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“Um...”
“You’ve said that four times already. Do you know any other words, or have I alleviated you of your senses?” Ely asked, still staring at me after dropping a line on me I’d never heard from any man in my life.
“Um...”
“Alright then, back to the apartment we go,” he stated, physically turned me around, then urged me back toward my apartment building. He walked beside me in silence. I knew I should say something to him, but I didn’t know what to say. Everything was happening so fast, and a person shouldn’t go throwing the L-word around like that.
His cadence was a little faster than before, and he didn’t dare look at me. I wouldn’t look at me after saying something crazy like that either, but it was clear he knew things about me, past me, that I didn’t. More like everything—hush brain, I’m busy! I found a little courage and stopped him.
“Hey, wait a minute,” I managed to choke out. He stopped but continued to stare at a crack in the sidewalk. “Please look at me, Ely.”
His leveled his gaze to mine, but his eye contact was fleeting. I’d hurt him, but what did he expect?
“Ely, I’m sorry. I wasn’t... you can’t just go around...,” I exhaled and tried again. “It was difficult enough to accept that you loved me in a past life, but to hear those words... it was shocking, and it made everything else sink in all at once, okay?”
“I shouldn’t have pushed it on you like that. I’m sorry.” He finally made real eye contact, and the tension began to ease. “I remember things you don’t, and that’s okay. One day you’ll remember, somehow. I can wait for you to remember, but I couldn’t keep the way I felt a secret, not like Wil did. I watched my sister’s husband suffer immensely because he kept his love and their marriage a secret from her to protect her. He didn’t want her to feel guilty if she never remembered their life together.”
“We’re married!” I exclaimed, feeling like he just let a cat out of a bag he didn’t realize he was holding open.
“No, not officially... oh, geez,” he said. He ran his hands down his face, frustrated with himself. He took a moment to gather his words then said cautiously, “We were married but in secret. It would not have been a marriage recognized by your kingdom or mine, but we were very much in love, Sierra. I don’t expect you to honor a promise you made in another life. This is all a bit scary for me, too, but I have the benefit of memory on my side. I’m just as overwhelmed as you are, especially since I had no idea I’d remember you when I saw you again. Then bam, there you were in the diner, a face I hadn’t seen in centuries, and all those memories flooded my mind.”
“Okay, okay, I can understand that. But how about we shelf this... whatever it is for now, and we worry about the crazy princess who wants me dead? I promise, after we deal with that I’ll try to wrap my mind around the other crazy things you’re saying to me.”
He laughed, his shoulders relaxed again. “Yes, we can do that. We good now?” he asked, gently taking my hand in his.
“Um...”
“This again? Honestly, who was your English teacher in high school, because he failed you miserably,” he said, gripping my hand tighter.
I instinctively jerked my hand back, not because I was appalled by the gesture, but because of the way it felt. My skin prickled with heat again, and I was worried I would light him on fire. I chastised myself for pushing him away and refusing to believe him, even as the evidence supporting his case grew. Wolves and spontaneous combustion, what more did I need to trust his story?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“No, it... it wasn’t that,” I replied, trying to find the words to explain my new gift—because turning into a dog wasn’t enough. “Something happened... I need to tell you...”
What are the words, Sierra? Come on, speak, you silly girl!
“What, Sierra? Do you remember something?” he asked, his voice filled with anticipation and hope.
I shook my head. “Not a memory, no. It’s a feeling like my skin is melting.”
He misinterpreted my intent entirely, and a smirk grew over his face. Instantly, the cocky Ely from before returned. “You know, Calla’s spell was broken when she kissed her husband. Maybe if we kiss—”
“You’re an idiot if you think I’m going to kiss you. You’re an okay guy, but you’ve done nothing but annoy me since the second I met you,” I teased, scoffing at his advances.
He shrugged and tossed his hands in the air.
“Fine, have it your way. Probably wasn’t the kiss, anyway. I mean come on, true love’s kiss? Please, you’d have to be a fool to believe in such nonsense.”
He fell back in line beside me as we walked, the building in view ahead of us.
“You’re not going to taunt me into kissing you, Ely.”
