He considered me for a moment, then clenched his jaw. “You disrespectful brat. After everything I’ve done for you, too.”
“Everything you’ve done for me?” I asked. “Please enlighten me on all of the great things you’ve done for me. I’m dying to know. Especially after I’ve kept this family alive all these years.”
“You’ve kept us alive?” he spat. “You would be nothing without me. Nothing! I taught you everything you know, child!”
“You taught me what a deadbeat father looks like. You taught me that I have nobody in this life to count on but myself. And when I die tomorrow, which I will, it will be your fault. So thank you, father, for everything you’ve done. I apologize that I have not been more grateful.” I spun on my heel and turned toward my bedroom.
“You are marrying a prince, Jade. A prince! You should be thanking me!”
“Thanking you? You want me to thank you for ruining my life?”
Before I could back away, my father slapped me hard across my face.
It wasn’t the first time he had hit me. But it was going to be the last.
The taste of copper filled my mouth.
I straightened, touching a finger to my lip and surveying the blood that dripped from it. My father didn’t budge.
“You’ve always despised me,” I said as I lifted my chin to face him once more. The man standing in front of me, sloppy and drunk and barely alive, was a stranger to me. He was nothing. He was certainly no father. “I’m not surprised at all that you made this deal to save your own skin. Just do yourself a favor and leave Tessa alone when I’m gone. It’s the least you could do after ruining my life.”
I didn’t wait for him to respond. He grunted something behind me, but I ignored him and continued to my room, shutting the door firmly behind me.
Anger pounded through my ears. I rested my forehead on the wooden door and tried to breathe.
“We won’t survive without you, Jade,” Tessa whispered from our bed. Her and I shared a room in our small, broken-down cottage. I didn’t mind it most nights, especially when my father was as temperamental and uncontrollable as he was. I could keep her safe this way.
“You will,” I said to her. “You will survive because you have no choice. He won't help you, so you have to do this yourself.” I walked to the bed and ripped off my old, torn boots. I supposed I wouldn’t be needing them anymore, anyway. “You have food. Save as much money as possible. As soon as you’re old enough, you marry one of the nice boys in town and he’ll take care of you. Do you understand?” I asked. My voice was harsh, but I didn’t care. Tessa had been coddled her entire life, even in this cursed town.
She was about to face a fierce reality.
She nodded, eyes red from tears.
“Good,” I said. It was the last thing I said to her for the rest of the night. She curled into the bed beside me, sniffling silently as she drifted off to sleep. I stayed awake, however. Thinking about all of the things I would have rather done on my last day alive.
Pounding on the front door jolted me from my restless sleep.
“Go away!” my father yelled in a sluggish, half-awaken voice from somewhere within the house.
My body was already buzzing with energy. I knew exactly who was pounding at the door.
It was the fae prince’s help coming to collect his human bride.
“Jade Farrow,” a young man yelled. “We’re here to take you to the compound.”
The compound. The magnificent fae palace sounded more like a prison confinement.
I was already sitting up and pulling on the same torn up boots I wore every day.
“No,” Tessa stirred awake next to me. “No, not yet! It’s too early! I thought we would have the morning!”
I looked at her and placed a hand on each of her shoulders. “You have to be strong now, Tessa. Your future is up to you now. Do you understand?” She nodded silently. “Good. You know what to do. I’ll survive, you know I will.” A lie. “I’ll write to you as soon as I can, okay? And if I’m allowed to come back for you, I will. I’ll find a way to keep you safe Tessa, but you have to hang on until then. Can you do that?”
Tears welled in her giant, childish eyes. “Don’t cry,” I said sternly before I pulled her into a quick, tight hug. “Don’t cry.”
“I love you,” she whispered into my shoulder.
Now it was my turn to blink away tears. “I love you too, bug.”
“Jade Farrow!” The voice from the door yelled again.