Prince Elias.
I stepped closer to the trunk, hoping he wouldn’t see me. What was she doing talking to him?
I’d met Elias once, back when he married Sereth, not long after I chose to rescue her from her stepmother. The rumor was she bit into a poisoned apple, and he broke the spell with a kiss. Their marriage didn’t last. He couldn’t stomach her practices.
Some say Sereth made her stepmother dance in red-hotshoes until she dropped dead. Others say she killed the queen outright. No one knows for sure.
Elias left the lush mountains and army-ridden lands of Moanalei and returned to the tourist-trap and pristine beaches of Corallure. They hadn’t seen each other since: not really husband and wife, not really divorced.
He said something that made Malia smile.
Something twisted in my chest. A sharp, sour feeling I hated. I wanted to march over there and knock that stupid smirk off his face, but I didn’t move.
Malia can talk to whoever she wants.
Then why did it bother me so much that she was talking to him?
She gestured to the loaves she was selling, laughing at something he said. Then they kissed each other’s cheeks and parted ways.
It was nothing. Just a custom.
Still, it made my blood boil. Made my thoughts simmer in disgust that she wasn’t someone I could claim. Never was.
And yet, Elias could make her smile so easily. Did he even really know her? Did he taste her home cooked meals or listen to her gentle humming? Did he know how gracefully she moved and how gently she touched? He didn’t know a thing about her.
Or so I secretly hoped.
I fought the urge to march up to him and shove him to the ground just as a warning tostay away.
But I couldn’t.
Malia and I had never kissed like that. Not even as a greeting.
And suddenly, I wanted it. Maybe more. Badly.
I’d already made my decision.
So why wouldn’t the feelings die?
“So that’s what you’ve been up to.” Destin’s voice sounded close to me. I turned and glared at him, but his attention was riveted on Malia. “Are you sure she hasn’t cast a spell on you?”
“Are you sure you don’t want this fist in your face?” I warned, and Destin rubbed his chin.
“She’s beautiful, Alaric, but…”
“But what?”
“You can’t have her and the sea.”
The dark truth. Destin said it out loud, and it killed me. Made me feel like I was drowning. No air. And there was no way to swim out of this mess.
“Did you find the twins?” I asked, changing the subject.
“I’ve asked around. A couple of villagers have seen them.”
I touched the dagger at my side.They must be here then…My attention went straight to Malia, watching her every move.
I can’t let anything happen to her.
