Chapter 5: My Dark Prince: Chapter 4

It all made sense now.

The Auers resembled the aftermath of a lemur orgy – an explosion of bushy dark hair, pointy noses, bug-eyed stares, and short stature. It always astounded me how someone so stunning could come from what could pass as a pair of inbred shifter twins.

Meanwhile, Briar Rose carried the aura of a queen with her towering height, regal strawberry-blonde hair, and impossibly mauve eyes. Not to mention, she didn’t share a single personality trait with either of them. She loved old books and cozy nights. They liked new money and the blistering heat of their inevitable journey to Hell. She brought joy to every room she entered. They brought joy to every room they exited. She was good. They weren’t.

I stroked her hair with my free hand, wishing Philomena and Cooper – whoever he was – would leave already so I could gather their daughter in my arms. Briar Rose squinted real hard and quivered behind my palm, her mouth prying open, begging to cry out. She tried to unplaster my hand from her cheeks, but I held it firm.

I shook my head, pleading her to keep silent with my eyes. I wouldn’t put it past Philomena Auer to one-up the evil grandmother from the book we’d just read. There would be punishment if she discovered her daughter here. No question about it. I couldn’t risk it.

“Shh!” Philomena slapped Cooper’s chest with her purse. “Are you nuts? Someone could be listening.”

“One could only hope.” He raised his voice with purpose, pausing to take another drag of his cigarette. “Briar Rose is mine. I want to get to know her. I deserve to form a connection with her. I want to be a part of her life.”

“She was made in sin.”

“She wasn’t the one who sinned. We did. So why should she bear the consequences?”

“She’s a bastard.”

“So is that husband of yours.” He tossed his cigarette to the ground, twisting it beneath his heel. “I see how he treats her. How you let him. It’s disgraceful. Jason’s an abuser.”

Jason. Did he know he wasn’t Briar Rose’s biological father? He must’ve known, or he wouldn’t be such a douche canoe to her.

Cuddlebug’s whole body trembled behind my palm, her teeth still in my flesh. Blood, hot and thick, rushed down her chin, dripping on her dress. I closed my eyes, quieting my breaths, pushing through the pain and fury. In another world, one without courts, cops, and consequences, I’d storm out there and give that woman a piece of my mind.

Never in my life had I exercised so much self-control to remain calm. But Briar Rose didn’t need a hot head right now.

I tipped her chin up, forcing her to snap out of it.

Please, I mouthed the word, careful not to make a sound. Stay calm for me.

Cooper’s silhouette glided to Philomena’s, stopping mere centimeters away from her face. “I want to be a part of that girl’s life.”

“It’s a done deal.” Philomena pushed away from him and began tramping about from side to side, clutching onto that empty head of hers. “The girl isn’t staying with us. We’re leaving her in Switzerland and moving to Argentina. It’s better that way.”

“Better for who? She’s living the life of an orphan because you’re too proud to let me take over.”

“You will not mess this up for me. Jason is finally moving on from my little indiscretion.”

He kicked the barn wall, sending echoes our way and eliciting a sloppy snore from Sebastian that Philomena’s shriek drowned out. “Your little indiscretion is a child with wants and dreams.”

“A by-blow.” She scoffed. “An illegitimate spawn – and an ungrateful one, if I may add.”

“You won’t leave her in Switzerland alone. I’ll take her.”

“Like hell you will. And create a scandal the size of Russia?”

I couldn’t believe that’s what she cared about right now. Briar Rose must’ve gotten her brains from Daddy, because her mommy had none.

Rivers of blood snaked in and out of my fingers. Briar Rose collapsed against my palm, sobbing into it. They’d hear her if I didn’t stop her tears. I racked my brain for ideas.

“Just be honest and admit it.” Cooper’s voice fell to a whisper, “You want to get rid of her because you’re jealous of her. Because her exquisiteness outshines yours. Because you see someone good and pure, and you know that you are neither.”

Philomena snorted. “I am not jealous of my own daughter, you fool.”

