When I was six, Isaac kicked a soccer ball and it went straight into my head. I was unconscious before I hit the ground. I think I was out for six hours, but I don't remember. Max told me everyone have Isaac an earful, though. That cheered me up a little bit, even though I wasn't mad at Isaac. I also wasn't in much pain when I woke up.
But now, I certainly was. My back was on fire, and I felt it before I even opened my eyes.
I woke up slowly, the pain graciously coming first, and then my eyes opened. I was grateful it was nighttime, as there were no harsh lights to blind me.
My eyes slowly wandered the room. There was a machine to my left, and it beeped annoyingly loud. Goddess, I already hated it, and it had only been, like, a minute.
Across from me there were large windows, but the one directly across from me was blocked by someone. In my fuzzy state, I had to squint to make out the nice, tailored suit jacket. Only one man I knew of wore suits that well.
Obviously, my mind had not yet woken up, because I should have been alarmed the prince was here. I should be alarmed anyone was here.
Wasn't I supposed to be dead?
My mind must've started functioning then, because I then continued to ask myself why I would even be in a room like this if I were dead? Why would I be in the castle.
I continued my slow survey of the room. In the corner sat a nurse, busy scribbling away on her clipboard. Next to her was a door, maybe a bathroom, and there was nothing else here.
I felt my hands rub the blankets that covered me, almost as if making sure the satin material was really there.
I guess this made a noise, because the Prince turned around and the nurse looked up at me.
"Florence," the prince breathed out, those blue green orbs eyeing me up and down. I shivered.
The nurse got up out of her seat, running into the room next to her. She came out as quickly as she entered, carrying a water bottle and a cup.
"I'm sure you're thirsty."
I glanced at the prince.
Oh, I was definitely parched.
The nurse poured some water into the cup and placed the bottle onto the table next to me. "This might hurt, but I need you to sit up."
I darted my eyes to her as if she were crazy. There was no way I was sitting up. My back hurt enough when I was doing nothing. I shook my head at her.
She rose her eyebrow. "You need to drink some water. Besides, you'll have to sit up eventually."
Not if I can help it. I shook my head once again.
She sighed, opening the table drawer to pull out something plastic. "This moves the bed. I can make you sit up, or you can sit up your way. Either way, you gotta sit up."
I glared at her, but shifted my hands to sit up. I lifted myself up, grinding my teeth at the pain the movement to my back caused. Goddess, my back hurt like hell.
"I could've helped you." She said, resulting in a death glare from me again.
I grabbed the cup from the table and downed it, still glaring at the nurse, and put the cup back on the table.
She pursed her lips. "Now how hard was that."
I clenched my fist. I did not like this woman.
"Now, prince, I have to go inform Doctor Millard of her waking up, and someone has to be here the entire time while I'm gone. I'm guessing you're going to stay?" She asked, and I noticed how her eyelashes batted at him.
Oh. That's why she was such a jerk. She likes the prince.
"Yes. Go tell Millard." He replied, his eyes going straight back to me after speaking to her. The nurse quickly flitted out of the room, walking as close to the prince as possible.
But as she walked out, I realized I wanted her back. Now the prince and I were alone.
"I'd say you shouldn't have taken the bullets for me, but I would be dead if you didn't. Thank you for saving my life, Florence." My name rolled off his tongue in a way that brought shivers down my spine. His eyes looked into mine, so I stared at my hands.
I shrugged in response. What do you say to that? Besides, I still couldn't speak.
All thanks to the witch.
I let my mind wander to her for a second. Did they kill her? They must've. Werewolves are too protective to just keep her somewhere. They must've gotten rid of her.
The prince leaned against the wall, and I brought my eyes back up again.
"Do you need more painkillers? They didn't want to overdo it, but the doctor said you would definitely need more." He seemed as if he wanted to keep the conversation going. He didn't want silence from me.
But I nodded. I needed more painkillers right now, and I needed strong ones. Goddess, my back was on fire.
There was a minute where neither of us spoke, just looking at each other. I finally broke it when I started making writing motions.
He raised his eyebrow. "Do you want my phone or legitimate paper?"
I shrugged. It didn't matter.
