Page 28 of Broken Hearted
She was holding a cup of tea, and she’d justbreathedpurple magic over it.
I ducked out of the way just as her gaze shifted to the doorway, and my heart pounded frantically in my chest.
The tea.
The cursed tea!
I knew from reading past champion’s journals that this realm had witches, but I never thought Elisana could be one. I suspected something was up, but I’d certainly not imagined her to be giving him enchanted tea.
So that’s why he was so gaga over her. It was a love potion.
Spinning in the other direction, I bolted for the stairs, the hair on the back of my neck rising as I went up to the next floor and then turned the corner and ran right into the chest of the very man I was looking for.
For a beautiful moment, it was like time stopped. All the oxygen felt like it had been sucked from the room, and I was lost in those teal eyes. Adrien had reached out to steady himself and his fingers were still on my upper arms. He wore a white jacket with a powder blue shirt underneath, and I’d never seen him look more handsome.
“Isolde?” He seemed confused, but pleased to see me.
“My love? I have your tea,” Elisana called out from deep in the castle and panic rose up inside me.
I shoved Adrien backward until he hit a door, and then I shoved us both through, only to find out that we were in a storage closet. The light was on in the cramped space and it smelled of musty linens.
“What are you doing?” he asked, shocked.
I swallowed hard. “I’m saving you from marrying the wrong person.”
His brows knotted. “What?”
“Adrien?” Elisana sounded panicked.
My chest heaved. “Elisana is a witch. She’s got you under some love spell. I’m … I need your help.”
“A witch? There’s no way that can be true.” He looked at me like I had sprouted two heads. She must have already given him the tea, and this was a double dose to ensure he would marry her.
“What do you like about Elisana?” I whispered because her voice was getting closer.
Adrien looked flustered. “She’s … pretty … ish and she’s …” His mouth opened and closed like a fish, but no words came out. “I love her!” he finally yelled, and I winced at how loud it was.
“Adrien? Are you down here?” Elisana was too close, and he was too far under her spell for me to reach him right now.
New plan.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered and grabbed the heavy metal cast-iron chamber pot on the shelf next to me and cracked him over the side of the head with it.
He went down quickly, and I used my one free arm to keep him from falling too badly or making too much noise. I coaxed him onto a tall stack of linens where he slumped over.
I’d just knocked out the groom. This was officially going down as the craziest thing I’d ever done.
“Darling,” Elisana’s voice was just outside the door, and I froze.
Please, no. I was prepared to attack her if necessary, but to be totally honest, I had never fought a witch and didn’t know what it would entail.
Footsteps faded and I breathed a sigh of relief.
My next act was painfully clear. I needed to get Adrien out of there and wean him off of this tea.
I cracked open the storage closet door and came face to face with a portly woman carrying a giant stack of linens she couldn’t see over.
“Oh,” I said, surprised. “I’ll take those from you,” I told her and moved to grab them, positioning my body so that she couldn’t see Adrien behind me.
