The Princess and The Jester - A.D. McCammon Page 0,82

today. It just felt like the only way to get closure.

“I’m not entirely sure what I wanted from this,” I admit. “Maybe I thought you’d have some regret for the pain you caused me and my mother. That I’d find just a slight hint of humanity in the monster that’s haunted me. But you’re exactly as I imagined. A cold, heartless, soulless man, incapable of caring about anyone except yourself.”

“Yeah, well,” he huffs, “I guess I turned out to be just like my father then. Don’t think it will be any different for you, kid. You’ll be just like your old man someday, too.”

“You might be right, but I’ll never be anything like you. My dad was Nicolas Masterson, and I hope to be half the man he was someday.”

He jerks, the chains tethering him jangling. “You can’t change blood, son.”

“Maybe not. But I’ve got my mother’s blood running through my veins. She’s brave, kind, and loving. Despite everything you did to her. No matter what she lost or how hard things got, she never stopped fighting. You couldn’t break her. And I won’t let you ruin me, either.”

His eyes narrow as I stand.

“I’m leaving it all here. My hurt and anger. The resentment and hate. It’s all staying with you, locked up in this cage. I won’t let it mold me anymore.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

15 years old

GWEN

My heart races when I spot Cole walking down the hallway. He looks insanely handsome, the fitted button-down he’s wearing revealing his bulkier frame. Thatcher must’ve convinced Cole to lift some weights with him over the summer. It looks good on him, but there’s obvious sorrow painted on his face—his green eyes cast down, lips flat.

Cole and his mom moved out in the beginning of the summer. I only saw him once after that, when his mother invited us over for dinner at their new house. Which didn’t go well. Cole stopped speaking to me weeks before that. We haven’t said a word to each other since the day we broke up. Unless we were in front of our parents. He always put on a good show for them.

Outside of that, he made it perfectly clear how much he hated me for breaking his heart. I spent the entire summer hiding out at home, terrified of running into him—and of the mean things he might say or do.

There’s no avoiding him now, though. It’s time to face the music and accept my fate.

Cole doesn’t notice me approaching until our paths are about to cross, his eyes landing on me as they lift. Then he does something I don’t expect—he smirks.

My stomach flips, and I put my head down before trying to scurry past him.

He steps in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. “Well, if it isn’t the princess.”

I swallow the lump forming in my throat. “What do you want, Cole?”

He smiles wickedly and hums, his eyes heating my body as they roam. “I don’t know. What’s on the menu?”

“Don’t be disgusting,” I grit.

People begin to stare, and he laughs, the sound evil and menacing.

“Hey,” he says, holding his hands up in surrender. “You can’t blame a guy for trying.”

Students snicker as they skirt by us, their whispers buzzing like a fly around my head.

“Are you really doing this? Is this who you are now? Harassing someone in the hallway like Shane?”

His face twists with anger, and a chill runs down my spine. “You going to pretend like you have a problem with him now? You two sure seemed awful chummy this morning.”

Dread settles in the pit of my stomach. Of course he saw me talking to Shane this morning. I’m sure he did it knowing Cole was watching, telling me to smile as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. It’s not what it looked like, though. Satan was merely reminding me of what would happen if I didn’t keep my distance from Cole.

I sigh, shaking my head. “That wasn’t…we’re not…he was just…”

“Wow. Do you need some more time to think about what lie to tell?” he mocks. “It’s funny, though. Weren’t you the one lecturing me about my choices a few months ago?”

“You don’t understand.”

“No, Princess, I don’t. And I don’t care anymore. Save whatever bullshit you’re about to shovel out of that pretty little mouth of yours. Nothing you say will change what you did.” He looks around, his lips curling into a smile as he notices the audience we’ve accumulated. When he speaks again, it’s for their benefit. “I mean,