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ETHAN INVITED US TO a fancy dinner in a private dining room. His staff even brought us clothes for the occasion and the women helped Julie and I do our hair. Fred said he didn’t want to go and took off before I could ask him any further questions. I suspected he was off to meet somebody else. And my guess it was Cynthia. Grant refused to go and suck up with Ethan. So it was just Jesse, Julie, and I who were attending. I wore a blue gown with a sweetheart neckline. My long hair was twisted and woven into an elegant and elaborate up-do. Julie’s red dress, up-do, and jewelry were a stunning ensemble.
“I wish Grant would come,” Julie said. “But I refused to force him.”
I let out a sigh. “He’s not the ‘dressing up’ kind of guy. But I do know that he loves you deeply. I can tell.”
“You can?”
“Yeah. I can tell by the way he looks at you.”
She smiled. “We’ll have a good time without him.”
Jesse wore a white dress shirt with brown slacks. I could see the outline of his muscles stretching across his bulging arms and chest. I couldn’t help but breathe a little harder. It may be cliché, but he was tall, dark, and handsome.
“You look beautiful,” Jesse told me.
“Thank you,” I replied. “You look very handsome.”
“Thanks.”
We walked to a dining room I’d never entered yet. The interior design of the room was breathtaking with a big, beautiful chandelier in the center of the room. The last rays of light streamed in the high arched windows. Orange, red, and pink swirled in a colorful portrait in the sky. I couldn’t stop looking at the most beautiful sunset ever. The tables were beautifully decorated with arrangements of flowers, fine china, and crystal glasses. A servant poured the finest wine France had to offer. I didn’t even want to know the price tag on how much this wine cost but it sure tasted delightful.
Julie’s eyes gleamed as she took a sip. “What kind of wine is this?”
“Burgundies from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti,” Jesse’s dad said.
She smiled. “It’s simply delicious.”
“I wanted to have alone time with my son and his companions,” Ethan said.
Jesse sipped his wine. “Thanks, Father. It’s great to spend some time with you.”
“I’ve talked to my men and they assure me nobody suspects you are residing here.”
“Thank goodness,” Julie said. “It’s nice to feel safe for once.”
“Yes, the castle is very safe. You have nothing to fear here.”
Ethan held up his glass. “To second chances.”
“To second chances,” we all said.
We had excellent cuisine with a strong French influence. Every dish was unique and carefully prepared and I couldn’t get enough of it. I’d never been at a dinner so fancy in all of my life, and I felt like a princess. Jesse grinned as I smiled. He looked so handsome and happy. I loved seeing him so happy. He laughed and talked and was so charming. He flashed me his perfect white smile numerous times. Julie, me, and Jesse told some stories that made us all laugh even more. We talked about the castle and all about France. Ethan told us all kinds of amazing facts about France. I learned so much from him. He was very well educated and knowable just like Jesse. Ethan seemed to me to be a prominent, cultured socialite who knew all about wine.
“I have a passion for wine, and for life,” he said.
I smiled.
“How did you like the wine?” he asked me.
“I’m not a wine connoisseur, but I enjoyed the pairings you presented.”
“How lovely.”
As he and Jesse engaged in conversation, the woman in my dreams spoke to me.
“You were here last night,” she said in my head. “Try and remember.”
Suddenly, memories plagued me. I felt like I’d been in this dining room last night...and I’d been kissing Jesse on top of this very table. It was just a dream, I told myself. But why did I recognize the room and the paintings? I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. When I looked at Ethan, he stared at me long and hard. His blue eyes were so intense, like he knew about my dream. Suddenly, he smiled. I looked away. Somehow Jesse’s dad knew about my dreams. Was he connected? What the heck was going on? None of it made very much sense. I looked back at Ethan and his gaze focused on my lips. Was he lusting for his son’s girlfriend? Or was it just my imagination? Did Jesse notice how much attention his dad kept showing me? Cause the man couldn’t keep his eyes off of me. I found it very disturbing. About as disturbing as the woman’s voice who warned me I’d been there last night.
After dinner when I got a moment alone with Julie, I told her about it.
