Page 6 of Princess of Thorns and Ruin

“Thank you, sir.” I turn on my heels.

The others pat me on the back, and chant my name in cheer. Most of them mean it, and I clench my fists not to punch the daylight out of them. Can’t they see that my life is over? I’d gladly trade places with them, but it’s too late.

I should never have come.

Why the hell did she choose me?

I talked back to her.

I made sure that Darin told her I was old. Too old.

Glenn Floyd had her wrapped around his sleazy fingers.

He looks glum, and the nasty pout on his face is the one, tiny positive thing about this hellish outcome. I hate the guy, and he wanted this. He was born to suck up to a vampire princess, and yet his disappointment is a slim consolation prize. My life is no longer mine. My dreams will never come true. My plans are nothing but ashes at my feet.

Why the fuck did she choose me?

How vain is it of me to find solace in his failure?

I drag my feet to the stacked, sun-battered houses perched at the top of the cliff. Their stark white exteriors contrast with the blue sky, and I can’t tell where the houses end and the puffy clouds behind them begin.

When I rest my hand on my neighbor’s cottage, a burst of heat engulfs me, thick and suffocating. Kit, the red tabby cat, mewls as he slithers between my legs.

Acid burns my throat, and I empty my stomach next to his front paws.

Kit arches his back and side steps to avoid most of the mess, his fur sticking out in all directions, before he scampers off. I swipe the back of my hand across my mouth and force a deep breath down my lungs.

Worst part is: Mum will be proud.

Zara’s quick footsteps tread down the skewed alleyway. Cold sweat gathers at the back of my neck as I turn to face her, to stare at the sum of my broken promises.

Her long blond hair flows in the wind, her beautiful green eyes still puffy and red from the fight we had this morning.

She considers the barf on the step and stiffens as she approaches me. “You said you were too old… You said there was no chance.”

“I’m sorry, Zara.”

A strangled cry parts her lips, and she grips my forearm with more strength than I thought possible. “Let’s run away.” Her nails dig into my arm. “Now.”

My heartbeat spikes off into a crazy-fast drum solo. “You know I can’t. I have a duty to my family.”

She beats my chest with her small fists. “I told you not to go. I told you any princess would notice you—”

I wish her punches would hurt more, but I can barely feel them, my entire body numb. “Mum gave up her scholarship—her whole future—for me when she was young. I couldn’t let her die from that damn cancer.”

“It’s not your fault she got pregnant so young.”

“She gave up everything for me once, and now it’s my turn to sacrifice something for her. I didn’t think she’d last another month, and now she will be cured by their warlocks. Cured, Zara. Just like that.”

When my uncle told me he could get Mum a magical cure for her cancer in exchange for me representing the Callas family at the Delacroix choosing brunch, I didn’t hesitate. The vampires reward the first-blood candidates largely, so most families consider it a great honor to just take part in the proceedings. I had almost no chance to be chosen, but I knew there was a chance. A tiny one.

I gambled my life away. Too bad I won’t be around to see Mum healthy again.

“Mum will get a lifetime allowance, so she’ll be taken care of. Everything I own is now yours. I’ll arrange everything, I promise,” I say, finally meeting her gaze to show her I mean it.

She bends forward like a broken doll, her hands on my shoulders, forehead touching my chest. “Don’t go.”

“It’s too late now. We’d all be executed if I don’t.”

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