Chapter Fourteen

By the time I arrive at the mine, shadows cling to the edges of the forest, sunlight barely piercing the thick canopy of trees overhead.

I park as close as I can, running the rest of the way on foot. My lungs burn with exertion, my heart pounding. I don”t stop—not until the entrance to the mine comes into view, the warning signs barely visible in the thick brush that”s grown up around them.

The entrance to the mine is in the same state. Vines and ivy have grown over it, all but hiding it from view. The underbrush around the entrance has been trampled—the only sign that anyone has been here in recent memory.

I rush toward the entrance, my heart in my throat. I don”t call out, terrified she”ll run if she hears my voice. As far as she knows, I tried to have her killed. I need to get close enough to convince her that I mean her no harm before she has a chance to run. Otherwise, she may rush straight into danger trying to get away.

I can”t allow that. This mine is no place for her.

I”m nearly to the entrance when a soft sound reaches me. I pause, trying to pick it out.

My heart cracks wide open when I realize what it is.

She”s crying. The soft sound whispers from the mine, haunting and sorrowful.

I move in that direction as if drawn by a magnet, unable to stand there and listen when she needs me.

I slip inside the mine, pausing long enough to allow my eyes to adjust. Somehow, she”s turned the cavern into something resembling a home. Rocks line one corner, with an emergency blanket she undoubtedly pillaged from the mine covering a bed of leaves and straw.

She dragged wood into the opposite corner, stacking it into a rough table. Berries and apples are piled on top. She found lanterns somewhere—the same place she found the blanket, perhaps—and strewn them around, illuminating the dirt floors and wooden walls.

The walls are covered with rough drawings of the stars and a moon, as if she needed to see them to remind herself they exist even down here.

She”s curled up near the table, her arms wrapped around her knees, her tangled hair hiding her beautiful face. Her yellow dress is torn and dirty, the shoulder ripped almost completely away. There”s an ugly scratch across her upper arm—the source of the blood on the fabric we found. Samson didn”t lie about that, at least.

Her body shakes as she cries quietly. She looks so fucking small and miserable.

My heart bleeds. For the first time in days, she”s in front of me. She”s alive. And I”ve never seen her look so fucking sad.

”Thalia,” I whisper, walking toward her. ”Sweet Thalia.”

”Not again,” she cries quietly. ”Stop haunting me! Just leave me alone already.”

I”m haunting her?

”You”re haunting me too, angel. Every fucking minute of the day, you haunt me,” I groan, dropping to my knees in front of her.

Her head flies up, her sapphire eyes connecting with mine. ”Troy,” she gasps.

”Thalia.” I reach for her, desperate to touch her, to prove to myself that she”s real, that she”s here, and that she safe.

She flinches away from me, tears pouring down her cheeks. ”You aren”t supposed to be here.”

”Where else am I supposed to be if not where you are?”

She sobs, shaking her head as if to deny what I”ve said.

”I didn”t send him, Thalia,” I say, holding my hands out, palms up. ”I swear to you, I didn”t send him.”

”You didn”t send him?” The fragile hope in her voice breaks me. She wants to believe it so badly—I think deep down she already does—but she”s so fucking afraid to trust that little voice telling her that I wouldn”t do this to her. I can”t blame her for that, not when her own father already broke her heart.

”I would never hurt you, angel. I could never hurt you. You”re safe with me. You”re always safe with me. So long as I live, no one will ever threaten you again.”

Her shoulders slump, more tears spilling down her cheeks. ”It doesn”t matter what happens to me, Troy.”

”Why not?”

She shrugs, her gaze fixed on the dirt floor.

”Tell me, Thalia.”

”It doesn”t matter.”

”It does. Tell me.”

She hesitates for a long moment and then sighs, lifting her gaze to mine. ”It doesn”t matter because the one thing I want will never be mine. You don”t love me the same way I love you,” she whispers, pure misery welling in her eyes.

I can”t stand it anymore. I reach out, touching her cheek. Even though she doesn”t want to do it, she nuzzles into my hand, shuddering.

”If you believe that, you haven”t been paying attention, Thalia. My heart beats for you,” I whisper. ”I love you so fucking desperately I can”t breathe through it.”

Her eyes widen, hope and doubt warring in them. ”You don”t. You can”t. Y-you don”t know what you”re saying, Troy. You don”t know who I am.”

”No?” I arch a brow. ”Are you telling me that you aren”t Princess Thalia Rosewood, my betrothed?”

Her gasp almost makes me smile. ”You know?”

”I know.”

”But—”

”I put it together that day in the forest, angel. I went to Stonehaven to tell my father and yours that you were mine and we were getting married. I had the marriage contracts revised to ensure that you would have your freedom if anything ever happened to me. Neither your father nor mine will have any say over you,” I explain quietly. ”I wanted to make sure that, no matter what, you never again feel like you need to run to protect yourself. When I got back to the cabin to tell you, you were gone. We”ve torn every kingdom in this part of the world apart looking for you.”

”We?”

”Me, my father, and yours.”

Her face pales. ”My father is here?”

”I left him back at Stonehaven,” I murmur, brushing my fingers down the smooth plane of her cheek. ”He regrets what he said to you, princess. He regrets that he made you run.”

”Good.” Anger snaps and sizzles in her eyes, burning hot. ”He should regret it.”

”He loves you.”

”Loves me?” She blinks at me. ”He didn”t tell you, did he? You don”t know everything.”

”He told me that he lost his temper and threatened to lock you in the tower if you didn”t follow through on the marriage,” I say, watching her face. ”He won”t be threatening you ever again, Thalia, I promise you that.”

