“Halt!” one of them commanded, but I dared not stop. Who knew if I was too late to save the couple? He might’ve already been attacking them.
My breath came in ragged gasps as I raced down the steps, briefly realizing that I had left my shoes back in my room. As soon as I made it outside, the rocks cut into my bare feet, and I regretted my hasty decision. Picking up speed, I bolted toward the stables, searching the darkness beyond for the beast.
“C’mon,” I murmured. “Please don’t let me be too late.” I barreled into the stables and saw a dark form looming in the stall in front of me. A lantern swung softly on a peg, and I acted without thinking.
“Fiergo!”
The lantern’s fire blazed brighter. With a flick of my wrist, I sent the fiery furnace directly at the shadow, preparing to light it up in a blaze of magic fire.
“Holy hell!” Xander cried out as the lantern hit him, and I gasped, realizing my mistake.
“Difinite!” I shouted the extinguishing charm before I burned the crown prince alive.
He patted his burning cloak and spun around to confront me. “What in the blazes are you doing? You just tried to murder me!”
“Not true. I thought you were the beast!” I said.
“I am not the beast!” he roared, and I saw a small form shaking behind him. Yasmin stepped out a moment later.
If they were the two in my vision coming out of the house, then that meant the beast was still here, and I was wrong about Xander being the shapeshifter. Spinning on my heel, I ran out of the stables, scanning the woods. Closing my eyes, I reached out with my senses, my power. Focusing all of my will, I waited in challenge with my hands spread wide, ready to call forth the very earth to crush the beast, praying I could do it.
I knew when Xander had come out of the stables and stood behind me, his scent as familiar to me now as any of my sisters. I held up my hand to silence him as I paced back and forth, searching for the dark presence but finding none.
“You are not welcome here!” I said threateningly, making sure the wind carried my voice into the woods and to the beast if it was listening.
“You can’t tell me where to go,” Xander seethed, and I gritted my teeth angrily. He thought I was speaking to him.
Stupid man. Did he not understand the supernatural battle that was going on around him?
“Leave!” I commanded, thrusting every ounce of compulsion I had toward the woods, hoping the beast was still there. To try and draw it out into battle right now could also endanger Xander. I would leave this battle for another day.
The hair on my arms rose as I tried to reach deep into the ground, searching for magic and power to aid me in case of attack. Sweat beaded across my brow. Xander was oblivious. He reached for me, and my power unintentionally blasted him backward to land in a pile of straw.
I released the power and rushed to him. I was the stupid one. There wasn’t anything out there, just my own delusions. In trying to protect them all, I had injured the prince.
As Xander pulled himself out of the pile of straw, Yasmin was next to him, cooing as she pulled each piece out of his hair and jacket.
Bile rose in my stomach as I pictured them in the stables together, rolling around in the hay. How far would it have gone had I not arrived? Neither of them even knew I’d saved them.
Xander pushed Yasmin’s hand away as he rushed at me, gripping my arm painfully.
“You struck me!” he roared, the veins in his forehead protruding. I tried to pull away, but he wasn’t allowing it. “You tried to light me on fire.”
“I thought”—I yanked away from him—“you were in trouble.”
He cocked his head and went silent before his laugh filled the air. “Trouble.” He turned and pointed to a smirking Yasmin. “From her? Now that is amusing. I do tend to get into trouble with the ladies, but rest assured, I do not need saving from them.” He laughed again, and the little bit of understanding we may have had was gone. A wide chasm opened between us in its place.
“Not from her—from the beast.” How could I possibly explain my vision of the beast, my connection to it, without implicating myself?
Xander’s laughter stopped, and his expression turned to one of wariness as he looked toward the forest. “It was here?”
Did he believe me? Maybe the chasm wasn’t as large as I thought.
“Yes, I think so.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do.”
“Then you know nothing,” he snapped.
Now he really was wearing my patience thin. Spinning on my heels, I stepped closer to him, looking into his eyes. Even barefoot, he was only a few inches taller than me. “No, Your Highness.” I sneered. “But rest assured, he would have attacked you if I had not shown up.”
“Why did you show up?” he countered. “Were you jealous? Following me?”
I snorted. “No.”
“Then how did you know the beast would come tonight, to this location, if you’re not in league with the beast?” Xander’s voice had dropped to a deadly whisper.
“Xander,” Yasmin spoke up. She was shivering in the cold and looking terrified at being out in the dark.
“Go into the house, darling,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine. His endearment was not lost on me.
“But—” she countered.
“Go! Let me deal with the witch,” Xander growled.
With each cruel word, I felt the slice of his tongue across my skin and the burning pain it left behind. Again, I was no stranger to these derogatory remarks, but they hurt more now than from a stranger.
Steel yourself, Rosalie.
When Yasmin was inside and we were truly alone, I became uncomfortable standing barefoot and without a proper shawl or coat. Only now did the chilly night air attack me, the cuts on my feet stinging as the adrenaline wore off. My stitches burned from running, and I was now doing everything in my power to mask the pain I was in. I would never give him the satisfaction of seeing me weak or powerless.
“You are a fool,” I snapped. “You underestimate the beast. It’s smarter than any animal. Its thoughts are—”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re connected to it with the way you talk.”
“N-No, I can sense it. And when I dream, I….”
“You what?” he asked.
“N-Never mind,” I said, glancing away, my lips pressed firm, my arms crossed to ward off the chill and my shaking. I would not give my enemy any information about the beast.
“Why did you touch the dead man?” he asked.
Here it comes. More accusations. More fuel to the witch fire.
“It’s one of my gifts.”
“What is?” Silence. “As your future king, I demand that you answer my questions. You say you do not lie—then don’t. I know we may not know much about magic, but you could teach me. Tell me the truth.”
“Very well. I will tell you the truth, but in no way does this prove me in league with the beast or in a conspiracy against you or your kingdom. Do you understand?”
“Let me be the judge of whether you’re forming a conspiracy against me.”
“You’ll be the judge or the executioner?” I queried.
“Rosalie.” He said my name in exhaustion. My full name. It was almost my undoing. I sighed in contentment at hearing it cross his lips.