Rory was quiet during the hour-long drive out of the main city. When the clock ticked past midnight, the guards were on high alert. The one on her right slanted his body sideways to shield her, even though no one could see past the tinted windows, much less in the dark. No one spoke, not even when the buildings gave way to thick knots of trees that told her the safehouse would be well off the beaten path.
When her phone rang, Remus checked the caller ID before handing Rory her phone. “Hello?” she said quietly.
“I’m shocked, utterly shocked that you’re not peacefully sleeping right now.”
Rory managed a small indulgent smile. “Good evening, Papa Hubert. I’m surprised you’re awake.”
“Do you know how proud I am of you?”
Tears welled in her eyes that bore no shame. She wanted to respond, but all speech felt stuck in her throat like too much peanut butter.
“You saw the burden the government was bearing, financing the entire educational system, and you understood we weren’t capable of providing the best for our people. You saw that we were focusing too much on magical training, and not enough on reading, writing and arithmetic. So you took it upon yourself to start your Foundation, making sure everyone had access to free, comprehensive traditional schooling, regardless of their income or social status.”
When she finally found her voice, it was small and childlike. She pictured King Hubert’s face as she remembered it from her childhood, when her, Adam and Henry begged him for scary stories before bedtime. “It’s no trouble. I’m happy to serve Avondale however it needs me.”
“Do you know that I love you as if you were my own daughter?”
Her chest warmed as Remus squeezed her free hand, as if to echo the king’s words. “I love you, too, Papa.”
The king cleared his throat. “Very good. Now that that’s out of the way, I expect you’ll come by the palace after you’re finished with this gratuitous nap you’re bent on indulging in.” He pretended to scold her, making her laugh airily through her nose. Then his voice grew somber. “If you’re anxious at all, call me. I’ll make sure my phone is on me at all hours. Unfortunately, the guards I pay far too much are forcing Henry and I to stay in the palace for the next twenty-four hours, otherwise I would be by your side. Promise me you’ll call often.”
“I will. Thank you, Papa.”
“I love you, dear. Sleep well.”
Rory blinked away her tears, taking a few steadying breaths. “I should call Cord when we get there to let him know where I’m at.”
Remus kept his eyes on their surroundings. “You can do that once we get there.”
Rory ached to have this day over with, but knew the longest day of her life was only beginning. When Benjamin pulled down an unpaved road an hour later, portions of the scenery were beginning to look familiar to her. “Benjamin? Where did you say we were going?”
“Somewhere no one will look for you. The owner of the house was only too happy to give it to us for your birthday.”
Rory’s spirits picked up when they pulled in behind the cabin she knew quite well. There were men in black suits dotting the property, each giving a nod to the town car and waving it forward. “This was your plan?” she squeaked, overjoyed at the fortunate turn of events.
Benjamin smirked at her in the rearview mirror. “Happy birthday, kiddo. Let the guys check the grounds first, and then we can go on in.”
Rory was practically bouncing in her seat as she waited, a giddy grin on her face. In all her imaginings of this day, she never thought she would be smiling, nor did she envision herself at the cabin that had started her off down the road to optimism. She hadn’t entertained such hope for a remedy to her curse until she’d met the only man who’d so thoroughly captured her heart.
When the palace guards escorted her from the car to the cabin, Rory ran into her boyfriend’s arms, a gust of relief shaking a few tears loose. “You didn’t tell me this was the plan!”
“What’s the point of a birthday surprise if you already know what it is? Did you have any trouble on your way in?”
Rory shook her head, and then buried her nose in Cordray’s shoulder, inhaling his freshly-showered scent as if it was the only thing that gave her lungs permission to breathe. “You’re the best birthday gift ever. Thank you for this.”
“Happy birthday, Story. I know it’s late, but I was thinking you might want to open one of your presents before you tuck on in for the night.”
“Oh, I couldn’t sleep if my life depended on it.” Her fingers flitted along his swollen forearm. “You got me a present?”
“Presents, but you only get one for now.”
Rory leaned up and kissed him, despite the stony-faced guards that were mulling around in the cabin. The two laced their fingers together, reveling in the sensation of holding hands without gloves. The second pill had done the trick, taking away his magic so he couldn’t harm her with an errant touch.
They were all smiles as Cord led the way to his bedroom upstairs, waggling his eyebrows suggestively as he opened the door. “This isn’t exactly how I pictured a weekend with you back at my cabin, but I’ll take what I can get.”
“What could be more romantic than you, me, and a dozen or so palace guards?”
Cordray popped open his bedroom door and took a step inside with a grand sweeping gesture, revealing a pillow on the bed with a red satin bow tied around it. When Rory didn’t say anything, Cordray coiled his arm around her hips and pulled her to his chest. “It’s yours for when you sleep over. I was thinking after this curse business is done with, we could spend weekends up here, away from it all. It could be our cabin, instead of just mine.”
Rory had been too anxious to be expecting birthday presents, much less one that held so much meaning. Tenderness softened her gaze as she parted from him to run her hand over the simple gift that made her heart sing with all the emotion of a finely tuned violin. She sat on the edge of his bed and pulled the pillow onto her lap, fiddling with the lacy case as she hugged the treasure. Her voice was small but steady as she met his gaze across the way. “If I could have only one wish, it would be for more time with you.”