”You still don”t know,” she whispers, the light dying in her eyes.

”Know what, princess? Talk to me.”

”One of my ancestors was cursed, Troy. Destined to sleep for one hundred years. She could only be awoken by her true love”s kiss,” she says, wrapping her arms around her again. ”He found her, kissed her, and woke her. According to the story, they lived happily ever after. But my family knows differently.”

”What do you mean?”

”They had a daughter. When she was just a little girl, she fell into a deep sleep. Nothing could wake her, no matter what they tried. It was as if she had died. Twelve hours later, she woke with no memories. That night, as soon as the sun set, the same thing happened. It happened every night for years. Until one day, she met a man and fell in love. When night fell, and the curse claimed her, he thought she”d died. He kissed her in his grief and broke the curse.” Thalia pauses, licking her lips. ”But it didn”t die with her, Troy. The curse passed to her daughter, and to her daughter, and then to hers. It”s passed to every woman with Rosewood blood ever since.”

”Are you saying—?”

”I”m saying the only reason you were able to wake me is because you were destined to do so,” she whispers. ”You”re my one true love, the one man chosen by fate to break the curse. You didn”t have a choice in loving me, Troy. It was written in the stars long before you and I were even born. So you can”t be with me. not if you want to be in charge of your own destiny. ” Tears slip down her cheeks again, her bottom lip quivering. ”I knew it all along, but I didn”t tell you. I kept it from you, hoping you”d love me enough that it wouldn”t matter. I tried to take your choice from you, just like your father did.”

Her father—the fucker—knew about this, and he threatened to lock her away, to trap her with no way of breaking the curse. He bound her into a contract, not knowing if I was her true love or if he was condemning her to a lifetime of living that way—of spending half of every day in an enchanted death.

That isn”t love. That”s torture.

I don”t blame her for not telling me.

How can I? In her shoes, I would have done the same for a chance at freedom.

My entire life, I”ve fought against my father, chafing at his meddling, resenting his interference. Only to realize that somewhere in there, he actually cared. He was doing the best he could the only way he knew how.

Her whole life, she loved her father desperately, only to realize that she was just a pawn to him—just a tool for him to use. She was the one being forced and controlled, not me. I”ve always had my will. She”s never had that.

When I see her father again, I”m going to break his fucking jaw. There is no excuse and no justification—none I”m willing to entertain. He won”t have the chance to hurt her again. Her mother will be allowed to see her if Thalia allows it. But he won”t come within a thousand yards of her.

”Thalia, what would happen to you if I rejected you?” I ask. It”ll never happen, but I need to know. What”s she trying to sacrifice to set me free?

”It doesn”t matter.”

”It matters to me, princess. Tell me.”

”I don”t know.” Her breath trembles on her lips. ”I guess the curse comes back?” She grips my wrists, her eyes boring into mine. ”But it doesn”t matter, Troy. I”ve already accepted it.” Her bottom lip quivers. ”I got to see the moon and stare up at the vastness of the night sky again. You gave me that. If I never see it again, I”ll always have those memories. It”ll be enough.”

”Jesus,” I mutter. She”s breaking my heart. All this time, this is what”s been eating at her. This is what she”s been so afraid to tell me. I told her hell would freeze over before I was controlled, so she”s carried her fears alone, trying to outrun a curse and her father. Desperately fighting for her life, all while consumed by guilt, believing she was taking my choice from me.

She”s my choice. She”ll always be my choice in every lifetime, in every version of this story, in every possible ending.

I reach into my pocket, pulling out the ring I”ve been carrying for the last week. I hold it out in the palm of my hand.

”Marry me, princess.”

She blinks wide, startled eyes. ”Troy, didn”t you hear me? I”ve been lying to you. You can”t be with me and have what you want.”

”I heard you, angel. But you”re wrong.” I grab her hand, pressing my lips to her knuckles before I slip the ring onto her finger. ”The only way I get what I want is if I have you. If I don”t have that, I have nothing.”

”Troy,” she whimpers.

”Marry me, princess.”

”Do you mean it? Troy.” She presses her shaking hands to my face. ”Do you mean it?”

I clamp my hands around her waist, resting my forehead against hers. ”I”ve never meant anything more, sweet Thalia. I don”t care about destiny or curses. I don”t give a fuck about magic or our fathers or kingdoms. All I want is you. I want you so damn much it”s become a physical ache. You”ve consumed me from the inside out. There is no Troy without Thalia. I can”t live without you. I need you to marry me so I survive.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, needing her to understand that I mean it. I”m not asking to save her. I”m not sacrificing anything here. ”Even if you tell me no, you”ll never be cursed again, Thalia. My heart will still be yours. Nothing will ever change that. Not because fate demands it but because I do. You belong to me.” I brush my lips against hers. ”All fucking mine.”

”Troy,” she sobs, burying her face in my shoulder as sobs wrack her body.

I lift her into my arms, reveling in the feel of her soft body pressing against me again. It feels like it”s been a fucking lifetime. She clings to me like I”m a lifeline, her tears soaking into my shirt. But I don”t care. All that matters is the woman in my arms and the fact that she”s mine.

”You”ll never go another day believing that my soul isn”t yours, princess,” I breathe, climbing to my feet to carry her out of the mine and into the night where we belong. ”Not a single fucking day. I love you. Every perfect inch of you.”

Her sweet voice whispering those three words back to me is the most perfect sound I”ve ever heard.

”I love you, Troy.”