“Ethan has a crush on you,” she said.
“He’s too old. Like by hundreds of years?”
“It’s harmless, right?”
“So far.”
“Let’s just watch it. If he makes one move, then we’ll tell Jesse. But so far it’s innocent.”
I blew out a breath. “Yeah, you’re right. But what about the woman from my dreams? She told me I was in that very dining room the night before.”
“It’s the magic messing with you,” she said. “Just ignore it. And get some sleeping potions from Rosa. It’ll do wonders for you.”
***
THAT NIGHT, SHORTLY after I drifted off to sleep, I awoke to someone scooping me out of bed. “Jesse?” I whispered.
“Shh.” He carried me to the hallway and gently set me down on my feet. “You couldn’t stop looking at me at dinner tonight. Do you remember kissing me ever so passionately on the dining room table?”
“A little.” I gazed into his eyes. “What’s going on here?”
He smiled but refused to answer. Something seemed off. He wasn’t at all like the ordinary Jesse, and I was sure I’d slipped into yet another dream. I tried to wake up but couldn’t. I assumed the magic enjoyed taunting me, toying with my head.
The next thing I knew, we were walking across a field of snow. It was freezing, and goosebumps pimpled my arms beneath my thin, blue, silk nightgown. I couldn’t believe how real the dream felt; I could almost smell the peppermint-like winter crispness in the air.
Suddenly, Jesse hooked his arms around my waist, forcing me to look into his eyes. “You look breathtaking, my dear,” he said. “You’re simply a vision.”
“Jesse, I’m freezing,” I said, “and I’m barefoot.” I couldn’t believe that my feet weren’t numb from the cold, but little about the dream really made sense. “I should be getting frostbite, but I’m not,” I said, baffled.
“My spell will protect you from the elements,” he explained.
“Is this really happening, or is it a dream?” I asked.
No answer.
It was all a blur, and we walked for what seemed like a long while. He led me to the edge of the mountaintop, and the moonlight shone over the forest, valleys, and other mountains.
Even Jesse was mesmerized. “One day, this will all be mine,” he said.
When we heard a loud shriek, I glanced up at a huge group of gargoyles flying above me, their huge wings flapping wildly.
Jesse wrapped his arm tighter around me. “They won’t hurt you. They’re my people.”
“I want to go back inside!” I insisted.
His gaze narrowed. “Do not annoy me.”
I turned to leave and he grabbed my shoulder.
“I cannot wait till the day when this changes, the day when I will be with the woman who is destined to be my bride,” he said.
“That’s me,” I whispered. “I’m the one destined to be your bride...one day.”
“Not you, Taylor. Not ever.”
I suddenly woke up in my bed, with sweat rolling down my face. “Why would Jesse say something so hurtful?” I asked myself aloud, then reminded myself that it was only a dream.
My feet felt gritty, and when I lifted the covers, I saw that they were covered in mud. A chill shot down my spine. “What the heck is going on?” I stood and glanced at the muddy footprints leading to my bed from the door. It appeared that I had actually gone outside.
I ran into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face, just to make sure I was awake. Once I was confident that I was no longer sleepwalking, I washed and dried my feet.
After replacing the filthy sheets with some fresh ones from the linen closet, I lay down, closed my eyes, and tried to make sense of what was going on. I was beginning to confuse dreams with reality, and I wondered if I was going insane. As freaked out as I was, I was also exhausted, so in the end, sleep won out.
***
WHEN I AWOKE, THE DREAM still lingered vividly in my head. I had no idea what was causing the crazy dreams, but then I remembered seeing the muddy footprints. I glanced down at the floor, only to discover that they were no longer there. I jumped out of bed and looked for the muddy sheets I’d thrown in a heap on the floor, but they, too, were gone. “That’s it,” I said. “I’m losing my mind.”
“I’ve already lost mine,” Julie said, standing at my doorway.
“Julie!”
“What’s wrong?”
“I had this dream that I was walking in the muddy snow. When I woke up, my feet were dirty. There was even a trail of muddy footprints leading from the door. I think I’m going insane, because now it’s all just...gone.”
