Page 97 of Stormhold

He and Mother shared a look. Even after all these years, they were still in love. The kind of love you would read in books. True love. In a way, Father was my mother’s Prince Charming. The one who earned her love with patience and kindness

It was the kind of love I wanted.

It was this or nothing at all.

I was okay with reading my books for the rest of my life rather than entertaining men who wanted nothing to do with me.

My mother and her sister had a penchant for fairy tales. When they were kids, they used to run around the mystical forest that lined our little town, making up stories in their heads. Folklore stories that their mother used to read to them.

The same sentiment was carried into their legacy.

She named me Bellerose.

My second sister, Ariel.

Our youngest, Snow.

Although we weren’t bothered by our names, the same couldn’t be said about my cousin, Cinder Ella, who despised her name to the point that she swore us to only ever call her Ella.

My mother read us tales of true love every night. She taught us to embrace our femininity as a strength, the softness and kindness, and the vulnerability of a woman as power, and that the only true love that mattered was the love we showed ourselves, reminding us that no man or woman or anyone should ever come before the love we had for ourselves.

Within the next ten minutes, Father and Mother tucked Ari and Snow in their respective beds, which were in line with mine.

“Good one, Rosy?” Father ruffled my hair, gesturing toward my book.

“Yes, Father.” I flashed him a smile. “I’m almost at the end. Can we read more about relativity tomorrow?” My father and I shared a bond for the mysteries of the world. The world that not many could see. Father was a brilliant professor of quantum physics, and his teaching fascinated me so much that I was already reading AP-level books.

“I swear you’re going to beat me soon with the speed you’re going,” Father said with a smile. A smile that reached his warm brown eyes, making the lines in his cheeks crease.

“That’s enough, James,” Mother hushed, hugging Father from behind. “Let’s go before we wake up those two.” Mom pointed to Ari and Snow, who were fast asleep despite their earlier protests.

Father agreed. “Anything for my beautiful Lylah.” His eyes zeroed in on Mother, and the look in them made her blush. I swore those two acted more like teenagers than a couple who’d been together for more than two decades.

I wasn’t sure how long it had been since my parents left, but I was on the last page of my book, the words lit by the soft golden light of the night lamp, when a sudden sound made me still. It wasn’t just a sound. It was loud, booming music. I immediately recognized it as a popular song that had just come out.

“Belle,” Ari said in a sleepy voice, rubbing her eyes. “What is it?”

“I don’t know, Ari.” I immediately set my book aside. “You stay right there.”

I didn’t know if it was my tone or the unusualness of the situation, but Ari blinked the sleep out of her eyes and hurried to Snow’s bed.

Just as I was right at the door, it burst open, and Mother rushed in, her face pinched in a heavy frown as she walked fast to Snow and lifted her in her arms.

“Mother, what is it?” I questioned as she laid a sleeping Snow on a puddle of soft blankets on the floor of the closet.

“Ari, get inside.” Mom frantically pushed Ari down next to Snow. And for once, Ari didn’t complain, her confused eyes volleying between Mother and me.

“Mother, maybe we should call 911…” Mother held up a hand before I could finish that sentence and shook her head. “No, no cops. It’s not safe,” she mumbled, her wide eyes meeting mine. “Belle, you need to keep them safe. Promise me you’ll keep them safe.”

Her tone chilled my spine.

I knew something was wrong.

I felt it in my bones that something was terribly wrong.

“Yes, Mother,” I whispered over the thunder in my heart. It was then that I deciphered the wild glint in her eyes as fear.

“Good.” She nodded. “Get inside.” Her hands gripped the closet doors as she was about to close them; her blue eyes softened with so much love. “I love you babies so much. Remember, it’s okay to be a princess, but you also have to be…” brave and strong.