Free Betrayals of Spring by L.P. Dover Page A

wisdom and sorrow. She’s known pain and
     loss. I can’t believe I was too afraid to confide in the one person that’s
     always been by my side.
    “Kalen came to visit me right after your
     wedding and said some real terrible things to me. He said I was too timid for
     his tastes. He broke my heart into a million pieces, and I vowed to never fall
     for a man like that ever again. I don’t know what he told you, but that’s what
     happened and that’s what fueled my persistence to change.”
    She looks at me confused and shakes her
     head.
    “He never said anything about talking to
     you.” She bites her lip and looks around the room mumbling, “Something doesn’t
     feel right about this. If the dark sorcerer fooled you once, who’s to say he
     hasn’t done it before, maybe with...Kalen?”
    Thinking back to that day, things did
     feel a little odd and detached with the way Kalen was acting. Could it have
     been the dark sorcerer who visited me that day? He can’t take over any of the
     royal’s bodies, or at least he used to not be able to. Now that he has
     Calista’s power we’re not sure what capabilities he has. If it was the
     dark sorcerer being Kalen that day, then that would mean the real Kalen wasn’t
     the one who denied me. How could I have been so stupid? I should have known
     something was wrong that day.
    “Do you really think it could have been
     the dark sorcerer impersonating Kalen?” I ask Calista, hopeful.
    She looks at me like I’m crazy and rolls
     her eyes when she says, “Mel, the dark sorcerer has been screwing around with
     you for years. Hell yeah, I think it was him. Kalen would never have done that
     to you.”
    “What am I going to do now? I’ve spent
     the last five years hating him for nothing,” I cried. Feeling weak, I find the
     closest chair I can and fall into it. Resting my elbows on my knees, I cover my
     face with my hands in hopes of being able to think.
    Calista kneels in front of me, takes my
     hands away from my face, and holds them in my lap.
    “You’re going to talk to Kalen, that’s
     what you are going to do,” she answers.
    I can hear Finn fumbling around in a
     room down the hall, so I take the chance to quickly confess to my sister. I
     whisper quietly, “I felt the connection, Calista. As soon as I saw Kalen, I
     felt it and I know he did, too. It blasted through my body with such force that
     I could barely stand. It feels the same way you said your connection with Ryder
     felt like.”
    She closes her eyes and sighs while
     hanging her head. This wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for.
    “Why are you acting like this? What’s
     going on?” I demand.
    She lifts her head with a sad look in
     her eyes. I can tell she’s keeping something from me, but what? My hands start
     to sweat and I can feel my heart pounding. I’m beginning to get frustrated with
     all the secrets and lies being flown my way.
    “There’s something you should know,” she
     begins, but stops when Finn enters the room carrying a thick black towel. Damn
     it, why couldn’t he take a few minutes longer? I need to know what Calista was
     going to say.
    “Do you think this towel will work?”
     Finn asks Calista while holding it out to her.
    She gets to her feet and accepts the
     towel.
    “Yes, Finn, this will work. Thank you.”
     He bows his head in reply and comes to stand by my chair. Calista walks over to
     the gold band lying on the floor and picks it up using the towel making sure
     her skin doesn’t touch it. I know I’ve touched it before and I’ve often
     wondered why the metal always stayed frigidly cold even after being on Finn’s
     warm skin all day. It never made sense until today. The cuff is filled with the
     essence of black magic and there is nothing warm about that.
    “I’m going to get Ryder and Kalen and
     tell them everything. We need to inform King Madoc and Queen Mab as well as our
     parents to let them know we need to be on our guard