Tears streamed from my eyes as something coiled up deep within me unraveled.

“Well, just think about it,” he said.

I caught him in my embrace before he had a chance to leave.

I was still in the workshop when she came for me.

My father had already gone to bed. He’d encouraged me to do the same, but judging from the twinkle in his eyes, I figured we both knew it was a lost cause.

Tomorrow we’d begin our lessons, and Fates smite me if I wasn’t prepared.

I was prepping the materials for a simple window, one of our standard, non-ornate versions, when I heard the sultry voice. It snaked the length of my back, sending shivers down my spine.

“Such a shame you seem to have misplaced your talent. I suppose I’ll have to commission my wedding shoes elsewhere.”

I grabbed for a nearby iron poker and spun around. My makeshift blade clanked against something hard as Cinderella lunged for me, sending her whirring backward.

She hit the wall with a thud…

And immediately began massaging her back against the wall post like she was trying to work a knot out of her muscles.

Fates, I hated her.

She must have caught the look of disgust that was probably smeared across my face, because she shrugged, the moonlight from the window highlighting her pasty skin.

Okay, she wasn’t pasty. She was glowing.

Still, I preferred pasty.

I opened my mouth to scream.

“Uh-uh. Alert your dear parents, and I’ll just have to kill them first.”

The statement clamped my jaw shut as fear raced through me. Where were my guards? Evander had been true to his word; he’d sent members of his private guard to observe my house, to monitor me when I was out and about.

“How’d you get past the guards?” I asked.

She grinned, scraping the blade across her nails as if to trim them. For the first time, I noticed the blade was coated in blood. And I wasn’t bleeding.

“I have lots of little tricks you don’t know about. That no one knows about.”

Fear coursed through my veins, and I inched my foot to the side, preparing to sprint if I had to. “Not even the love of your life?”

Hate flickered in her blue eyes for a moment before her expression chilled.

“Can’t you give it a rest?” I asked. “You have what you want now. Evander’s bargain with me has been severed. You have him all to yourself. You win.”

“Ah, I wish it were that simple,” she cooed, “but alas, when I’m lying in Evander’s arms at night after he’s—well, since you’re an innocent I’ll put it politely—after he’s bedded me”—My blood coiled at the thought and vomit rose in my throat, but I swallowed it back down. My heart wouldn’t hurt for him. Not in my last moments. I was too proud for that—“I can’t help but stay wide awake. I can’t seem to find that sweet sleep. You see, all I can think about is you.”

“That sounds like your own problem,” I said, clutching my poker firmer until my knuckles paled.

“Yes, well, I’ll admit my body is horribly insecure. It tends to bring out my jealous nature,” she said, even as my ears perked at the oddity of her word choice. My body is insecure? “I’ve tried to work on it these past few weeks, for my sweet Evander’s sake. The male has a boyish heart and can’t stand for harm to come to anyone. I’d like to be that for him, I would. But I can’t do the sleepless nights anymore. He’ll be upset at first, I’m sure. But he’ll forgive me. He always does.”

I swallowed. Maybe if I could keep her talking, I could find an opening. The idea of skewering her perfectly curvaceous body on my poker probably shouldn’t have sent a thrill through me like it did. “I haven’t seen any news of your engagement in the papers.”

“Oh, you follow those? How pitiful.”

“What? Is Evander embarrassed of you? Afraid it might get out what poor taste he has? Or is it the king who won’t allow the news to go public?” I forced a wicked grin that mirrored hers. “But then again, I always was his favorite. You might have won Evander’s heart, but the king will always be a bit disappointed in you, I imagine.”

She gritted her teeth but didn’t lunge as I had hoped. If I could get her to strike first, maybe I could be faster, dodge her attack and strike a blow from behind.

“We’re waiting on the announcement. Wouldn’t want the public to think Evander has moved so quickly from woman to woman. The kingdom isn’t aware, of course, that his heart has been mine the entire time.”

“Oh, I think they’re well aware of you, after you pulled that stunt where you fled at midnight.” Hatred welled up within me, taking over my lips as I grinned and seethed. “I imagine their impression will be that the dog returned to his own vomit after being left at the altar.”

That did the trick.

She pounced, but I was ready. I sidestepped and allowed her to pass me before taking a stab at her side. But she whirled quicker than I could strike, narrowly avoiding my poker. This time when she struck, I was unprepared, my arm extended into the air. The blunt side of her blade went slamming into my temple, sending dots of black across my vision. My elbows hit the floor, shooting another wave of pain up my arms and into my shoulders. She was on top of me then, scraping her knife into my face as if to carve letters.

Cinderella shoved her hand over my mouth before I could even let out a scream.

A muffled whimper escaped through the gaps between her spindly fingers.

“You shouldn’t have kissed him,” she whispered.

Fear propelled my arms and legs despite the pain, and I flailed at her, thinking to poke out her eyes or knee her ribcage. I landed a punch to her left ear, and the shock of the impact afforded me enough time to scramble to my feet.

It mattered little in the end, because she recovered quickly, and before I could react, she’d slipped behind me, tucking the edge of her blade to my exposed throat.

“Goodbye, Elynore Payne,” she whispered, her voice curdling in my ear. “I do wish things could have been different between us.”

I braced myself for death.

CHAPTER 53

ELLIE

There was a moment when I could have sworn that hesitation dampened the craze in Cinderella’s bloodthirsty eyes.

It only lasted half a breath, but it was enough to cost her.

“Get away from her.”

In the throes of the struggle, neither Cinderella nor I had heard Evander slip into the workshop. How he’d known to come I had no idea, but that didn’t matter.

His sea-green eyes glowed with rage, his perfect jaw set with determination.

It was then that I realized Evander was going to kill her.