Frost (Frost and Nectar #1)(49)

I stared at him in dawning horror. If he’d really wanted to ask about it, why would he bring it up now, in front of the cameras? Didn’t he know I wanted to move on?

I glanced at the camera and swallowed.

“I’d like to hear your side of the story,” he said. “Because you’ve been here for over a week, and I’ve seen a very different side of you than the person I met on the first night.”

Ah. I held his gaze again, and it occurred to me that he was trying to give me a chance to redeem myself before the world. As much as I just wanted them all to forget about that video, there was no way they would.

I took a deep breath and reached for his cocktail. “I’m going to need a sip of this after all if I’m going to get into that.” I closed my eyes as I drank from it, savoring the faint burn in my throat.

When I opened my eyes, I found Torin watching me with curiosity.

Where to begin?

“The night I met you, Torin, was my birthday. Or at least it was the day my mother, Chloe, decided was my birthday when she adopted me. We never really knew the date because someone found me outside a human hospital when I was maybe six months old. And I think because my mom was always so determined to make me feel normal, like I belonged, she used to go very over-the-top with birthday parties. Enormous cakes, magicians, twenty-five kids…I think she thought it would help me make friends. Even in high school, the birthdays were extravagant, with trips to the Caribbean or Paris. She didn’t need to do all that, of course, but we made some great memories.”

I stared at the Manhattan, realizing I’d started this story much further back than I’d intended, and now my heart hurt. “Anyway. When I was in college, my mom died. It just came out of nowhere, and…” I took another sip of the Manhattan. “But I had a boyfriend by then, and he took over making my birthdays special so I wouldn’t feel too sad about my mom being gone. He’d make me dinner and cakes. As the years went on, the birthdays weren’t as big a deal, but that’s what happens when you get older. So I’d just pick up some takeout, and we’d watch a movie. Fine by me. What really mattered was that we were going to form our own family. My mom wasn’t around anymore, but we’d make a new family with little kids I could spoil on their birthdays.”

The hall seemed strangely silent, and I couldn’t quite believe I was saying all this in front of the cameras. Except I didn’t feel like I was telling the world. I felt like I was telling Torin, and with the way he was listening so intently, he was somehow the perfect audience.

“He said we were soulmates, and we had all kinds of plans,” I added. “I was working in a bar to put him through business school. I was paying his mortgage. Then he was going to help me invest in my bar. And I’d name it after my mom. ‘Chloe’s.’” I smiled. “That was my plan.”

A line formed between Torin’s eyebrows. “And what happened on your birthday? The night we met?”

I picked up his Manhattan again and drained half of it, no longer caring what the rest of the world thought. “On my birthday, Torin, I came home to find my boyfriend naked in bed with a blonde he’d met on vacation two years ago. Apparently, they’re soulmates now, and everything I’d planned for was gone. The family, the kids with the elaborate birthdays, the backyard barbecues, and the bar named after my mom. So I went to the Golden Shamrock and got drunk enough to forget about everything. At least, I tried.”

King Torin stared at me, a muscle working in his jaw. “But you paid for this scoundrel’s mortgage.”

“Oh, I know.” I snorted. “He said I should be happy for him because he’d found true love.”

“He broke a contract.” There was a quiet fury in his voice that put me a little on edge.

“I mean, we didn’t have an official contract.”

He raised an eyebrow. “But you had his word that he would invest in your bar. And he lied to you for two years. What sort of miserable cad does that? Give me his name, and I will have this dealt with.”

My eyes widened with rising panic. “No, thanks. Look, silver lining, right? I’m here now, in Faerie after all. It worked out for the best.”

He paused for a moment, like he was considering his words. “Do you like it here?”

My own answer surprised me. “I do, really. When I first got here, I had a sense that I didn’t belong. Like the castle walls themselves objected to my presence. But I’m starting to enjoy being around other fae.”

It took another moment, but at last, a smile curled his lips. “We are wild creatures, and that is precisely why you belong here,” he murmured. He reached out to touch my wrist, but when he did, it felt as if pure ice had been injected straight into my arm.

“Ouch,” I gasped, yanking my arm away.

King Torin’s eyes widened, but I saw that deathly cold flicker within them. A chill spread through the room, and I didn’t quite understand what had just happened.

But before I could say another word, the bell rang, signaling the end of our date.





21

A VA

T hat night, for the first time in eleven days, Torin failed to show up at my room for training. To my surprise, I realized that I was disappointed.

I didn’t know why I missed him. He’d told me in very clear terms that he had no interest in true love, that he wasn’t even capable of it. That he’d simply chosen me on the basis of disliking me.