Cordray smirked at her sincerity. “Aw, don’t waste a wish on that. If you only had one? You should wish for a mattress here that’s slightly less lumpy.”
“I’m the birthday girl, and you’re my wish.”
When he moseyed toward her, she fisted the fabric of his shirt and pulled him down for a kiss, leaning backward onto the mattress to make the most of their few minutes alone. His lips were soft and insistent as he climbed atop her, giving them both taste after taste of something precious to hold onto while they waited out the storm together.
The voice that interrupted them from the doorway made Cordray jump off of her. “Raven’s secure. I’ll keep eyes on her.”
Rory deflated and sat up, offering a wan smile at the guard. “Hey, Luke. Did you get a new suit?”
Luke offered a small snort to her jab at the standard black suit that never changed. “Dressed up for the birthday girl.”
Cordray shot the guard a withering look and turned back to Rory. “So much for that. You want to go back downstairs?”
“Nah. This is the most privacy we’ll be getting.”
The two settled on watching a movie in bed. Though they were fully clothed with shoes on in case they needed to bolt at a moment’s notice, they still got under the covers, snuggling close as they both pretended that the world outside didn’t mean to tear them apart. Rory tucked herself in Cordray’s arm, letting herself believe in the safety his solid form provided.
Neither of them really watched the movie, nor did Luke, who stood at the bedroom window, peeking through the corner of the closed curtain for any signs of Malaura making her move. The television was kept at a low volume, so as not to disturb the silence that felt utterly suffocating.
It was slow at first – her breathing slightly more labored than it had been moments before. She blamed it on the late hour, and the fact that she was trying to stay up all night during a fairly stressful time. She cuddled into Cordray, but found him already asleep.
It wasn’t until ten seconds later, when Luke’s eyes rolled back and he batted at the air in an attempt to stay upright that Rory realized something was very wrong. Luke fell to his knees, and Rory muffled her scream into her pillow as she found just enough strength to sit up. She breathed into the lace, unsure what was going on that made exhaustion sweep over them all so deftly. Reaching for her phone, she called the one number she knew would never fail her. “Uncle Remus?” she worked out, her lungs laboring under the effort.
“Something’s off. I can feel it.” His tone was tinged with a darkened edge. “I can feel her. Are you okay?”
“Gas leak!” Then her fingers started to lose all feeling, and her phone slipped from her grip.
She cried out when an explosion from outside lit up the night, flickering across the curtains with a fire that began to crackle on the branches.
Then two more blasts shook the house and rattled her bones. Terror raked through her nerves when she realized Cordray wasn’t moving, and Luke was still motionless on the floor. She knew she didn’t have much time as she slid off the bed to fumble with her phone on the floor. Remus was no longer on the other end, so she called the police, breathing slowly into the phone. “This is Aurora Johnstone. Malaura found me.”
It was all she could work out before her hand lost its commitment to holding the device. Hopelessness rattled inside her chest as her phone clattered to the floor in time with the front door downstairs opening on creaky hinges.
The footsteps didn’t hurry, but tapped out the rhythm to Rory’s sluggish heartbeat.
“Happy birthday, Aurora,” came a voice she’d hoped she would never hear again.
The sound of Malaura sent fresh terror down her spine. She gasped, which only forced more of the polluted air down her esophagus. Her vision swam, but she saw the superior glint to the stony eyes that had once ruled Avondale without compassion for its people. The evil queen moved into the bedroom with a man in a black ski mask by her side, a fog emanating out from his palms. Rory tried to get up and fight with the last vestiges of her energy, but she could scarcely do more than sit on her own. Her heart stuttered in her chest. All the trouble of trying to avoid fate, but it had found her anyway, stalking her in the dead of night into the woods.
Malaura gripped Rory’s face with one hand, a sneer tugging at her red painted lips. “I could kill you right now, I hope you know. But I won’t, because I’m a merciful queen. I think I’ll let my Remus find you deep in your sleep, so he can see exactly how unworthy he was of my attention. He turned his back on me to watch over you. How foolish. I could’ve given him the world, but he chose to fret over a Deadpulse.” She shook her head, tsking Rory. “I’ll never understand the burden of familial ties.”
“Remus!” Rory tried to work out, but her voice could barely be heard as it escaped her lips.
“I’ve found a new prize student now, and he’ll do nicely. I’ve had eyes on you for quite some time, Aurora. I guess I should thank you for leading me to someone worthy of my focus.” Her eyes climbed to Cordray, who was knocked out, helpless atop the mattress.
“No!” Rory tried to shout, but the sound came out mumbled and weak. Her lashes fluttered shut, and she knew that if her uncle hadn’t yet thundered up the steps to stop his former tutor, that he was most certainly down for the count.
Knocked out, she told herself firmly. She could never kill him.
There was a prick on Rory’s finger, and suddenly, she felt like she was floating. She’d always assumed she would get to see the weapon that took her down, but the fog taking over her vision clouded out the deadly details. Suddenly there was no more arduous worry to her breathing, only stillness. Weightlessness.
“Sleep well, Aurora. We’ll see how the kingdom that abandoned me fares now.”