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the sleek black device, handing it over to me. I started typing on the document he opened for me.
What about Batilda? Is she dead?
He took the phone back and read it. Sighing, he shook his head. "She was going to be killed, and I wanted her killed, but apparently if we ever want any of the spells she put on you undone, Batilda has to undo them herself."
My shoulders sagged with defeat. I'd never get any of these spells undone.
The prince raised his eyebrow. "You don't think she'll undo it?"
I cocked my head at him, raising my eyebrow. I motioned for him to hand his phone over, and he did.
She'd never undo it. She'd never give me back any sort of freedom and
My fingers paused over the keyboard. The prince didn't have to know that. He didn't have to know how much happiness my despair brought Batilda. I erased everything I wrote.
She'd never undo it, not if it didn't benefit herself
I handed the phone back to the prince. He stared at me once again. "I think certain methods might get her to undo them, or at least some. She doesn't die until everything is reversed."
The prince was close now, right by the end of the bed. I reached over, stealing the phone out of his hands. My fingers brushed against his hands and I had to ignore the Sparks. I haven't forgotten that the prince and I can't be together.
But I don't even know everything she's done.
I showed him the text, and his eyes darted across the screen, looking up at me with a sad expression. Pity. I hated it.
"How long were you with her?"
There it was. The question I wanted to know. The question I've been dying to know for years. I had ignored some of the facts, like how I was taken at eight, but werewolves can't find their mates until they're at least eighteen. I had tried to shut that all out of my brain for a long, long time, but now there was no avoiding it.
I exited the document application he had open and tried to find the calendar one. I opened it, and my shoulders fell when I read the year.
I didn't even want to tell him at this point. My goddess, I was almost nineteen. It was late November, and my birthday was at the end of next month. I'd be turning nineteen on the twenty-ninth. It's been almost eleven years.
Batilda stole eleven years of my life. My eyes stung, and I wanted to cry. Oh, how bad I just wanted to sink into my emotions and ignore everything else. But the prince was right in front of me, and I didn't need him comforting me.
I reopened the document app, and tried to decide if I was going to tell him. If I did, I know he'd pity me more.
I don't know. I'm tired now, can I go back to sleep?
I handed him back the phone and shifted closer to the headboard of the bed, and away from the prince.
He read the message, and sighed. "I'm sorry you're stuck with the nurse you have. She's mean, and she's jealous of you, but she does her job well, which is the only reason I'm allowing her in here. I'll tell Millard you need those painkillers, but get some rest." He reached out as if to touch my leg, but pulled his hand back. He could tell I didn't want that right now.
He retreated back to his spot at the window, but he didn't have to stay long, for the doctor and nurse came in only a minute later and started checking up on me. Dante told the doctor I needed more painkillers, and then with one last glance at me, he left.
***
Millie giggled. "If I ended up being the prince's mate? Oh, I'd never stop kissing him. He's so hot." Her cheeks reddened and she sighed dreamily.
Daisy scoffed. "I'd tell him to put Batilda's head on a stake, that's what. Then I'd think about our relationship. But I just really need her gone."
Wendy raised her hand. "Amen to that. I think I'd do the same, but I don't know. I would definitely make him take me on a tour of Paris. Oh, that would be so much fun." Wendy had never been to Paris. She came from an boarding school in Germany, but her home was in America. Batilda had to do a lot of hunting to get her.
"What about you, Florence?" Daisy asked, looking up at me with her beautiful hazel eyes. I had always envied her eyes.
But I focused on her question. I had never even thought about it. I knew I wasn't his mate, so why would I? Letting myself ponder the idea, I knew I would never be able to be a queen, so I wouldn't even want to be his mate. I couldn't even be a Luna.
I mouthed one word. Millie gasped.
"Why would you reject him? He's, like, perfect."
Millie had only been here a couple of months now. Maybe even less. Daisy had been here much longer, but definitely less than a year. Wendy was older than me, but she showed up only a bit before Daisy. None of them had been here as long as I have.
I rolled my eyes at Millie's childishness. I had given up on having anything past when I would leave this place a long time ago.
I woke up from the dream with an inaudible gasp, and I shot up from laying down. The moon was still high in the sky, and I knew it had to be the middle of the night.
