Sabrina “Oh, it doesn’t matter,” he says casually, pushing the door shut and dropping an arm around my shoulders, escorting me toward the table. “You look fantastic, Betty. And I love that you didn’t change – it’s refreshing. We should all come as we are more often.”I settle into the chair he leads me to, pretending embarrassment as he settles in next to me. “My apologies for my appearance,” I whisper, looking around at everyone. “I didn’t know.”“Oh, you look adorable,” says the dark-haired young woman across the table from me. She gives me a sly smile. “Like you’ve been in the library all day! Very academic, very librarian chic.”I bite my lip a little. “I was in the library all day.”She blinks, smile fading. “Wait, really?”I nod and her mouth circles into a scandalized o, like that’s the most gauche thing she’s ever heard.“Everyone,” Max says, leaning forward and looking around the table. “This is Betty Spencer. Betty, this is Ally Jones and Flora Barone.”I nod to the young w
SabrinaI slip my eyes casually away from Rhett’s face, pretending that I didn’t hear him even as my wolf snarls. “Kai is very kind,” I say quietly, studying Kai – who smiles at me – and then looking up at Max. “I don’t think he’d try to take advantage of anyone like that, let alone someone he cares for.”“Thank you, Betty,” Kai says, raising his wine glass to me like that’s the end of it. Ally laughs while the others at the table – Rhett excluded – smile and shake their heads.“And what about you, Betty?” Ally says, turning her attention exclusively to me. I meet her eyes, shrinking a little, pretending to be shy even though my wolf snaps her teeth, eager to engage. “Are you a candidate for the Tournament this year? Tossing your hat in the ring? Who knows – if you are, perhaps our Kai will find that his affections have shifted –““Enough, Ally,” Max murmurs, sending her a short glare.Ally grins and raises her hands like she didn’t mean anything by it, settling back in her seat.Bu
SabrinaI smile shyly at him, pretending to be quite pleased by the compliment of his notice. But of course I know that – everyone does. “It runs in my family, a little,” I whisper. True, too – conveniently so.Because I don’t actually have fire magic at all – but if everyone thinks Betty does, they won’t be asking any questions about what it is that I can do. It’s half the reason I’m here, anyway – to increase my powers through the readings of Philomena d’Caia’s diary.Everyone thinks she’s a whore – but it was all a clever disguise. Yes, d’Caia used misogyny as a disguise for her true identity as a powerful sorceress. And I’m here to steal all the spells that I’m convinced are encoded in her diaries. My wolf bares her teeth in my soul, incredibly eager to continue our work, kind of urging me to leave this dinner and go back to the library right now – it’s still open for two more hours, after all. We could learn so much in that time…But I stroke a mental hand over her fur, calming
SabrinaThe air out on the balcony is very light and breezy, with just that little nipping chill in it that’s unique to the end of winter, just before spring takes hold. I take a deep breath, leaning against the iron bars that look out over the rolling, wooded hills west of the Seminary. Hills I lived in for a few days trying to find the right time to sneak onto these grounds, all curled up between the roots of trees…I close my eyes for a moment, pushing the memory from my mind. That’s all passed now. I take a sip of my wine, truly relishing the luxury of it. It’s different, after a time of deprivation.Something of which Prince Maxwell has no true experience, I’m sure.“Nice out,” Max murmurs. I open my eyes and watch as he puts the decanter of wine down next to him, leaning next to me on the bars, swishing what’s rest of his wine around in his glass. “Warmer, finally. I’ll be glad when this winter goes away.”“I won’t,” I say, relaxing and taking a deep breath. “I like it chilly. M
Sabrina“Oh,” I say, letting my voice fall slightly. “Then are you and Ally…”Max returns his eyes to my face, smirking slightly. “No, Betty. I’m not seeing anyone right now. Ally is my cousin and she and Elov are actually…well, doing whatever they’re doing.” He sighs, shaking his head at that. “But she’s family, which means Rhett can’t get rid of her no matter how hard he tries.”My shoulders straighten at this news as I mentally sort through the royal family tree, realizing that Ally and Max do indeed share a great-grandfather on his mother’s side. I mean, I knew the royal family was deeply entwined with the nobility of Vastria, but I hadn’t known that Max and she were close.Very interesting.“Not nice of Rhett to try to get rid of your friends,” I say softly, biting my lip.“Eh, Rhett doesn’t really care about being nice,” Max murmurs, shrugging and bending down to lift the decanter, pouring a little more wine into my glass. I watch the liquid sloshing in, intuiting that Max wants