“Was worth a shot, right? I mean, Wil was all broody and basically impossible for anyone to put up with, then all of a sudden Calla kisses him, and he’s suddenly pleasant as can be,” he said, threw his hands in the air again, and finished with, “But if you like me annoying you, then by all means continue to withhold the kisses.”
“Still not kissing you, sorry.” I turned the corner and started down the sidewalk that led to my building, catching sight of Cecily’s boyfriend’s car in the parking lot. “Oh no, Brian’s here.”
“Who is Brian?” Ely asked, pausing momentarily.
“Cecily’s boyfriend. Oh no, is she married to someone wherever the heck you said we’re from?” I asked, hoping the answer was no because I quite liked Brian Wilde.
“No, nothing like that. I was just hoping to speak about this some more with the group, figure out the game plan and all,” Ely replied, staring at the apartment building as if it would give him the answers he sought. He ran his hand through his hair again, his mahogany eyes scanning the lot. “Does he know?”
“About our condition? No. No one knows.” He was worried but didn’t say anything else, which concerned me since he didn’t seem to have a problem voicing his thoughts. “Ely?”
“Sorry, I’m just a little out of touch with this reality. I’ve spent the last few years in Schwartzwald, so I’m on edge that’s all,” he admitted. “It’s fine, let’s go.”
He reached for my hand again. It seemed so natural for him, like it was something he’d done so many times it was in-character. I let him do it, and the heated feeling returned. It was warm at first, then grew hotter—too hot to bear, but he didn’t seem to notice it. Just when I couldn’t take it any longer, he yelped in pain.
“Ow! What on earth...” He shrugged his coat off and dropped it to the ground, then stomped on it to put out the flames. He glanced up at me, totally in shock.
You lit him on fire, Sierra!
“There you go again speaking out loud what you mean to think. Please, explain to me how you just produced fire from... from your hands?”
“Yeah, about that, um... See, it’s never happened before today. At the diner, I accidentally caught paper towels on fire on two separate occasions. Weird, isn’t it?” Weird? What is wrong with you, of course, it’s weird!
“It’s bizarre when you speak to yourself aloud. You might consider... never mind, I’ve seen weirder things, but this can’t be good. When Snow discovered we were all together and we had found the last of the Salien Seven—”
“The Salien Seven?”
“Story for another day, the point is, apples started rotting in Calla’s hands, maggots filled her refrigerator—it was a sign, a trigger that Snow was coming.”
“Are you telling me Cinderella is coming here?!”
He shook his head and shrugged, but I could see the fear in his eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe?”
“That is not comforting. What do we do?”
“This doesn’t change anything. Here or in Goldene Stadt, she’s coming for you either way, so what we do now is return to your apartment, pack what you need and get back to Schwarzwald as fast as we can.”
I nodded frantically, suddenly feeling quite ready to follow him anywhere. “Okay, yeah, but what about Brian?”
“Crap. I guess we’ll think of something. Come on.”
He started to take my hand but thought better of it and just made sure I didn’t lag. I hated that he now feared I’d light him on fire, a valid concern, but it still bothered me more than it should. Aside from the fire, holding his hand was kind of sweet, familiar even.
“Sierra?”
I heard his voice, but it sounded so far away. I was more interested in understanding what the sensation was, the strange feeling when he took my hand before the fire started. I concentrated on it, the way it seemed to take over my senses, lulling me into a euphoric state that I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave.
“Sierra?”
He shook me, breaking the daze and lifting the haze that had settled over me. I hadn’t even realized I’d stopped walking.
“What’s wrong? Why did you stop?”
His eyes scanned mine, waiting for me to give him an answer, an excuse for my odd behavior.
“Kiss me,” I said, definitely not the response he was expecting.
“What? What’s going on with you? First, all the ‘ums,’ and now this nonsense.”
I ignored his questions and draped my arms over his shoulders. He tensed but didn’t stop me.
“Are you gonna light me on fire again?”
“Just do it before I change my mind, Ely.”
He didn’t question me a second time. Instead, he leaned in and gently pressed his lips to mine. The same warmth spread through my lips, to my cheeks, warming me to the tips of my fingers and toes. I pulled him closer, feeding the addiction to the feeling that had taken over my entire existence. I’d felt that feeling before, in another time and place. It was welcoming, but it also scared me like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
He sensed my momentary hesitation and released me.
