Free Blood, Milk & Chocolate - Part 1 (The Grimm Diaries Book 3) by Cameron Jace

that fell
from the sky every now and then. His hair was black too; so black it wouldn't
show in the darkest nights. It fell down his shoulders, caressing his pale
face, which was a bit paler than usual, but still hard-edged, with a light stubble. Not many Austrian boys had dark hair, so it
was a most desired trait.
    The world
around me froze for a long time. I was entrapped by his gaze .
None of my father's guards stopped the boy—which was abnormal. I was
almost sweating in this cold when he began approaching me slowly. I shrugged
and blinked repeatedly. No boy in this land had ever dared look me in the eye,
let alone approach me.
    "No
wonder apples bloomed the day you were born," he said with a sincere
smile. Too sincere—I was so infatuated that no words dared escape my open
mouth. I could have told him this was one of the silliest lines a boy had told
a girl, but I loved it. No boy had said anything to me before, let alone this
one, in whose presence I felt both fear and desire.
    "Why
are you looking at me like that?" I asked, doing my best to hide my
feelings behind a mask of irritation.
    "So
you can heal my soul," he replied. I swear a gleeful tear was about to
fall from my eye while snow fell from above. "Your face is like sunshine
piercing all this cold in the world that surrounds us. I wonder how my life
would be like if I woke up to these eyes every day."
    The world
was spinning around me, and all I feared was that I'd faint and fall to the
ground and embarrass myself. I had never shared attraction with a boy before.
Feeling such unexplained intensity was premature death to my fragile heart. I
still couldn't shake the idea that I must have been only dreaming. Who talked
like that? Who said things like these when first meeting someone? This sounded
crazier than romantic stories I read by Shakespeare.
    And then
the strangest thing happened…
    "Angel
Hassenpflug!" my father hailed with welcoming arms from behind me. I
turned my stiffened neck in wonder as I watched him hug Angel as if he were his
long-lost son coming back home.
    "Count
Karnstein." Angel bowed his head, taking off his hat. "I should
apologize for my delay, but me and my crew faced a heavy snowstorm in Hungary
on our way."
    "I
heard about the storm," my father said. "I hope it wasn't her doing, if you know what I am implying."
    Angel
nodded with a slight smirk, as if he had a toothache or something. They were
talking about the nameless witch. I didn't want to talk about her now. I wanted
to look at Angel.
    "I
knew a young and strong lad like you would pass through," my father said.
My mouth was still agape. How was he talking casually to a boy who had just
approach me? "How are our friends in Lohr?" he asked Angel.
    "They
love your apples, Count Karnstein," Angel said, suppressing a laugh.
"They not only devour them, they believe they could heal their
sorrows." I think my father hadn't noticed that Angel slightly shrugged
when saying "sorrows."
    The two
men laughed, and I was burning in silence. Not only did my father not worry
about Angel's proximity to me, he also seemed to respect him dearly. Angel, the beautiful apple trader from Lohr.
    I coughed
so they would pull me into the manly and loud conversation.
    "Ah,
Carmilla," my father said. "I see you met Angel." I nodded. My
father had never introduced me to a boy before. "Angel is the biggest
merchant and trader for our apples. I know he looks too young for it, but he is
the finest lad I have seen in Europe for some time. He is from Germany."
    "Nice
to meet you, Angel." I offered a hand.
    He didn't
hesitate kissing it and shooting me another deadly look. It was as if no one
else existed in this world but me. I made sure my internal shivering didn't
show on my face or body. "My pleasure," he added.
    "Carmilla
is the girl who—"
    "Lifted
the curse, and blessed Europe with the Austrian apples," Angel said, his
eyes still on me. "On behalf of all German people, I must thank you,"
he told me with a