“You are. You cannot handle her beauty and grace. You’re banishing her from your kingdom to feel better about yourself. Quite sad, really.” He paused. “You’re Maleficent. Ferocious. Vindictive. Past her prime.”

“I—” Philomena stopped. “What was that?”

Briar Rose.

Weeping into my palm.

A breath away from full-on sobs.

Shitfuckdamn.

Philomena gasped. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Shit. I had to do something. I didn’t have a choice. Before I could second guess myself, I removed my hand from Briar Rose’s face, rocketed forward, and crashed my lips onto hers in an urgent, suffocating kiss.

It wasn’t hot, or steamy, or skilled. Neither full of desire nor the love snowballing inside me for the last couple years. No, this kiss bore the angry signs of desperation, and angst, and worry. Of an attempt to suck away the pain from my favorite person in the world and swallow it as my own.

The coppery tang of my blood passed from her lips to mine. She choked into the kiss but didn’t break it. Instead, she grabbed my shoulders, pulling me in, clinging to me like she was dangling from the edge of a cliff and I was the rock keeping her alive.

“I don’t hear anything.” Cooper snorted. “Pathetic. Every time I manage to track you down, you do anything to get out of this conversation—”

“Speaking of, the next time you show up where we are, I’m slapping your ass with a restraining order. You don’t have the balls, nor the funds, to fight me on it. Do not test me. It won’t end well for you.”

“And you think this charade will end well for you?” He gestured wide, his shadow consuming the wall as I shifted Briar Rose until she no longer had a view of it. “I know your weakness, Phil. You and that criminal husband of yours.”

“My god. You think she’ll want you, don’t you?” Philomena’s sarcastic claps filled the barn, and I hoped badly that Cuddlebug was too occupied by our kiss to hear them. “She’s weak. Incapable of speaking up for herself. Yesterday, I swapped my burnt steak with her perfect one. She didn’t say a thing.”

What a fucking …

“Monster,” Cooper finished for me.

I squeezed Briar Rose tighter, searing our lips together, pressing them so close that she couldn’t budge if she tried.

“And you’re out of options. Leave Briar Rose alone.” Philomena’s heels click-clacked against the concrete. “If you don’t, she’ll lose what she has. The money. The pedigree. The reputation. You have nothing to offer her. You’re here as a servant.”

“I’m honored to work a blue-collar job if it means getting a glimpse of my daughter.”

“Yes, well, Briar Rose is used to a certain type of lifestyle. Don’t ruin it for her. She won’t be happy if you enter her life. No sane person wants to live off ramen and tap water in a grimy apartment their deadbeat dad can barely afford.”

With that, Philomena stomped away. Cooper cursed, flipped the middle finger at her retreating back with both hands, and kicked at the dirt-coated floor before trudging along the pathway back to the castle.

As soon as he left earshot, I unlatched my lips from Briar Rose’s. Rather than the sleepy, hazy expression girls usually donned after being kissed by me, her eyes remained wide open and sharp. She fisted her dress, peering around like she feared the shadows would return and consume her. At Sebastian’s sudden, obnoxious snore, she nearly toppled over with fright.

“Oh, god.” She clamped her hand over her mouth, fresh tears springing to her eyes. She didn’t even register the kiss. “Ollie, what am I going to do? It feels like the sky is falling.”

“If the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.”

I didn’t know how, but I’d find a way. Surely, for her, I would.

“I’m not Da – Jason’s daughter.”

“You’re still Briar Rose Auer. Funny, and sweet, and perfect as they come.”

She shook her head, muttering to herself. “This is why he hates me. This is why they’re getting rid of me.”

“He doesn’t hate you,” I disagreed, even though he did, and I loathed him for it. “This is … good.”

I paused, fumbling to find the right words. By Briar Rose’s skeptic look, I knew I’d failed.

“He hates me.” A bitter chuckle found its way past her lips. “Mom did swap her steak with mine when she realized hers burned, but you want to know what Dad did?”