“Anything?” he asked.
I swallowed my fear long enough to respond. “No, but I’m not so sure that was a good idea.”
“Why is that?” he asked, genuinely concerned.
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop whatever this is now that we’ve started it. So much for putting it on the shelf,” I admitted.
“Sierra, this thing we’ve started, it didn’t start today. It started centuries ago, and it’s been burning this way ever since, just waiting for us to find each other again,” he said. “But I meant what I said. I don’t think it was the kiss that triggered Calla’s memories. I think it was acceptance.”
I blinked a few times, clearing a little more of the fogginess from my mind. “Acceptance?”
“Yes, accepting her duty to her people, accepting that Wil was her past and her future, being brave enough to decide she would be what her people needed her to be. She accepted her role, and I believe that is what truly broke the curse,” he said. “But the kissing, I mean I’m down for that if you are.”
“You’re incorrigible! One second you’re spewing philosophical rhetoric about destiny and responsibility, the next you’re behaving like a teenage boy.”
I pushed him away, but took his hand, my body still begging for the warmth he offered. Luckily, I didn’t set him on fire this time.
“I’ll have you know I am a gentleman.”
“You’re a liar, that’s what you are.”
He shrugged again and opened the door to the building.
“I try,” he said, moments before we heard arguing coming from my apartment.
Ely darted up the stairs ahead of me and threw the door open, finding Heidi standing between Brody and Brian. Brian was angry, irate even, and Brody appeared ready to rip his head off.
“If you ever lay a hand on my wife again, so help me I will tear you limb from limb!” Brody shouted. Felix was the only thing keeping Brody from doing just that.
“Babe, it’s okay. I’m fine, see? He didn’t even touch me.” Heidi pulled her husband back, urging him to sit on the sofa.
“What happened here?” Ely asked, his tone authoritative, and I remembered he was a prince, technically the one in charge of the menagerie of craziness in my living room.
“These people said you’re taking Cecily to Germany? Maybe for good?” Brian shouted the words, disbelief in his voice and in his eyes.
I knew it would kill him to lose my sister, but after speaking with Ely I also knew leaving was the only thing we could do. Cecily couldn’t talk. Instead, she huddled in the corner of the sofa and cried.
“Brian,” I began.
“No! You aren’t taking her away! She’s an adult, and she can stay if she wants to!” he shouted, but I doubted he knew Cecily wanted to fulfill her destiny long before I was even warming to the idea.
“Brian, it’s not... there are circumstances beyond our control, and we have no choice, I’m sorry. There are... things... events that happened that require us to...” Try as I may, I couldn’t figure out how to lie to him.
“What? Is it something to do with your issue?” he asked. “Did you find a cure? Because that’s the only good reason you could have for trying to take her away from the one person who knows what she is and loves her anyway!” Brian shouted again, his anger boiling over.
I looked at my sister, guilt written all over her face. Ely slammed the door shut behind us.
“Sit down, all of you,” he ordered.
“I don’t have to do anything you say. Who are you?” Brian mouthed off, but Ely wasn’t having it.
He shifted right there in front of Brian, right in the middle of my apartment living room, scaring the heck out of everyone. He growled a low, threatening growl that made Brian fall to the floor and scrabble to Cecily’s side.
“He’s... he’s one... what is happening right now?”
Ely barked at him, warning him one last time to shut his mouth and cementing in Brian’s mind who was boss in the room. He shifted again, not much caring that everyone in the room was staring at his nakedness—again.
“Dude!” Brody yelled, tossing him a blanket from the back of my sofa.
“As I told my sister, nudity happens. Get used to it.” He wrapped the blanket around his lower half, yet somehow managed to appear more dominant than anyone else in the room.
“Yeah, Ravenna already fixed that problem for everyone else, but you chose to keep it that way,” Brody said, motioning toward Ely and his nakedness.
