Until Blaise slapped me in the face, that is.

“Ow.”

“Get up.”

I nestled into my almost-grave, burying my face into the ground to shield it from her open palm. “You know, I think I’ll just stay here.”

Scrawny arms looped underneath my underarms and tugged.

I hardly moved. Another giggle escaped my lips. “You’re so tiny. Did you know how tiny you are? You used to be even tinier. I remember one time—”

“Shut up and help me,” Blaise snapped.

I frowned. Blaise was mad, but I couldn’t figure out what for. But I loved Blaise, and I didn’t like it when she was upset. “Okay, okay.” I let her help me to my feet, leaning against her slight frame for support.

We hobbled up the street like that, Blaise yelling at me every few minutes when I tried to convince her the better path home was through the moat.

“I think Cinderella is married,” I found myself saying.

“Yes, well, you’re quite drunk, so see if you still think that in the morning.”

“No, think about it. Why else would she have left me? Why would she not come back?”

Agitation spiked in Blaise’s voice. “I don’t know, Andy. Did you ever consider—” But then she took a breath, her face softening. “I don’t know, but surely that wasn’t the reason.”

“It’s probably for the best, anyway.”

“Yeah, why is that?”

“Because she wouldn’t have loved me if she had known.”

Blaise stilled, her shoulders going rigid under my weight. “Known what?”

“Oh, you know, Blaise. About Jerad. About how—”

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“But I need to tell you. I found him, you know. And he was—”

Blaise’s voice was shaking now. “You’re drunk.”

“What’s that got to do with how Jerad—”

Her tone shifted, spiked in the frigid air. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Oh.” My chest sagged, and so did my eyelids.

Somehow, Blaise managed to get me all the way back to my chambers before I collapsed onto my bed face first. She tugged at my limp body until I lay on my back.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked.

Blaise sighed. She sure looked mad. “No.”

“Are you sure?”

“No.”

For some reason, that made me smile, and when I smiled, her face softened, her brow sagging. “I’m going to help you, Andy. I’m going to help you find a way out of your bond with Ellie.”

I didn’t know who that person was, but I thought better than to tell that to Blaise.

CHAPTER 13

EVANDER

I woke to a splash of cool water bursting through my nostrils and stinging my brain.

A string of curses escaped my mouth as I choked and sputtered. With the whoosh of a nearby curtain, light swarmed my bedroom, illuminating the cedar furniture Blaise had picked out for me while simultaneously scalding my unprotected eyeballs.

“Get up.”

Blaise.

Just who I wanted yelling at me at this hour of the morning.

“It’s past seven. You’re about to miss breakfast.” Fates, it was as if the girl could hear my thoughts.

“Didn’t really need it while I was sleeping,” I moaned, covering my eyes with my wondrously cozy blankets.

Blaise ripped them away from me.

Normally, she wouldn’t have been able to do that, but even a fae’s reaction time could be easily limited by a good old-fashioned hangover.

When I rolled back over and shoved my face into my pillow, something slammed me over the head.

Another pillow, sure, but even a pillow can feel like an anvil when you already feel like your skull is about to crack open.

“Get. The. Crap. Up,” she seethed between blows. “I’m. Done. With. This. Behavior.”

“Okay, Mother.”

That earned a sharp twist of my ear.

All other options exhausted, I rolled over and faced my unwelcome wake-up call.

Of course, as soon as I got a good look at my friend, her eyes puffy and swollen, try as she might’ve to cover the discoloration with paint, my heart softened.

And as it softened, that gave room for a pricking sensation.