Page 70 of Once Charmed, Twice Cursed
Bold as brass.
“I’m sorry, Calder.” The words spill out before I can stop them. “I’m touched. So very touched. Your offer means more than you know. But I can’t accept.”
My father makes a gruff, annoyed sound. “Bria. This is justa formality. We’ve been discussing for weeks, and I’ve already?—”
“No,” I say. “No, it’s my life, and I’ll decide what to do with it. And I’m not marrying Calder.”
Calder blinks. Once. Twice. “Is my offer unclear in some way, or?—”
“No. It’s not you, believe me. It’s just...” I falter, groping for the proper words. “My heart belongs to someone else. It wouldn’t be fair to you to pretend otherwise.”
“Bria Iris Radcliffe.” My father stands now, his low growl deadly with promise. “This isn’t about that Null boy again, is?—”
“Yes.” I whirl on him. “It is. It’s always been about him, and his name’s Weston. And he’s not a Null anymore. And he’s definitely not a boy. And I don’t care if you approve of him, because you don’t need to. Anyway. I’m leaving now.”
I turn away, only to almost run straight into Calder. “You’re lovely. Really. I hope you can understand.”
He regards me for a long moment. Then he nods, slowly, as if coming to some silent decision. “I wish you well, Miss Bria. Every happiness. Truly.”
Goddess. He’s going to make some woman incredibly lucky, someday. She just won’t be me.
I step around him and aim for the door. My father leaps up from the divan, moving to intercept me, but Brendan snakes out a hand and snatches his wrist. My father tugs, but Brendan holds on tight.
I pause, bewildered. My brother can’t be...helping me, can he?
“Go,” Brendan says. “Quickly. I’ll make sure you have enough time.”
I gawk, even as wild, desperate hope sings in my chest. My father pulls and shouts, but I don’t stay to witness it. I pelt from the room and through the foyer, then out the door, headed for the stables. Somewhere behind me, my mother shrieks, apparently having made it down from the second floor, but I only increase my pace.
In the stables, I snatch a cloak off a peg and saddle my yellow mare, then hop astride and race out into the chilly afternoon.
Ten miles to go.
I clear the driveway and steal a glance behind me. No one is following, at least not yet. And I’m lighter than my father. Faster.
Even if he does catch up, it’ll only be after I reach the cabin, and Weston can take him in a fistfight. If that happens, I won’t even intervene. I’m done trying to talk sense into my parents.
But...
My heart withers to a pitiful husk when I think of how much time has passed. Weston might not actually be at the cabin. Brendan cut him down so ruthlessly that day. What if he never recovered? What if he thinks hedidspoil me, or disrespect me, or whatever nonsense my brother spewed in the heat of anger?
What if Weston left?
I spur my horse faster. Pines roar past while the wind slices at my cheeks.
Fear opens a void within me, one that might never be filled, because I may have let everything slip through my fingers. I might have waited too long.
Yet I keep going, because there’s only one way to find out.
And because it’s time, finally, to make my own luck.
Chapter Twenty-Five
By the time I locate the hollow where Weston stopped the carriage—the place where we first kissed, even if I didn’t realize it at the time—my heart is a tornado in my throat.
I don’t know what I’ll do if the cabin is empty. Track down Helena, maybe. Ask her where her nephew might have gone. If she can’t tell me, I’ll try Ravenfell. And if I don’t find Weston there, I’ll check the next town. And the next.
I guide my horse through the hollow and into the trees, not wasting a second on walking. Branches nip at my face as the mare carries me along the path to the cabin.