“I’m sorry, just as soon as you turn into a wolf for a dozen lifetimes, you’re more than welcome to tell me what feels right. I like it this way, it’s more... it’s just me, so deal with it.” He turned around, looking for me. I shrank into my little corner of the room, afraid we were all in a great deal of trouble now. “I thought you said he didn’t know.”
I looked back to my sister with a glare she could feel from across the room. She shivered beside her boyfriend. “I didn’t know he did, and believe me, it will be a topic of discussion soon enough.”
“Sooner than you think. He’ll be coming along,” Heidi declared. “If Ella finds out about him, he’s a dead man walking. She’ll use him as bait to draw you in, and she won’t care much if he’s alive or dead.”
“What are you people talking about? Who are you?”
Brian’s confusion only added to the misery of the situation. I’d barely begun to believe it myself, now I had to think of one more person whose life was in my hands.
“You want the short version or the long one? You won’t believe either, so I recommend the abbreviated one,” Brody said, his demeanor calmed since Brian’s head was screwed back on properly.
Brian looked to Cecily who could only lick her lips and shake her head, her guilt too much to bear. She’d lied to me, and she knew how deeply it cut me. It was a matter for another day, one where lives were not on the line.
“Whatever. I don’t care. Just tell me what’s going on,” Brian said, looking to me.
“Me?” I asked.
“Yeah, you’re the only one I trust to tell me the truth right now.” His eyes fell on Cecily, and I wondered what lies she’d told him.
“Short version then. Um... um...”
“Here we go again. Sierra, spit it out, darling. Oh, and there I go again. Darn Wil Grimm to death,” Ely remarked under his breath.
“Um... yes, short version. Let me see, well...”
I decided to just dive in and see where it left him. If he already knew what we were, perhaps it wouldn’t be too far out of the realm of his imagination to believe where we came from.
“We are the children of Aline, Cinderella’s step-sister, and the rightful heirs to the throne in... what’s that place again?”
“Goldene Stadt,” Heidi offered.
“Yes, Goldene Stadt. We must return to, um... to help our people overthrow Cinderella, break our curse and... oh, screw it. Brian, I don’t know what to tell you, either get on-board or out. We’ll just have to figure it out as we go.”
“Get on board? Sierra, you realize what you’re saying is insane, right?” Brian asked, inching closer to my sister.
“More insane than humans turning into wolves?” Brody asked. “Because I promise, if you don’t wrap your head around this and fast, you’ll be sorry.”
“You say that like it’s an easy thing to believe. This is certifiably insane,” Brian argued.
“Hey, I get it,” Brody said, leaning forward on the sofa. “I went to my best friend’s house one night to confess my feelings for her, and I saw a bunch of wolves in her backyard. I should mention, they all wanted to rip me apart, so trust me when I say I get it. But the stakes are high here, and if you don’t just dive in head first, you’ll get left behind. I don’t think that’s what you want, is it?”
Brian looked at Cecily whose eyes begged him not to leave her, though her words said something else altogether. “I won’t ask you to do this, Brian. You have dreams, and I’m not—”
“Look, I love you, but this is crazy. When you’ve all decided to end this ridiculous prank, call me. Until then, I’ve got studying to do.” With that, he rose from his place beside Cecily and headed toward the door.
“Brian?” Cecily began to cry again.
I was surprised by his reaction, not to our revelation, but surprised by the way he handled Cecily’s pain. He’d been a wonderful boyfriend to her, and now that I knew that he knew of her condition and loved her despite it, it made no sense for him to be so harsh.
He sighed. “I’m sorry, this is just getting too much, Cec. I love you, but this...” He motioned around the room at all the people he’d never met before. “This is just too much. I can’t do this. I just can’t.”
And that was that. Brian destroyed my sister’s heart in front of everyone in the room. She’d given him a choice, and he chose to leave. I couldn’t exactly be angry with him for wanting something different, but I was mad that he didn’t give her the respect of a private break-up, a conversation to end their long-term relationship in a somewhat mutual fashion. I, however, was not the only person in the room annoyed by his actions.
“What kind of man are you?” Felix asked Brian
“Excuse me?” Brian stopped a few feet short of the door, sizing up the Royal Guardsman. I had no doubt Felix could easily make mincemeat of Brian.
“Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough in my question, so I’ll say this instead. You’re a terrible man and an even worse friend.”
“I’m... I was her boyfriend, I’ll have you know. I care about her very much, but this is crazy. I’m applying for med school in six months. I can’t deal with this kind of drama.” The way he said it proved he didn’t believe a word of what I’d said.
“I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean. I don’t know what a boyfriend is. Regardless, I can see you are certainly a boy. Clearly, you are no man, and you must take friendship very lightly all things considered.”
“Felix, let him leave,” Heidi argued. She was tense, and when a witch is tense one can only assume bad things could happen.
“I think—” I began, but Felix wasn’t finished.
“He claims to be her friend, yet he’s making her cry like a newborn baby,” he argued with Heidi.
Cecily sobbed uncontrollably, so I went to her and prayed I didn’t light my sister on fire when I took her in my arms. She fell into me, her cries ripping my heart apart. It was exactly what I didn’t want to see happen—my sister in pain.
“I am her friend! I was more than that! I was a faithful boyfriend for a long time. What are you to her?”
“I’m a lieutenant in The Salien Royal Guard, personally responsible for the safety and well-being of Miss Monroe. What are you to her?”
“For the third time, I was Cecily’s boyfriend. Now, I’m... well, I’m...”
“Exactly, you’re nothing, which makes me outrank you by leaps and bounds.” Felix’s face contorted further, showing increased frustration. “You’re nothing more than a common scoundrel with ill fantasies of this woman. An honorable man would never treat his beloved in such a way.”
“Felix.” Heidi took him by the arm and pulled him away before it became physical between the two men.
Cecily trembled in my arms, and her continued crying pushed that big sister button that had been danced on all day. I released her from my grip and stood.
“Felix, stand down. Brian, get out of my house.”
“Sierra, please,” Brian begged.
“Brian, I liked you, and while I don’t necessarily dislike you now, you are not my favorite person. Please go. We have things to do, and if you’re not staying by my sister’s side, then I need you to leave so we can get on with our business.”
Ely opened the door with a smirk on his face. Brian lumbered out, defeated. Ely slammed the door behind him, and I couldn’t help but feel like it was slamming on my life, dividing the before and after with a definitive bang. Felix, Brody, and Heidi relaxed and began speaking amongst themselves, which sounded a lot like Heidi and Brody scolding Felix.
“Then it’s settled. I’ll call Calla, and we’ll make arrangements to travel to Schwarzwald as early as tomorrow,” Ely said, and I didn’t argue.
He started to leave the room, I assumed to change, though I wasn’t sure where he thought he’d find clothing that would fit him in my bedroom. As I watched him go, a thought entered my head. Cecily and I had been named by someone we barely knew before she gave us up for adoption. I doubted our names had been the same over the centuries, and I wondered what my name really was, the first one. What on earth had my official, royal name been? Who did Ely know before? Now is not the time, Sierra.
“Not the time for what?” Ely asked, pausing midway down the hall.
He was right. I needed to find a way to control speaking my thoughts aloud.
“What’s my real name?” I asked, and Cecily lit up. She wanted to know, too, and if it made her happy in her moment of sadness, then I would insist he tell us.
Ely’s grin widened. “It’s quite long, can you manage?”
“I think I can manage to remember my own name, thank you very much.”
“You had trouble with mine, Sierra, I’m not so sure you’ll—”
“It’s a name, for goodness’ sake. Just tell me!” I shouted at him, knowing full well he was only trying to pick at me.
“Cecily, your name is Princess Corinna Viktoria Vogel of Goldene Stadt.”
He told her first just to annoy me, making me wonder if that was how our relationship was before, from the time he remembered. Her eyes widened, and she looked at the others.
“I can’t believe I’m a princess,” she said.
“You can’t believe you’re a princess? You turn into a wolf, and this you have trouble with?” Brody teased.
“Okay now me. Come on, Ely!” I fussed.
“Chill out, Sierra. Your name is... oh, look at that, I’m totally naked except for this blanket. Better go find something to wear!”
He disappeared down the hall, but I wasn’t letting him get away that easily. I chased him down until we ended up in my bedroom, which was his dastardly plan all along.
