Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
“Is there any way to bring them back?”
Her mother shook her head.
“No, my dear. They are petrified. It is permanent.”
“But if there was some magic-some way to reverse-“
“You cannot reverse death, Tem. Their souls have gone to Kora.”
Neither of them said a word the rest of the way home.
Tem planned to sneak out to see Caspen when her mother went to bed. But her mother sat awake in the kitchen until well past midnight, and Tem ran out of excuses to sit up with her. Eventually, she had no choice but to retreat to her bedroom and stare at the ceiling. Hours passed. Her mother never went to bed. By the time Tem finally drifted off, the roosters were starting to crow. She awoke in the same position she’d fallen asleep in.
Her mother was still in the kitchen when she emerged. Before either of them could speak, there was a knock at the door. A footman handed Tem a letter.
Temperance Verus,
Tonight’s event will proceed as planned.
Kindly be ready at 8:00 p.m.
Tem turned it over, surprised at the twist of disappointment she felt when she saw that there was no additional note scrawled in red ink this time.
Then she remembered what tonight’s event was.
Seven girls were left: they were halfway through the elimination process. At this point in the competition, it was tradition to host the girls and their teachers at the castle to give the prince an opportunity to fine-tune their training. It meant that Tem was about to be judged on her progress.
It also meant that Caspen was going to meet Leo.
Tem’s stomach performed an uncomfortable flip at the thought. She couldn’t imagine a stranger duo: the formidable basilisk and the human prince. Both powerful in their own right. But they couldn’t be more different from each other.
Tem didn’t bother trying to check in with Caspen through their connection. He hadn’t answered her all night, and she doubted he would start now. Instead, she helped her mother with the farm work, feeling more miserable by the hour.
Jonathan and Christopher were dead because of Tem.
There was no way around it-no way to spin the situation to make it anyone’s fault but her own. She should have tried harder to dissuade Caspen. She should have tried at all. But Tem knew in her gut that Caspen would not have been dissuaded. He was possessive, uncompromising, and he considered her to be his. There was nothing she could have done to prevent this.
Two packages arrived for her this time.
Neither package contained a note, but Tem knew immediately when she unwrapped them who had sent which dress. Caspen’s was green; Leo’s was red. Caspen’s had a drape to it that would lie beautifully on her waist. Leo’s had a slit up the side-a clear nod to the dress she’d worn for the Frisky Sixty. She knew which one she wanted to wear.
And yet she hesitated.
Both Caspen and Leo would be attending the event at the castle. Both would see immediately whose dress she had chosen. Tem felt a sudden stab of annoyance. Why had they both sent her something to wear? Why were they forcing her to choose? It wasn’t fair.
She stared down at the dresses, willing one of them to disappear. When neither did, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
“Mother?”
Her mother looked up from the stove.
“Yes, dear?”
“Do you have a dress I can wear for tonight?”
Her mother frowned.
“I thought…” Her eyes flicked to Tem’s bedroom, where the dresses were still laid out on the bed.
“Those don’t fit,” she said bluntly. It was half-true. They didn’t fit Tem’s needs.
Her mother pursed her lips before nodding. “Let me see,” she said.
Tem followed her into the main bedroom, her eyes going immediately to the bottle of salt spray on her dresser. She touched the clear glass, remembering how Caspen had said she smelled like the sea. Her mother rustled through her closet, pulling out two dresses and holding them up. One was brown; that wouldn’t do at all. Tem’s eyes immediately went to the other.
It was white, and it was linen, and it was wildly inappropriate for a formal event at the castle. But it was good enough for her mother, so it was good enough for Tem.
“That one,” she said.
Her mother handed her the dress.
Tem kept the claw inside her and the gold chain around her neck. By the time the carriage arrived to take her to the castle, she still hadn’t heard from Caspen. It was difficult not to resent his absence.
“Miss?” The carriage door opened, and a footman extended his hand. “We’ve arrived.”
Tem allowed herself to be steered into the castle.
The ballroom was just as it always was: sparkling with gold and filled with people. Tem scanned the crowd for Caspen, but he wasn’t there yet. Before she had time to wonder when he would arrive, she felt a hand on her arm. It was Gabriel.
“Going for a casual look tonight, are we?” He kissed her cheek. “I like it.”
“You’re probably the only one.”
“Please, Tem. If the prince doesn’t want you in linen, he doesn’t deserve you in silk.”
Tem grinned. He was right.
“Do you know when the basilisks will be here?” she asked.
Gabriel shrugged. “Any minute now.”
Tem scanned the room again, this time looking for Leo. She spotted him immediately, leaning against a marble column like he always was. Maximus was by his side, saying something in his ear. They both looked worried. Tem could imagine why.
No doubt the violation of the truce weighed heavily on the royals’ minds. It was no coincidence that the basilisks were coming to the castle tonight. Surely the royals intended to control the situation-to assert their dominance in a public setting.
Help.
Tem froze.
The events of the last few days had been so overwhelming that she hadn’t thought about the voice even once. But now that Tem was once more in the castle, everything came back to her in an arresting wave. She had promised herself that the next time she was here, she would find the voice. Tem turned to Gabriel, ready to excuse herself.
Before she could say a word, he nudged her and whispered, “Showtime.”
The basilisks had arrived.
The entire ballroom fell silent as the seven teachers entered. Their effortless grace was mesmerizing: they could have been gliding on ice.
“So,” Gabriel whispered. “Which one’s yours?”
All the basilisks were objectively beautiful. But Caspen was on another level.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.