But the girls, I reminded myself. I had let myself forget that Millie and Daisy remained in the basement of the bungalow. I needed to help them, no matter how they treated me after Wendy was gone.
I bit my lip to mask the pain I felt as I shifted my body, getting ready to stand up. The nurse was asleep, thank goddess, and from the looks of it, she's been sleeping for a while.
I managed to stand, the pain in my back increasing. I saw the bottle of Advil on the table along with the water bottle and grabbed both before making my way around the bed and towards the door. Every step shot a pang of pain up my spine, but I kept walking. My hand gripped the cold metal of the doorknob and I slowly turned, careful not to make a sound. I pulled the door open just as slowly, and glanced back when it was fully open.
The nurse was snoring in her chair, looking very unattractive if you asked me, and I took that as my chance to sneak out into the hallway.
I saw a bunch of chairs against both sides of the hallway by my door, but no one was there. I snuck down to the right, seeing light down there, until I got to a stairway. Glancing down, I saw that there were two more flights to get to the main floor, and then I looked up. There were maybe three more floors above me, so I went upstairs, hoping to find the prince's room.
I climbed each step slowly, hating it, but managing a whole flight before I leaned against the bannister, panting. My goddess, this was an adventure. Down to my left, I saw someone opening their door, and I had to quickly hobble up the next flight of stairs. I knew the person wasn't a royal, so I hoped I had finally reached the floor where the royals sleep.
I hobbled down the hallway, trying to find any sort of sign that would lead me to the prince. All the doors looked the same, so I tried to focus on my sense of smell. I knew it would be weak, and I half expected it not to be there after such a long time of not shifting. But I closed my eyes and tried everything to contact my wolf.
And then I smelt the faintest hint of Dante's smokey scent, and I followed it down to my left, all the way to the end of the hallway. When I got to the door it was strongest, I stopped. Goddess, I hope this is Dante's room, and not the king and queen's.
I lifted my hand and knocked softly on the door. Not long after, I heard a groan and the shuffling of blankets.
"Who knocks at this hour?" I heard him mutter before he opened the door. His eyes widened when he saw me and he shook his head, rubbing his eyes and looking at me again.
Then he narrowed his eyes just the slightest. "Are you trying to hurt yourself? Come in, you're barely wearing anything too."
I glanced down, noticing for the first time that I was just wearing one of those thin hospital gowns.
I walked in and he closed the door behind me.
"You could've ripped open your stitches. This was a horrible idea. Why didn't you just get the nurse to get me?" I waved my hand at him, shrugging.
He walked around his bed to pull his phone out of the charger and handed it to me. "You should be in bed."
I rolled my eyes at him.
There were other girls Batilda kept in a house in the middle of the forest, I need to get them out.
He read the message and ran his fingers through his black locks. "Shit. How many? Do you know where the house is?"
I bit my lip. That was the problem.
I don't know where the house is. There's two girls.
The prince opened his mouth to talk, but hesitated. "I... If you don't even know where this place is, I don't think–"
I shook my head feverishly. My fingers tapped on the screen with lightning speed.
They'll die, I need to help them. They're thirteen and fourteen.
Dante let out a sigh. "You're not even healed. You just woke up. This is a recipe for disaster."
My mind was working a mile a minute to find a way to get around what Dante was saying. I didn't care that I was still injured, and that I had just woken from my surgery. Millie and Daisy were stuck in the basement. Maybe if I could just get him the address to the house, he would overlook everything else.
I hated to admit that only one person knew that address. And it would be a crazy idea to try and get that information out of her, but it felt like my only chance.
Take me to Batilda. She would know the address.
He barely glanced at my message before laughing. "No, no way in hell. There is no way I'm letting her near you. Please Florence, I can't have you getting hurt again."
I typed without a second thought.
Because you know it was your fault in the first place.
His face fell. "I should've listened to you. I'm so, so sorry I didn't. But I can't let you get near that witch."
I was with her for years. I'm fine. If you don't let me do this, I'll just find a way to do it without you.