“Now, I’ve got you all to myself again,” he said, slamming the door behind us.
“Oh, no. No more kissing until you put some clothes on and tell me what my name was!” I fussed.
“I don’t have clothes. Well, I do, but they’re in the car. Would you settle for your name and a promise to send Brody for my clothing?” he asked.
“Fine, out with it.” I sighed, feigning annoyance, but it was difficult since I found I did want to kiss him again.
“Her Serene Highness, Crown Princess Saskia Oksana Vogel of Goldene Stadt.”
“It’s barely longer than Cecily’s. Why were you teasing me, that wasn’t nice Ely,” I fussed.
“I’m not done. You were betrothed, soon to be married, and once you were you’d have been crowned queen,” he said.
“I see, and what was my title to be after we married?”
Sadness came over his face, his eyes darkened and fell to stare at the tan carpet.
“It wasn’t me you were to marry, Sierra.”
“But you said... I thought you said we were married in secret? I just assumed.”
“I said we were in love, I never said you were betrothed to me or that it would last.”
“I don’t understand. You said we got married in secret and... oh... oh, Ely...” My voice was barely a whisper. I suddenly understood why he felt the need to stake his claim early on, having no desire to lose me to another person if we were to succeed in ridding my village of Cinderella’s rule.
“It’s okay, Sierra. We... we were—,” he cut himself short, hesitating for my benefit.
“Go on. I want to know. I need to know.”
“We did marry in secret with the hope your father might one day accept our love, but things happened that tore us apart before we could see him. We’ll worry about that later. Besides, when you remember everything, you may not even want anything to do with me anymore, so let’s take this one step at a time,” he said, sitting on the edge of my bed.
Someone knocked on the door, but before I could answer it cracked open and clothing came flying in, then it slammed shut again.
“Thanks, Brody!” Ely shouted at the closed door.
“How did he know to get your clothes? Never mind, I get the feeling you do this often,” I said, chuckling.
“Maybe,” he teased, then said, “Unless you want to see me naked again, I suggest you turn around.”
I did as instructed and took the opportunity to question him further.
“You said I was supposed to marry someone else but did I? I mean, if we got married in secret, what happened later?”
“I’m sorry,” he grumbled. “I don’t know what happened after my curse started. I have no idea where he is or what happened. All I know is I love you, and I’ll do everything I can to prove it to you.”
I sensed the fear in his voice, but I didn’t want him to worry so much.
“Ely, I don’t know what to think or say right now. I can hardly believe I’ve lived other lives, so wrapping my head around being married before is well beyond my ability right now. But I will tell you this, I am my own person, and I won’t marry anyone simply because it’s expected. If I ever marry or remarry I guess, it will be for love, and that is all. If I loved you, then... then maybe I will again? I can’t say for sure, but I guess I just wanted you to know that.”
“You say that now, but you haven’t met the guy you were supposed to marry. Seriously, he makes me feel like a hideous monster,” he joked, but I heard the honesty hidden beneath.
“You’re not so bad,” I teased. “I mean, if you were, I probably wouldn’t keep kissing you.”
“Is that so? I’m dressed, by the way. You can turn around.”
I turned around and reached for him. It was a crazy connection, the most outlandish of situations to find myself in, yet I couldn’t deny that there was something between us. Yesterday I thought he was a crazy person, but now... well, I still believed he was crazy, but it was growing on me.
His eyes darted up just in time to see the smile on my face, seconds before I was melting again. The warmth invaded my senses, and the euphoria fell over me once more. I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like in my former life, feeling this much with him yet betrothed to another person. I would have kept kissing him, lost in the moment forever, if it hadn’t been for Cinderella and her stupid curse.
He leaped away from me, flapping his arms. Tiny embers smoldered on his shirt, burning small holes through it. It was enough for us to know we were pushing our luck if we kept kissing.
“Maybe we keep with the original plan to shelf this thing we have, at least until we figure out how to stop lighting me on fire?”
“Agreed, besides, I think we could use something to eat and—”
“Uh, Sierra, I think you better get in here!” Cecily shouted, and another ruckus erupted in my living room. Wonderful, just wonderful.