Page 116 of Split or Swallow

Tem’s stomach performed an uncomfortable flip at the thought. She couldn’t imagine a stranger duo: the formidable basilisk, and the human prince. Both powerful in their own right. Both couldn’t be more different.

Tem didn’t bother trying to check in with Caspen through their connection. He hadn’t answered her all night, and she doubted he would start now. Instead she helped her mother with the farm work, feeling more miserable by the hour.

Jonathan and Christopher were dead because of Tem.

There was no way around it—no way to spin the situation to make it anyone’s fault but her own. She should have tried harder to dissuade Caspen. She should have tried at all. But Tem knew in her gut that Caspen would not have been dissuaded. He was possessive, uncompromising, and he considered her to be his. There was nothing she could have done to prevent this.

Two packages arrived for her this time.

Neither package contained a note, but Tem knew immediately when she unwrapped them who had sent which dress. Caspen’s was green; Leo’s was red. Caspen’s had a drape to it that would lay beautifully on her waist. Leo’s had a slit up the side—a clear nod to the dress she’d worn for the Frisky Sixty. She knew which one she wanted to wear.

And yet, she hesitated.

Both Caspen and Leo would be attending the event at the castle. Both would see immediately whose dress she had chosen. Tem felt a sudden stab of annoyance. Why had they both sent her something to wear? Why were they forcing her to choose? It wasn’t fair.

She stared down at the dresses, willing one of them to disappear. When neither did, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

“Mother?”

Her mother looked up from the stove.

“Yes, dear?”

“Do you have a dress I can wear for tonight?”

Her mother frowned.

“I thought…” her eyes flicked to Tem’s bedroom, where the dresses were still laid out on the bed.

“Those don’t fit,” she said bluntly. It was half true. They didn’t fit Tem’s needs.

Her mother pursed her lips before nodding.

“Let me see,” she said.

Tem followed her into the master bedroom, her eyes going immediately to the bottle of salt spray on her dresser. She touched the clear glass, remembering how Caspen had said she smelled like the sea. Her mother rustled through her closet, pulling out two dresses and holding them up. One was brown; that wouldn’t do at all. Tem’s eyes immediately went to the other.

It was white, and it was linen, and it was wildly inappropriate for a formal event at the castle. But it was good enough for her mother, so it was good enough for Tem.

“That one,” she said.

Her mother handed her the dress.

Tem kept the claw inside her and the gold chain around her neck. By the time the carriage arrived to take her to the castle, she still hadn’t heard from Caspen. It was difficult not to resent his absence.

“Miss?” the carriage door opened, and a footman extended his hand. “We’ve arrived.”

Tem allowed herself to be steered into the castle.

The ballroom was just as it always was: sparkling with gold and filled with people. Tem scanned the crowd for Caspen, but he wasn’t there yet. Before she had time to wonder when he would arrive, she felt a hand on her arm. It was Gabriel.

“Going for a casual look tonight, are we?” he kissed her cheek. “I like it.”

“You’re probably the only one.”

“Please, Tem. If the prince doesn’t want you in linen he doesn’t deserve you in silk.”

Tem grinned. He was right.