Dante's eyes bore into mine. We stared at each other for a moment, and I never broke eye contact. When he realized I wasn't going to back down, he shook his head. "Fine. Fine. I will take you to her cell. If I even think it's close to going bad, we leave and you do not ever get to go back down there. Okay?"
I nodded my head, already turning around and walking towards the door.
"No. Not like that. You need actual clothes." He insisted, and I rolled my eyes.
"I could go wake up Sapphire and ask for something from her, but she'd kill me for waking her up. So there's the old stuff Batilda left in your room–" I shook my head rapidly. Knowing Batilda, it was probably poisonous. Or tracked.
"–Didn't think so. What about if I asked your nurse? She looks about the same size as you."
The nurse was a good option, if she didn't seem like she hated me so much. I shook my head again.
He raised an eyebrow at me. "So you're going to go make me wake up the monster?"
I nodded.
"You suck. You're coming with me, then. She's down the hallway." He walked around the bed and opened the door for me, and then followed me out and down to the right, all the way down the hallway.
We walked in silence past countless doors, until we got to just about the end of the hallway. Dante raised his fist and quietly knocked. Nothing happened.
He knocked again, and still, no one answered. He then closed his eyes and he did nothing for a minute. Then, I heard Sapphire roll over in bed.
"If this isn't important enough to mind link me at four in the fucking morning Dante, I will make sure you never have children." She groaned, and I heard more shuffling until she opened the door.
She immediately noticed me and grinned. "Florence! Why aren't you in bed? You're injured."
This made me sigh. Why did everyone care that I was in bed?
'I'm fine,' I mouthed, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I'll bet. I know I'd be just great after getting shot. What do you two want?" She rubbed her arms, the goosebumps on her skin obvious.
"She needs clothes. She convinced me to let her see the witch. I don't want her walking around half naked."
I cocked my head at him. I was fully clothed!
Sapphire's jaw dropped. "What? That witch tried to kill the both of you." Her attention turned to me. "I need to know exactly what dirty act you did to convince him to do this because it's obviously genius. Come on, I can read lips."
I shrugged. Dante spoke again. "I think it's because she caught me at four in the morning, but we really need those clothes."
Sapphire sighed. "Fine, come on in then. I'll get you whatever. You're super tiny, my clothes are still gonna be a bit big on you." I glanced down at myself. I wasn't that small. My hips were wide, which I had never liked. They made me look less small, though.
"Here," she threw back a shirt, which Dante caught. "And here's some leggings. They still might be a bit big." She glanced back at me, looking at my legs. "Maybe not in the butt, though. Whatever, they'll fit."
She turned around, looking at me again. "I'm gonna guess you need some underwear, too?" I nodded, and she motioned me over.
"So I definitely do not have a bra in your size, but it'll have to work. There's one, and here's some panties. I just bought them, so they've never been worn. Is that all? Oh shoot, you're going to need shoes and socks, right? What shoe size are you?"
I shrugged. I had no clue. I hadn't bought a pair of shoes in years, obviously, and Batilda just handed me whatever, and she always handed me nasty looking heels. I definitely did not want to wear heels now.
"You don't know what shoe size you are? That's fine." She waved her hand and placed her foot parallel to mine. Her feet were only a little bigger.
"Okay, you'll be fine in mine. I have a bunch of gym shoes." She walked over to Dante and stole the clothes out of his hands. "You can just change in my bathroom. Go change and I'll get you a pair of shoes." She pointed me to her bathroom and I walked in, closing the door behind me.
I glanced over all the clothes again, but stopped at the panties. They were weird, and strappy. There was barely any fabric. I opened the door again and held the scrap of cloth on my finger, not understanding.
"What's the matter?" Sapphire said, stopping her conversation with her brother. Her eyes looked at my expression and then at what I was holding up.
"Oh shit. I only buy thongs. I don't have, like, any panties. Sorry." Sapphire smiled, a little deviously.
I dropped my jaw a little, looking at the underwear again. Dante laughed at my expression, and I glared at him. He shut up.
»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«
super long chapter but whatever I didn't wanna make 2 not so exciting ones.
it's like 2 am and I have softball in the morning but it's okay Bc I wanted to write so now it's time to sleep goodnight.
🌙🌚🌙
Skye