SabrinaMy eyes widen when I see that it’s not some animal below, but instead Cosette - walking in from the orchard with a basket over her arm. I smile a little, watching her.“Oh, truffles,” Max murmurs, likewise peering over the edge of the balcony.I look up at him. “What?”“I think Cosette has truffles,” he says, narrowing his eyes slightly like he’s trying to see better.I frown, jealousy rising in me at the ridiculousness of Alpha eyesight. Stupid Alphas get all the perks. “You can see that?”He smiles, shifting his gaze back to me. “I can’t quite see it, but it’s a good guess. It’s the time of year for it and last year at this time they made these amazing truffle pastries. I hope they come back.”I look down at Cosette, curious. “I think that’s the girl who brought me dinner last night. Do you know her?”My cousin walks slowly back towards what must be the kitchen entrance in that wandering way I’ve seen a thousand times that means her mind is totally elsewhere – off in some im
Sabrina I nod eagerly, brows raising. My wolf howls and hops in my soul, liking gossip time very much.Cosette’s face falls from happiness into suspicion. “Wait, why did you bring me up? Sabrina! They’re not supposed to know you know me!”“They don’t,” I say, smiling with abandon. “I didn’t bring you up. Max did.”“No,” she breathes, her shoulders slumping as she clutches the uniform to her chest, wrinkling it in a way that she would otherwise never allow. “He…he knows who I am!?”“Apparently,” I say, nodding. “We saw you walking in from the orchard with a basket of truffles –““You saw that!?” she squeaks, hands clenching in the fabric of her clothes. Suddenly she notices what she’s doing and loosens her fingers, hanging the little outfit up and starting to pull off her robe. “Where were you!?”“Up on the balcony,” I say, pointing up towards the roof. “I don’t know, some dining suite.”“Damn,” she whispers, shaking her head at me. “I can’t believe you went to one of the Prince’s din
Sabrina“Okay,” Cosette says softly, nodding to me, reading my expression and backing off.“And what about you,” I say, riled a bit. “Have you been practicing, like you’re supposed to?”She pales a little, swallowing hard. “Don’t talk about that, Sabrina.”“Or what, you’re afraid everyone is going to figure out that your pastries are so delicious because –““Sabrina!” Cosette snaps, her body tensing. “I’m sorry I brought it up, okay? I didn’t realize you were this averse to talking about it. But you don’t need to throw my own shame back at me just because I upset you.”I take a deep breath, my knee-jerk instinct to bite back at war with my realization that she’s right. I’m just being a brat, trying to show her who’s boss.But I don’t want to treat her like that.“I’m sorry,” I say, my head hanging. I shake it, utterly ashamed. I have to be tough and defensive with so many people in my life, but Cosette has never been one of them.“It’s okay,” Cosy says, petting a hand over my hair. “I
Sabrina“Sabrina!”“It’s just girl code –““It’s insane!”I frown at her. “No, it’s not.”“Sabrina, I don’t even have a chance with him –““It’s not about that.”“It’s ridiculous to end all of your plans just because I asked you to –““But you didn’t ask me to,” I say, nodding seriously to her. “And…I mean, it would be easier to pull off all I have planned if Max is gaga for me, all wrapped up in a love haze but…” I purse my lips, considering again what I spent the whole night considering after I left his rooms. “I can do it in other ways.”She just stares at me, her mouth continuing to hang open.“I’m still going to have to stay close to him,” I sa
Sabrina“Cosette,” I say softly, pressing my hand to my heart and leaning toward her, needing her to hear me on this. “I didn’t know that you felt that way about Max.”She blushes and drops her eyes, her natural bashfulness coming into play. “I know you didn’t, Sabrina. I just…didn’t know you intended to get close to him in that way.”“So, when I said I was going to his dinner parties…”She shrugs. “I guess I just thought you meant as a friend. Or like, a spy. It never even entered my mind that you’d want more. I mean…” she lifts her eyes to mine now. “He’s your enemy. Why would you want to kiss him?”I smirk a little. “I mean, you’ve never wanted to…”She scoffs at me and I put my hands up, not pushing any furt
Sabrina“Stop it!” she shouts, grabbing her pillow and hurling it at me. “It’s not normal! No, it was not okay for him to put his hands on me but you’re not going to kill him! This is going to be handled in a very normal way!”“Which is?” I ask, dry.“We’re going to report it to the bosses and let them decide!”I huff, shaking my head at her as I turn back to Matt –“Don’t look at him!”Kind of stunned by my cousin’s unusual order, I turn back to her, eyebrows again raised. “I’m in charge!” she says, smacking her palm against her mattress with a thwack. “This is my life! We’re doing this my way – not some sick underworld Lupa way! Say it! Now!”I take a deep breath. “I’m not letting him hurt you, Cosette.”