She shook her head. “These dreams are really messing with you, huh?”
“It wasn’t a dream. I pinched myself, even splashed cold water on my face. Besides, that lady in my dreams told me the visions of Jesse are real, that they are really happening.”
“And you believe that old hag?”
“Not really. The Jesse I see in my sleep doesn’t seem like Jesse at all.”
“It’s not. They’re screwing with your head, Taylor.”
“Are you still having dreams?” I asked.
“I took a natural sleeping potion Rosa gave me, so I was out cold.”
“Darn it. I shoulda done that too.”
She looked away.
“What is it?” I asked, always able to tell when something was bothering my best friend.
She bit her lip hard. “About a week ago, I...well, I kept having strange dreams about Jesse.”
“About Jesse? Why didn’t you tell me?”
She wrung her hands. “Because I felt guilty.”
“Guilty? Why?”
“Because in the dreams, I was, uh...making out with him.”
“You kissed Jesse?”
“Yeah, but after a few times, he told me he wasn’t attracted to me, and it never happened again. I’m so sorry, Taylor. It was nothing I did on purpose, but it feels good to get it off my chest.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. It was only a dream.”
“But it felt so real. I’m sure it’s the witches’ powers. They’re screwing with both of us, trying to tear us all apart.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure they’re getting a good laugh at our expense.”
“Have you had any dreams about Grant or Fred?”
“No, just Jesse. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Take a deep breath, and we’ll figure this all out.” She cleared her throat. “And please don’t tell Jesse I was having dreams about kissing him.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. Can’t have the big, bad wolf blowing down our castle now, can we?”
She smiled.
“Yeah, if Grant finds out, he’ll be one mad dog.”
“Let’s go meet the guys downstairs for breakfast. We’ll discuss it, minus your Jesse dream, and see what they think.”
“Okay. Just gimme a minute to get dressed.”
Suddenly, before Julie could even turn to leave, Jesse burst into the room. “We’ve got major problems,” he announced, panic stricken.
“Why? What’s going on?” I asked.
He crossed his arms. “Which do you want to hear about first?”
“What’s going on?” Julie asked, concerned.
“Grant got into a fight with a gargoyle last night.”
“What!? Is he hurt?” she asked frantically.
“No, he’s fine, but they threw him in the dungeon...along with Fred.”
“Fred too?” I said.
Julie gasped. “In the dungeon?”
He nodded. “Yeah, Fred’s the other problem. They caught him making out with that princess. The one from another clan, the one promised to that prince.”
“Cynthia? Julie and I told him to break it off. He said he would. We really didn’t make a big deal about it to you.”
“Why not?” he asked. “It would help if I knew what’s going on around here. I knew he was seeing someone, but I didn’t realize who she was.”
“You have so much on your plate already.”
“Please don’t keep things from me. No matter how much I have on my plate, the biggest portion is making sure you’re safe, and I can’t do that if I don’t know what’s going on.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Let’s just go see if we can get them out of there.”
I got dressed, and we hurried toward the dungeon. We walked down a long stairwell, and a guard unlocked the heavy wooden door for us. The floor was smooth and polished, and the wall was carved from solid blocks of dark stone. It wasn’t dark, damp, and cold like I would have thought a prison dungeon would be. It smelled a little musty, but no green slime was oozing down the walls.
“They’ve got them locked up right next door to each other,” Jesse said.
Julie sighed. “I’ll deal with Grant.”
“Great. Then I’m on Fred duty.”
She rushed over to Grant’s cell. “Really, Grant? Fighting?”
“I was minding my own business,” he said. “He came at me first. The winged jerk provoked me. I tried to walk away, did everything I could, but the dude just wasn’t having it.”
“There are no excuses for behaving like a child,” Julie spat, livid.
Meanwhile, I wrapped my hands around the rusty bars of Fred’s cell. “We told you to end it. You two are jeopardizing everything.”
Jesse blew out a breath, too furious to speak.
Finally, Fred said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay away from her.”
“They’re gonna kick you out, maybe tell all of us to leave,” I said. “Is Cynthia worth that, Fred? Do you wanna be back on the run again?”