No.

I had a feeling I’d come closer to first-degree murder if she told me. Still, I nodded for her to continue.

She pried her hands from mine and stood. “He cut off the good half of my burned steak and added it to his own plate, but not before telling me I ate too much for a girl.”

That motherfucker.

“Jason Auer is a scumbag. You don’t need him.”

In fact, she’d be better off without him. Dad hated that such a ‘leech’ owned property next to his, but we still returned to Lake Geneva when we knew the Auers would be here because I needed my Briar Rose fix, or I’d harass my parents until they caved.

“He’s my dad, Oliver.”

“What about Cooper? It’s good that you have a parent who actually adores you. I mean, he came to work here just so he could see you. That’s badass.”

She sniffed, looking down at her dress. Even in the dark, I could see the blood streaks across the pink satin from when she bit my hand.

“Oh.” She grabbed my palm and turned it to face her, unfurling it with delicate fingers. “I am so sorry.”

“No need to be.”

The bleeding had long stopped, and it didn’t matter anyway. I couldn’t feel a thing. In this moment, I realized I was truly and wholly fucked. Up until now, loving Briar Rose had been inconvenient, exasperating, nerve-wrecking, but overall exhilarating. It was, for the most part, fun.

Today, she’d introduced me to the dark side of love. A land where every burn she received lashed at my own skin like a whip, her losses became mine, and her aches weighed down my bones.

Her fingers twisted in the lapels of my dress shirt. “What am I going to do?”

“Run away with me.” I had no clue what dumb-ass, Romeo-Montague, ultra-delirious thought possessed me to suggest that, but as I said it, I realized I meant it. “We could go to the end of the world.”

It existed. Sagres Point in Portugal. Seb once told me he wanted to sail past it … right before he blasted through a world rowing record and decided he was too good for the world and needed to conquer the universe instead.

Briar Rose arched a brow, giving me a be-for-real look. In the background, Sebastian snored through the entire thing. The fact that Philomena and Cooper hadn’t heard him could be considered the only remaining proof of God’s existence after such a brutal day.

“Sure. We can run away. Because endless pranks and weirdly timed kisses will keep us fed.” She tried to laugh, playing it cool as if my palm didn’t boast teeth marks deeper than the Earth’s core. “You heard what my parents said. They’re sending me to an all-girls Swiss school and moving to Argentina. They ignore me half the time and are downright cruel to me the other half, but they’ve never abandoned me before. I don’t want to be alone.” She choked out, “I’m scared.”

“You’ll fucking thrive at that prep school, Briar Rose.” I latched onto her upper arms, unsure what inspired me to spew such bullshit. I’d never spent a day in a boarding school, not even a sleepaway camp. “We are going to talk on the phone every day and continue writing to each other. I’m going to be at your beck and call. Summer will come before you even know it. And at eighteen, you’ll be free from those assholes. Okay?”

She nodded, her throat bobbing with a swallow. Not good enough. I needed to hear her say it.

“Okay?” I repeated.

“Okay.”

She must’ve been scared shitless. Hell, I was scared. Of the responsibilities. Of her future. Of the possibility that I might fail to protect her and we’d both hate me for it. But I’d be damned if I didn’t help my Cuddlebug.

“I am always going to be here for you.” I tipped up her chin, my eyes boring into hers. “Not just for the summers, Cuddlebug. If you need me to transfer schools and come live here in Switzerland, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything for you. There’s no mountain too high, no ocean too deep, no planet too far for me to reach you. This is my oath to you. You will always have me. You will never, ever lose me.”

Instead of answering me with her words, she answered me with her body. Smushed my cheeks and pulled me into a kiss. This time, it was different. Virginal, and hesitant, and beautiful. So damn beautiful.

Her lips skimmed mine, and we both traced the edges of each other’s mouths, quivering, like gravity might fail us at any moment. And in that kiss, she sealed my fate.

I could never love another.

Briar Rose was it for me.