Sleeping Beauty (33 page)

He blurted, “I wonder if we're supposed to get married.”

Lucette's jaw dropped.

“Or not.” Tristan shook his head. “If you're not ready... You're only sixteen, and we've got our whole lives ...” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I thought asking you so soon might be a bad idea, but Alex—”

“You talked about this with Alex?” The blush in Lucette's cheeks rose so ferociously that she wondered if her face might catch on fire.

“I'm sorry.” He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I didn't mean to be disrespectful. And I certainly don't want to be presumptuous. But Alex and I were talking about the curse and it just kind of came up.”

Lucette leaned back in her chair. Her mind raced with so many thoughts, it was hard to pin any of them down. Her mother hadn't been much older when she married her father, but look how that had turned out. She knew she loved Tristan, but marriage was such a big step—especially at her age. The future of her kingdom depended on her, but in so many ways she still felt like a kid.

On the other hand, she needed to find some way to prove her love so the curse would lift. It was her duty to try everything she could think of, but this ... She wasn't sure she was ready for this. The fairies said she'd know how to prove her love, but she didn't feel sure about marriage at all.

She needed to talk to her mother. She shot to her feet, remembering that she'd not read her mother's letter when she got up last evening, or replied. “I've got to go up to the tower. I need to be alone—to think.”

“Lucette.” Tristan stood and pulled her into a hug. “Forget I brought it up. I'm sorry.”

“Don't be sorry.” She pulled away. “Really. I understand why you brought it up, I do, and want to marry you ... someday. Just let me think for a bit.” She dried her palms on her slacks. “Come up to the tower in ten minutes and we'll talk again, okay?”

He nodded, and she left the room.

When she stepped into the corridor, Alex turned away quickly and leaned against the balcony railing. It made her think he'd been listening, but she was glad he didn't make eye contact or try to talk to her. Right
now, she needed to talk to her mother, and since that was impossible, she'd do the next best thing and read her mother's latest letter.

Lucette shifted quickly through the letters that had been shoved through the slot in the glass cell. Even though everyone knew she no longer lived in the cell, its slot had become a mailbox. In her recent letters to her mother, she'd been asking for ideas about proving her love. Most of the answers so far had been vague, like “Trust yourself” and “The proof will come with time,” but Lucette hoped that tonight's letter held more practical advice.

She found the right letter and opened it quickly. But it was no help at all, just more generalities and vague assurances that she should let her love for Tristan develop. Before she fell asleep, she'd write a note to her mother asking her advice about marriage, point-blank. Tristan would have to wait for his answer until tomorrow.

Nerves soured her stomach. She loved Tristan—she did—so why did the idea of marriage make her so nervous? She wanted to be married ... someday ... and to Tristan, but not yet.

Suddenly, Lucette heard a noise on the stairs. Someone was coming. Had it been ten minutes already? Would Tristan officially propose? If so, what would he say if she asked him to wait for her answer? Her palms started to sweat.

But instead of Tristan, six hulking vampires burst into the room. Lucette backed toward the glass wall and reached to her back for a stake... only then remembering that she'd taken off her weapons and dropped them near the door.

Six vampires? Lucette doesn't have a chance!

To find out what happens next, turn to section 9: At War (page 291).

L
ucette's insides twisted like they had every time her parents wedged her between them. She looked at Alex. He'd helped her so much, but now his behavior felt petulant and demanding, insisting she send Tristan away without any regard to what she wanted and forcing her to choose.

She turned to Tristan, who was leaning back against the balcony railing and didn't look worried at all. He smiled, appearing very sure of himself. The combination of his confidence and grin revived the buzzing in her body, and she knew for sure. Even if Tristan made her nervous, even if he rejected her, even if he'd never love her the way she hoped he would, she couldn't send him away. Not after he'd been so brave and risked his life to come to Xandra. But she didn't want Alex to leave, either, and she hoped his threat had been hollow. It had to be.

“Alex, I can't ask Tristan to leave. With three of us, it will be easier to cover more ground. Besides, even though you've been a huge help—so much—you won't fight vampires, not really. What would I do if vampires attacked both my mother's and father's rooms at the same time? I can't be in two places at once. I need Tristan here.” She turned to Tristan. “That is, assuming he wants to stay.” She felt a flush rise on her cheeks.

“I would never leave you,” Tristan promised.

Lucette heard a thump and turned to see that Alex had kicked his chair over.

“Fine, I'll go then.” Alex was breathing quickly and his nostrils flared. “I can see when I'm not wanted.” He turned to Lucette, his eyes full of hurt. “I thought we had a real chance.” He stepped over the fallen chair. “But if you're not interested in lifting the curse, I guess I'll go tell my mother's generals that I support her now. That I think vampires should drink human blood. That Xandrans are evil murderers slaying innocent vampires. That Sanguinia should invade Xandra.” He narrowed his eyes. “We'll conquer you easily.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “You wouldn't do that.” Alex was just angry and hurt. Raised by such a cruel mother, it was a wonder he didn't have outbursts like this more often.

Alex shifted slightly and looked to the side for a second, then back to her. “Just watch me.”

He ran down the stairs and then, moments later, she heard splintering wood as he broke out of the palace.

Lucette stood, dumbfounded, fighting tears, and Tristan stepped up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.“We're better off without him.”

His hands were so warm and comforting and strong, but she shrugged them off. “Leave me alone.”

Alex had been nothing but kind, her only support since the curse had fallen, and because of Tristan, she'd sent him away.

Two nights later, Lucette woke in her glass case to find Tristan bent over the top, looking down at her.

She banged her palms up against the glass and he jumped back.

“Don't do that!” she yelled. “It creeps me out when you watch me sleep.”

He nodded, hands behind his back.“I'm sorry. Really.” His voice was muted through the glass. “It's just you're so peaceful when you're sleeping, I can't resist.” He cleared his throat. “But mostly I feel I can keep you safer if I'm nearby.”

She slid down, pushed open the panel at her feet, and slithered out of the display case into the glass cell. Putting her hands on her hips, she turned back to Tristan.“I'm not buying the ‘keep me safe' line, so don't even try it. I'm perfectly safe inside that horrid glass coffin. Or back here.”

“Out there,” she continued, “
you're
the one who's vulnerable after dark. Plus, you've been bitten—twice—so you're taking the bigger risk. Where's your neck protector?”

Lifting a hand to his bare neck, he gestured behind him with his head.“It's not like the vampires can't bite me on another part of my body. We've seen that.”

“Yes.” She dropped her hands to her sides. “But why make it easy for them to go for their favorite vein?”

A mischievous grin took over his face, and he put his lips against the air holes in the glass separating them.“Why, Princess, if I didn't know better, I might think you cared.”

He looked at her with such intensity, her skin burned, and she turned away, yelling back, “I need to get changed. Did you bring my clothes up?”

He nodded and picked up the small pile. They'd decided that since he could smuggle her slayer clothes up here at nightfall, there was no sense in her changing in the library anymore.

“Can you pass them in and turn away, please?” She had a privacy screen behind the glass partition, but didn't like how her body tingled when she knew Tristan was looking in her direction while she changed.

Tristan slipped the clothes through the small opening at the bottom of the glass wall, and then Lucette disappeared behind her screen to change. It had only been two days, but she missed Alex. She'd grown accustomed to his bright, yellow-specked green eyes, his flaming red hair, his pale skin, and his sense of humor.