Cosette“Whoa!” Juliette shouts, skidding to a stop at our side. “What – what the hell’s going on here!?”Matty slowly raises to his feet as Demrick groans in pain – and maybe in terror - and I just stand very still, shocked.“Demrick put his hands on her,” Matty growls, glaring down at his enemy before lifting his eyes to Juliette. I watch as he shifts in to his usual calm demeanor – tucking his Lupa identity away, becoming again the hapless nice guy who is so helpful in the kitchen. “I told him not to.”Juliette turns her attention to me, eyes flaring. “Is that true, Cosette?”“Um,” I say, hesitating but then shrugging. God, I don’t – I don’t want this to become a thing. “Yes? He shook me –“Juliette gasps, spinning her attention back to Demrick with ire in her eyes as more people gather
Cosette“Was it a guy!?” he asks again – shouts, really, his arms tightening around me so much that I yelp, surprised as I’m crushed against his chest.“No!” I cry, shaking my head. And it’s not a lie – not really – Max didn’t do anything – and honestly, neither did Sabrina if I’m admitting the truth to myself – I didn’t tell her that I like the Prince, and even if I did I have no claim on him –The only person who’s really hurting me is my own stupid heart –“Who have you been seeing, Cosette?” Demrick snarls, his head lifting and snapping as he looks up and down the hall like someone who dated and dumped me is just going to be standing there thumbing his nose at us or something.“No one!”Demrick snarls again, louder now, his
CosetteI wipe hastily at my cheeks as I rush down the hall, sniffing hard. But no matter how fast my hands work they can’t seem to make the stupid tears just go away.God, this is so embarrassing.But I can’t help it – I’m just…fucking devastated.I couldn’t believe it for a second when I wheeled the cart into the room – I though I had to be imagining it or that my eyes had suddenly broken or that I’d gone insane.Sabrina! Fucking Sabrina in Max’s lap – my Max!My wolf howls and I scowl at myself because…why am I being so stupid!?I whip around the final hall corner and hurry down the basement corridor toward my room, desperate to get in there where no one will see me.Because this truly is so incredibly stupid. And not even just silly – just stupi
SabrinaAnd I remember that he’s always known her name. And while that might be just him liking her pastries and being kind to the employees of this institution, that sort of thing means something to girls like Cosette who are so talented and so often overlooked.I remember back to the night I tried to poison Rhett –And the charm she used on the water – the rhyme so simple, but flexible enough that a powerful Pancibus like her could…could use it every day, bake it right into the bread…Bread that Max eats every morning and evening.My jaw drops when I realize that…Cosette has been protecting him. Protecting Max from any poisons that someone might slip into his food – into any of his food, as long as he eats her bread along with it. And more than that, she’s been boosting his health – everyone’s health who eats her pastri
Sabrina“No!” Rhett calls back to me, pushing the door from the other side. “My thesis statements are fine – I don’t need your damned critiques tonight –“I burst out laughing, pushing harder, and the door gives way just a little bit. We’re all well aware that this is a farce - I’m small enough and he’s big enough that if Rhett wanted this door shut it would be. But I play along, pushing hard, enjoying myself. “Your thesis statements are crap!”“They’re fantastic!”“You need me!” I give one final shove and the door gives, Rhett smirking at me on the other side.He looms over me and points a finger at my face. “You keep your little sparkly pink pen away from my work tonight, Spencer.”I wrinkle my nose at him, all of my teeth bared in a wide smile. “Just try
SabrinaOr! That same bedroom could become the sky itself, and I could conjure up some wings on my back and walk through the clouds, feeling something akin to what it’s like to be a bird. I mean, I wouldn’t be able to touch any of the clouds or feel the wings, but it could be –“Hey!”I turn with surprise toward the voice, my face breaking into a smile when I see Oliver, of all people, chasing me down the hall.“Betty,” he says, smiling and slowing his jogging steps. “Damn, you got far fast.”I laugh, grinning up at him. “Little feet,” I say, lifting one fashionably booted foot and nodding down to it. “Make fast tracks.”His smile deepens. “You say weird shit. I love that.”Joy races through me. God, I love boys.“What’s up, Ollie?” I ask, stepping just half a step closer, ti