Page 74 of Meet Cute the Virgin

The queen’s hand moves.

“Don’t you think about it,” I warn her; her hand freezes. “You killed my dad, and I don’t mean the cowardly king.”

“I killed your mother too.”

“Well, you thought you killed me too, so you’re not that great at it.”

“You think you’ll make it out of here?” she asks with a confidence I admire.

“I think you did all of this for nothing. I don’t want your crown,” I tell her.

“We have a whole vault full of them,” Teddy adds. “Every color and gem you could dream of.”

“Lies, you want it. The bastard child of the king thinking she can swoop in and claim what’s mine.”

“What are you talking about? Julian is over there running things, trying to find your crazy ass.” The mention of her sonmust set her off. Her whole expression changes, and she reaches again, pulling a small blade out.

She tries to lunge toward me, but Minnie is quicker. The giant lynx launches herself at the queen, claws extended, momentum carrying them both backward. The queen screams as they crash through the stained glass in an explosion of blue and gold shards.

“Minnie!” Teddy screams as she and I run to the broken window, glass crunching under our shoes.

Below, the queen lies sprawled on the lawn. Minnie stands over her for a moment, then bounds away toward the tree line. Tristan and Killian stand at the edge of the garden, guns still in hand, looking up at us.

“Well,” I say, leaning out the window, “she really dropped by.”

“Uninvited,” Teddy adds.

“Rude.”

“Very.”

The queen groans. Twitches.

“Damn,” Teddy says. “She’s alive.”

“For now.” I shrug.

“Hey! Are you alive down there? You fell for us pretty hard!” Teddy calls down.

No response.

“That’s kind of disappointing,” I say. “I had so many more window jokes prepared.”

“Like what?”

“‘That must have been a painful exit.’ ‘Shattered expectations.’ ‘See right through you.’”

“Solid.” Teddy nods. “I was thinking ‘clearly broken.’”

“Glass half empty?”

“Transparency issues.”

Tristan doesn’t hesitate. He hands his gun to Killian and starts climbing, finding handholds in the ivy and broken window frame.

“Oh my God,” I laugh. I was kind of teasing, and I thought he’d use the stairs.

“What? You clearly want your princess moment, so I’m giving it to you.”