a raw rasp.

“What do you mean?”

“Just because I didn’t rage and rail like you did doesn’t mean I was any more ready to accept this ridiculous engagement, Sev.” Her words slice into me, so cold they burn. “But unlike you, I made a plan. I’ve come to Spearcrest because I need to—I’m leaving as soon as the school year is over, and I’m not coming back. So you don’t need to worry about the engagement, and you don’t need to worry about your precious name being stolen from you. You can return to your picture-perfect life, to your parties and your champagne and all your beautiful girls. You have my blessing. I’ll be living my life freely—I hope you do the same.”

I want to shout, to grab her, to force her to explain herself. Is she lying? She has got to be lying. She’s always been so calm, so unemotional—this whole time, I believed it was because she was just willing to accept her parents’ decision in a way that I couldn’t.

How could she have a plan? How could she just leave and not come back? Does she not care about the repercussions of her actions?

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