MILA The next day, Felix met me outside my motel. He carried takeout coffee in one hand and waved at me with the other. He smiled at me as I approached. “Good morning,” he said, leaning down to kiss my cheek. I blushed, involuntarily. It wasn’t until the morning light that I realized what a si
Sophia’s eyes darted from side to side, as if to make sure no one was watching our conversation. “I haven’t noticed anything,” she said, blatantly lying. I sighed and gave her a long look. “Sophia.” She sighed and rested her soup ladle against the pot. “Look, there’s a sense now that if we som
MILA: Thankfully I had about twenty minutes before I was supposed to meet Felix so that he could walk me home. Strangers passed me on the sidewalk, clearly wondering what was going on with the crazy American having a public breakdown. I was so miserable and torn up inside I couldn’t even be bother
FELIX It had nearly broken my heart to arrive at Samara’s Place and see Mila in distress. She tried to hide it from me and she did a good job, but she didn’t know I could feel what she felt. Even from a few blocks away, my heart ached along with hers. Over the past few days, our emotional connec
MILA: “The entire royal family?” I asked Felix. I could feel my heart thudding in my chest at the thought. Meeting the parents was scary enough in any relationship–meeting the parents who just so happened to be the King and Queen of a foreign country was an entirely different situation. Felix
MILA: I stared at Felix in shock. He was generous, and I was allowing him to spoil me a bit by way of him purchasing me one outfit, but everything? I couldn’t accept that. Especially not since our relationship still felt… undefined. “That’s too much,” I said softly. Felix looked at me, genuine
FELIX As our Great Witch, Esmeralda, entered the room, the magic in the air shifted, as if bowing to her presence. Esmeralda carried a great, deep, ancient magic in her bones, the sort of power that could make kingdoms fall with a single snap of her fingers. She always wore her red velvet witch’
Of course, all that came crashing down when Isabella walked in. Was she to be everywhere in the castle? Would I have to prepare to face her every time I was here? Isabella hurried over to the King and Felix, dropping into a perfectly poised curtsy. I had practiced mine, and I was pretty good for