Page 94 of Solstice

“I don’t have a choice.” My heart shattered as I said it, all of the torture from the weeks apart seeping out of me.

He squared his jaw, the belligerent knight in shining armor coming to the forefront of his personality. “Come to America. Marry me, Juliet. Marry Lex. Can’t you see we need you?” His words rang through me, the truest thing I’d ever felt in my life. “And you need us. I mean, fuck. Look at you.”

My knees gave out, and I sank to the floor, unable to hold my own weight while I cried. Carter followed me, squatting down so he could wrap his arms around me and hold me. “You’re not safe with me, not anymore, not anymore.” I could barely get the words out, but I needed him to hear them.

“I love you,” he murmured, kissing the side of my head. “You’re not third anything. It’s all of us, Miri, all the time. Weeds is a fucking mess without you.”

“Ivy is strong.”

“Lex is a stone-hearted monster.”

The thought of my beloved prince of darkness made me chuckle, and Carter cupped my jaw so he could look me in the eyes again.

“Things are getting bad.” He shook his head. “I was sent to get you. My tour is almost over, and once it’s up, I’m heading back to DC.”

None of that had been a surprise. I’d felt it the minute the king had gotten out, but it didn’t matter anymore. The princess would save everyone in this fairy tale, and that started with staying away from them to protect them.

The king’s voice echoed in the back of my mind.

“Little Thistle, you’ll come to owe me quite a bit before we’re through.”

I shivered and couldn’t hide it, making Carter hold me tighter.

“You’re not safe here by yourself. Please come with me.”

“What, right now?” I balked and met his gaze.

“Yes, right now. Roxy’s down in the car. We could get you out. You could start a new life in the States with us. We need your help. Please.”

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to do it. Bleeding Christ, a huge part of me wanted to squeal for joy and jump in his arms, eagerly accepting his proposition. I yearned for my spouses the same way they yearned for me.

But I couldn’t. It was safer for everyone if I stayed away. The king could manipulate me in ways he couldn’t with the others, and the closer he got to me, the more vulnerable I made the people around me. If he could manipulate my mind anytime he wanted, I didn’t know what else I was capable of, what sins he’d make me commit and hide from everyone else.

“I can’t,” I said. “I love you, but I can’t.”

He looked crestfallen, my words shooting him right through the gut.

“You have to go,” I told him, suddenly afraid that someone would see him and report it back to Gran. She couldn’t know he was here, that I’d been in touch with any of them. Hell, she’d nearly killed me when I’d listened to Ivy on the phone a few weeks ago. If she knew I’d seen one of them in person? “Carter, please. Don’t make it harder for me.”

“None of us wanted this, but we’re all a part of it. That includes you, like it or not.” He kept his voice as low and as level as he could, but I knew I was killing him. “You can break it off with them, but you can’t get away from me.” His voice broke and he cleared his throat, blinking back tears. “Not me, Miri. Not me.”

“Okay,” I relented, my chest heaving. “Okay, Carter. I’ll figure it out. I’ll call you.”

As if coming to some resolution within himself, he nodded and said, “Okay.” He gave me one last kiss before standing and going for the door. “He’s coming, Miri. You need to be ready to tear this all down when he does.” I didn’t say anything as he opened it and left me standing there, shaking and terrified for what I’d just agreed to.

Act V

The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve.

Lovers, to bed! ’Tis almost fairy time.

-Theseus, Act V, Scene I

27

Ivy

WEDDING EVE

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