(Tilly)
Electra found me an hour later.
I was standing at the edge of the training grounds, watching torches flicker in the distance. Search parties. Calling his name.
Chase. Chase. Chase.
"Tilly." Electra's voice was soft. Too soft. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You haven't said a word since the announcement."
I could tell her. I could tell everyone.
I could say I told him to die. I told him to die, and he said maybe he would.
And now, maybe he did.
"Tilly." Jovina appeared on my other side, her hand finding mine. "We'll find him. The Greeks won't harm the Alpha's son. There's a line, and they won't cross it—"
"Like they didn't cross the line when they 'mistakenly' targeted her Uncle, Prince Brett?" Electra asked her.
"God, Electra! You're not helping!"
The words burst out of Jovina like a dam breaking.
"I love him." I whispered in the midst of that chaos.
Electra and Jovina froze. Their eyes pinned me in place.
"But you said—" Jovina started.
"I know what I said! It was easier than admitting the truth. I love Chase Dubois." I took a shaking breath. "I've loved him since he was ten years old and gross and made my ladies' maids lick his boots. I love the man I hate with every fibre of my soul"
Tears spilled down my cheeks. I felt hopeless.
"Now he'll never know. Because I told him to die. At the cliff. I was so angry, and he said he couldn't—and I slapped him, and I said—" My voice cracked. "I told him to die. And he said maybe he would."
Electra went pale. Jovina's hand tightened on mine.
"Oh, Tilly."
"Now he may never know." I was already moving, pulling them toward the stables. "I have to find him. He's going to have such a laugh. Tilly Ann Winchester, lovestruck. Feeble-minded. Ordinary. Just like all his other fawning girls."
"We'll find him," Electra said, running beside me. "He's probably just drunk in a ditch. Men are dramatic. But let's check the cliff" When Jovina pinched her hard, she added. "As a precaution"
But her voice was shaking.
Why was her voice shaking?
The cliff was empty. Thank God.
Nothing. Just the roar of water and the endless drop into mist.
I ran to the edge. Looked down. The rocks below were empty. Or maybe they weren't. I couldn't see anything. It was too steep, too dark.
"Chase!"
"Tilly, he's not here." Jovina pulled me back from the edge. "He's not here. That's good. It means he didn't—"
"Or he already—" I couldn't finish. I broke down in tears.
Electra grabbed my shoulders. "Stop that stupid tears or I will slap you silly"
"Electra!" Jovina screamed at her.
"What? She's a Winchester dragon princess not a lame house bride. Since when did Tilly Ann Winchester turn into a watering pot over a boy!"
Electra was right. The way she said it was wrong but she was still right. If I was to find Chase, crying like a housewife probably won't help.
"We'll find him. He's fine. Probably halfway to a tavern by now." Electra added and I nodded vigorously.
"Come on" I told them wiping my eyes.
We searched for another hour. The forest. The shoreline. The old armory. Nothing.
Then the rain started.
It was the kind of rain that soaked through everything—cloaks, boots, skin, bones. I was covered in a thick woolen cloak, hood pulled low, but I was still drenched. Still freezing.
"Princess, you need to rest," a guard said. "We'll continue the search at first light."
"I can't rest. I can't—"
"Your father's orders."
My mother appeared at the castle gates, her face tight with worry—for Chase, or for me, I couldn't tell.
"Tilly. Go to your room. Warm up. We'll send word the moment we find him."
"But Mama—"
"Take the princess back to her room, girls."
Mama left no room for argument.
Electra and Jovina followed me to my door, their cloaks dripping onto the stone floor.
"Do you want us to stay?" Jovina asked.
"No." My voice was hollow. "I want to be alone. And I might strangle Electra if we are in close quarters"
Electra hugged me. Tight. She pushed the wet hair away from my face when she pulled away and said. "Hang in there. I love you"
It only made my eyes water.
They hesitated. Then, reluctantly, they left.
I opened the door.
Someone was there.
Standing near the reading table, staring at it like it had grown two heads.
Chase.
For one heartbeat, I thought I was hallucinating. That the cold and the fear had finally broken my mind. Maybe it had. Maybe I was losing my mind.
I looked at him. He looked at me.
"Are you real?" I whispered.
"Yes." His voice was raw. "Are you going to scream at me?"
His eyes were red. Swollen. Like he'd been crying. Or screaming. Or both.
"Tilly—" he started. "I know I shouldn't be here. I just—I found myself walking. To your room. I didn't know where else to—"
I didn't let him finish.
I flew across the room and launched myself at him.
He caught me—half surprised, half panicked—his arms wrapping around my waist, lifting me off the ground like I weighed nothing. My legs locked around his hips. My hands fisted in his wet shirt.
I was bawling. Sobbing into his neck. He held me tighter.
"What happened? Tell me. Are you hurt?"
I shook my head and cried harder.
He stroked my back like I was a child, carried me to the bed, and sat down with me still clinging to him.
"Fuck, you're cold." He looked around, confused. "Okay. Okay. I'll get you warm. Then I'll murder whoever hurt you, Winchester. But first, I need to get you warm."
"I didn't mean it." The words spilled out between sobs. "I didn't mean what I said. I didn't—"
"Oh, Tilly"