“No!”
“Then start acting like it, because your life isn’t the only one at stake. We’re supposed to be a team, Fred, have each other’s backs.”
“But that prince... He beats her!” Fred said angrily. “Cynthia is being forced to be with a brute, and she doesn’t love him. She has nowhere to run, and she feels trapped and helpless. They don’t exactly have an abuse shelter or crisis hotline here. I’m all she has, and she just wants to be free, to not have to live in fear.”
I felt sorry for Cynthia, and my heart went out to her. She had no parents, and her relatives had just handed her off to be married to an abusive man. She was a prisoner, being forced into a marriage with a man she clearly didn’t love. She and Fred seemed to have a connection; he was obviously crazy about her, and he wanted to be her knight in shining armor. I felt horrible trying to talk him out of that when he cared so much about her. Fred had a good heart, even if it wasn’t beating anymore.
“How did everything get so complicated?” I asked.
He looked at me with heartfelt emotion. “I think I found my soulmate, Taylor. I couldn’t just break it off.”
“You can’t be with her,” Jesse said sternly.
“Why not?” he asked. “Love knows no boundaries, right? I mean, look what you’ve done for Taylor. Sure, Cynthia and I are from different backgrounds, but we want to be together, just like you and Taylor. I can’t stop thinking about her. I haven’t been able to since the first day I met her. I didn’t mean to fall for a gargoyle, but sometimes we can’t help where love takes us. You, of all people, should understand that.”
“It’s causing major tension between us and the gargoyles, and our position here is precarious enough. It’s so selfish of you to—”
“Selfish? Maybe you’re the selfish one, telling me I can’t be with the girl I love!”
“How can you love her?” he said. “You just met her. Besides that, she belongs to someone else. She’ll never be yours.”
“I know. I can’t explain it. It’s like I already jumped off the cliff, and I see the jagged rocks and crashing waves beneath me, but I’m powerless to stop it. I know it’s forbidden, that we’ll eventually have to give each other up, but it’s not something I can just automatically turn off. I didn’t mean to get caught, but I don’t regret being with her. I’m sorry if you can’t understand that.”
Before Jesse could say another word, I gripped his hand. “Can you talk to your dad and get Grant and Fred out of here?”
“I’ll try my best.”
I kissed his cheek. “Thanks.”
After Jesse left the dungeon to find a way to free our friends, Julie shouted, “Taylor, come here!”
“What is it?” I asked, rushing over.
She pointed to the next cell. “Looks like the jailbirds are also lovebirds.”
I rushed over to the cell. “Cynthia!”
Her green eyes welled with tears. “I-I’m so sorry for getting your friend in trouble,” she said.
“It isn’t your fault. Fred is crazy about you.”
“I know I’m engaged, but it isn’t fair that I’m being thrown into a forced marriage. My future husband deserves a wife who loves him and only him. Don’t I deserve a say in my own future? How can they do this to me?”
“We’ll do everything we can to help you,” Julie assured her.
“Thank you,” she said.
We told Grant and Fred goodbye, then left to find Jesse. We ran into him in the corridor. “Did you find your dad?”
“Yes, but we could only speak for a minute. Grant has a mandatory two-week jail stay.”
“What!?” Julie said. “How can they do that? He was just defending himself. Gosh, they really hate werewolves here.”
“What about Fred?” I asked.
“They apparently don’t hate werewolves as much as they hate unjustified love affairs,” Jesse said. “Fred’s in worse trouble, scheduled for trial tomorrow.”
I blew out a long breath.
“My father’s very upset.”
“I understand. I’m sorry everything got so out of control. Can we attend the court hearing?”
“No, but I will tell you the verdict.”
“Let’s hope they just give him a slap on the wrist,” Julie said.
I bit my lip hard. “Grant got in a fight, and he got two weeks. I’m not sure what their version of a slap on the wrist is.”
“I know,” Julie said. “Man, we’ve got enough problems without Grant and Fred adding to them.”
“You’re right. I guess chaos will always be a way of life for us.”