I could only nod as he extended a hand toward me, toward the pins aching and straining against my scalp. He pulled the largest of pins free, then another, until my hair tumbled down my shoulders in waves.
“You were hiding your crown.” Silas studied me with an intensity that told me he really saw me.Me. “That’s better.”
“It’s not a crown,” I said. “It’s—” Then I stopped myself as reality hit me. “Why is everyone frozen? Did I have a heart attack? Am I dead? Are you my guardian angel, leading me to the light?”
“Oh, Alessia.” His voice was full of dark humor as he leaned toward me, smelling of mint and fresh air and possibility. “I’m no angel.”
I blinked. “You haven’t told me what—or who—you are.”
“There’ll be time for that later.” The slightest of smiles appeared on his face. “Please come with me. We need you.”
“I don’t know you,” I argued. “That’s crazy.”
We both waited a beat.
Then, in a small voice, I asked, “Where?”
“To the place where you’ve always belonged.” Silas scanned the church. “We need to move fast. Father Time won’t allow this to continue for much longer.”
“Father—” I stumbled over my words. “Sorry, what?”
“We need you.Ineed you,” Silas said. “Take my hand and come with me. I’ll ask you politely one more time, but then—”
“I can’t!” I blurted. “I’m getting married.”
“Are you in love?” Silas’s voice was a dirt road, dry and dusty, well-worn and familiar. “Are you happy here?”
These were the inquiries I’d been desperate to hear. But they came to me as gifts from a stranger, not in whispered confidence from loved ones. I’d wanted my father or my mother or Simon, or anyone else really, to ask about me. Yet it was Silas who knew what I needed more than everyone in my life—a complete and utter stranger.
“What if I say yes?” I asked. “What if I tell you I’m in love and happy?”
“You won’t,” Silas said simply.
“But—”
“If you don’t agree to come willingly, Alessia, I will bring you anyway.”
“You would kidnap me?”
“Don’t you want to be taken away from here?” Silas asked. “Isn’t that what you wished for?”
“How could you know that?”
“You are powerful beyond your wildest dreams. I have been searching for you for a long, long time. You don’t belong here.”
“But—”
“Only a woman as powerful as you, with desires as strong as yours, could have stopped time. You’ve created this opportunity for yourself. Do not squander it.”
“Oh really?” I said dryly. “Or else you’ll kidnap me?”
“Yes,” Silas said again.
We waited for what felt like an eternity.
“I’d prefer you make the choice yourself.” Silas squinted at me, the slightest hint of amusement glittering in those dark gems. “Kidnapping beautiful women isn’t as exciting as it sounds. It’s quite a lot of red tape.”
I couldn’t help it. I snorted a laugh. In my ten-thousand-dollar gown, in my thousand-dollar blow-out, in my manicured nails and my hundred thousand dollar engagement ring.
