1
A Princess Once More
Aries
With another dab of adhesive, I stick one more glittering silver flower to the hard exterior of my right horn.
There. Perfect.
I tilt my head this way and that, and a small sense of petty accomplishment burns in my chest at the sight of the many tiny blooms that accent my dark spiraling horns. It’s the first feeling that hasn’t been rage or emptiness in days. I look like a godsdamn unicorn threw up all over me, but it just draws attention to the one thing my father has asked me again and again to hide.
He’s ashamed of my hellish appearance. Well, I’m ashamed of every single thing he’s done since I was a little girl, so we’re eve—no. We’re not even. Not even fucking close.
Because three men who I care—eh, who I’m decently fond of them not dying—are locked away in the demon’s hold beneath the castle. They’re literally lying beneath my fucking feet, and I’m not permitted entrance.
I seethe another heavy breath through my clenched teeth.
“The flowers complement your eyes, love,” Krave says from behind me.
My gaze flashes to him in the mirror. He leans against the closed door of my quiet bedroom. The hard lines of his chest and the sketching tattoos that line his body are accompanied only by his glittering black wings and tight black jeans.
He watches me from a distance. Just as he has for three long days now.
Just like my father told him, I’m sure.
“Be sure to tell Daddy all about it,” I say beneath my breath as I dab another little bloom and add it to the others. I’m one fucking glittering petal away from having my own horny garden, but I don’t care. It’s tacky as hell to look at, but I keep on adding them anyway.
It keeps me busy, really. Doing this petty bullshit keeps me from not thinking about how monumentally I fucked up.
I put them in danger. And they paid for it.
My jaw clenches. The only comfort I have is knowing that today will be the last damn day I sit locked in my room doing nothing.
I’m done waiting to see their fate.
“He asked me to ask you to glamour them again.” Krave shifts where he stands but doesn’t dare take a step toward me. Not after what he did to me. He accused Ryke. He let Ryke take the fall for me. They all just let him be beaten at my feet and then torn away from me.
I don’t even know if he’s alive.
He was so bloody. Everything was bloody that night.
My attention slides to the golden crown resting on my vanity tabletop.
It’s his. Everything in this fucking room is his.
It’s Nathiale’s crown. The same one I killed him with.
And they’ve shined it up like new and passed it down to me, the future ruler of the Kingdom of Roses.
I’ve studied the detailed crown enough to know there’s a speck of blood they missed in the central opal gemstone. It’s hardly noticeable, but I notice. I notice it all the time. My thumb brushes over his dried blood. I caress the cold metal and memories whisper through my mind.
My gaze slides over the white walls to the balcony doors, and I swear I can feel the cold breeze that flitted through this room that deadly night.
You did the right thing,Catherine says gently.
I hate how supportive she’s been lately. She’s been careful with me. Like she knows I can be set off now and not pause for an instant to let her take control. My body is mine.
Mostly.
