My mother places a hand on my shoulder, and Queen Kalise does the same. Even through the glove, I can feel the chill of her touch.
They both say the traditional blueblood blessing for an engaged couple—one I’ll hear countless times today.
“May your marriage be filled with the gift, fruitful and joyful in abundance.”
My stomach tightens. The gift has never been a gift for me. I hate it and secretly pray that my children will lack its curse, just like Gabriel and Marielle.
After they release their grip on us, Leland and I stand across from each other, not quite close enough to touch, but near enough that I have to tilt my head up to look at his face. He winks, and I give him a quick, reassuring smile.
This is good.
This is the right choice for me.
“Give her a kiss!” a man from the crowd shouts.
“Kiss her!” another adds, and suddenly the people are all yelling and cheering for us to kiss.
Leland hesitates, then steps forward, wrapping his arms around me. My heart thunders as I glance at Mother. Her face holds a bright, practiced smile—the false smile of a queen maintaining appearances. But her eye twitches as she looks at me.
The crowd cheers louder, the shouts for a kiss growing bolder as one of Leland’s hands slides to the small of my back and the other to the back of my neck. “Is this alright with you?” he asks.
I nod. What else am I to do in front of such a vocal crowd? “Just make it quick.”
He gives a steady nod as his face comes closer to mine, so close I can smell his scent. I close my eyes, hoping to feel anything other than the waves of anxiety flooding me as Leland’s soft lips press against mine.
For a moment, all I feel is a rush of calm. This is a good thing.
His lips move against mine, and I don’t stop him as he pulls me closer, the crowd roaring with approval. Then my gift begins tosurface—a rush of warmth filling our embrace—and I feel the instant Leland senses it.
A hungry desperation overtakes him as he tries to deepen the kiss. Instantly, I pull back, and he looks down at me, panting, his eyes wide with uninhibited lust. His grip tightens as he leans in again.
It’s nothing I haven’t experienced before, and disappointment washes over me like ice water. “That’s all for now, Leland,” I whisper. His hands fall as he steps back, but there’s still that wild gleam in his ice-blue eyes, so foreign to his gentle spirit.
I turn from him, afraid to see what my gift has done to a man I wanted to build a life with. I don’t know why I hoped it would be different with Leland. My curse flooded him just as it did every other man.
I risk a glance back, and the lust in his eyes has turned to disgust. That, too, happens to men—especially the good ones. The ones who can’t stand to face what my gift turns them into.
I turn away again and find Kieran’s hard stare near the front of the crowd. I don’t know if he’s jealous or plotting his next move, but I fight the urge to run to him. He’s not my safe haven anymore, and my gift would fill him just as it would any man. It doesn’t matter if he’s the only man I’ve loved. He’s still not right for me.
“I’m sorry. That was—unexpected,” Leland mumbles, turning to Queen Kalise before leading her to their seats.
Cracks show in my mother’s false smile as she addresses the crowd once more, announcing the evening’s events.
Then I hear Marielle’s ear-splitting scream from behind me, and chaos erupts on the dais. I turn to see a dark rot spreading across the platform, my sisters running for the edge. I freeze, the corruption eating away at the wood beneath my feet as everyone else flees.
Leland is gone. The queens are nowhere to be seen. And still, I can’t move.
Before I can force myself to react, Kieran is there—tugging me against his hard chest, his hand locking with mine as he runs, pulling me with him.
17
Kieran
“Let me go!” Gen shouts, but I only tighten my hold on her delicate wrist, tugging her along the trail deeper into the woods surrounding Covington Park.
“I can’t do that, Gen,” I say, pulling her faster, harder, as people scream and shout behind us. I block out the chaos. My one goal is to get Gen away from the rapidly spreading rot as quickly as possible. I can’t stop to think about the reasoning behind my actions.
I hate this woman.
