Fable of Happiness (Fable #2) by Pepper Winters

And I slammed to a stop, surveying the carnage.

Oh, dear...

The plates I’d been carrying when I’d found Kas writhing on the floor, bellowing about snowflakes and someone named Levin, were smashed into pieces all over the place. The fried pieces of rabbit that I’d so painstakingly gutted, filleted, and rubbed in flour—a disgusting job and one I never wanted to repeat—were discarded where they’d landed. Spinach had smooshed into the carpet, leaving green stains in the richly dyed fabric. And the honey that I’d claimed from the rapidly dwindling supply in the pantry had oozed out of its ramekin and splattered up the wall.

Oh God, the wall.

Blood stained the intricate wallpaper with shreds hanging like tassels by the light switch. Kas’s howls of despair as he’d attacked it last night echoed in my ears. The absolute misery in his stare. The tears he’d shed. The look of dumbstruck awe as I’d sunk down upon him and felt, not like a woman who’d been taken against her will, but a woman who had the power to save someone who could become her everything.

Tears sprang to my eyes, despite my orders not to.

I love him.

It’s done.

Just yesterday, I still cursed the earth he walked upon. But now, I stood on that same earth and was thankful that he existed. That I’d found him before it was too late.

“It’s not fair,” I whispered to the room.

It wasn’t fair that he’d turned out to be so, so...perfect.

So wretchedly perfect all while being chained up with—

“You’re awake.” His voice licked over my skin, spinning me to face the doorway.

And the newness inside me, the spot that’d formed purely so I had room in which to love him, filled instantly with warm and gooey, sharp and savage need.

He’d changed from the soaking T-shirt and jeans of last night into a pair of gray shorts that’d seen better days and a black tee. His long hair kissed his shoulders, his scruff framed his mouth, and his eyes were still the same weathered, haunted indeterminate color that they’d always been, but something about him was different.

I was different.

I wanted him.

In every single way a female could want a male.

“I, eh—” I ran my hands over my hair, self-conscious and highly aware the strands were clean and fresh thanks to his attention last night. “Did you sleep okay?”

He gave me an odd look before strolling into the library, the chain around his middle hissing quietly on the carpet, the links vanishing through the house like a never-ending snake before sinking its fangs into my ankle. “I passed out before I got to my dorm. Ended up contorted on the staff stairs for most of the night. You?”

Not waiting for me to reply, his gaze fell to the ruined pieces of rabbit and the smashed crockery. Nudging a piece of meat with his bare toe, he scowled. “What the hell happened in here? Did you just drop this?”

I frowned. “What? No, of course not. It happened last night. I didn’t realize the mess; otherwise, I would’ve cleaned up earlier.”

“Last night?” His forehead furrowed into deep tracks. “What the hell happened last night?”

I froze.

My heart didn’t know if it wanted to stop or hiccup. “We, eh...” I took a step toward him hesitantly, my nervous energy switching into panic. “We, um...we had sex. Twice...”

“What?!” His eyes flared wide, his attention skimming down my body as if seeking evidence of such a claim. He shook his head, stumbling a little to the side. “You’re lying.”

I flinched. “I’m not.”

“Well, you’re not telling the truth.” He ran a shaky hand through his hair. “I know you don’t like me very much, but giving false memories to a guy you pushed off a cliff is low...even for you.”

My stomach lurched. “I don’t like you very much?” I whisper-choked. Goosebumps shot down my arms, tingling with fear and loss. “Y-you...don’t remember, do you?” My question was just breath. Strained and terrified breath. “Please, please tell me you remember.”

Pain.

Pain I’d never felt before fissured through my ribs.

His forehead furrowed with deeper tracks, fear glimmering in his stare. “Remember what exactly? That I woke up in wet clothes and have no idea why? That I have cuts on my hands and bruised knuckles with no memory of what happened?” He swallowed hard enough for his throat to contract with muscle. “I have a splitting headache, and I’m sick to death of feeling as if I’ll topple over at any moment, so please...stop lying and tell me what happened. The truth this time. Where did the meat come from? Why is such precious food all over the carpet?”

My world bottomed out for the umpteenth time since climbing into this valley.

No.

Don’t you dare...

Don’t you dare do this to me.

“Tell me!” he snapped.

I wanted to run. To find the Kas who’d made me fall last night, not fight with this replica who knew nothing, who felt nothing, who looked at me as if I was nothing.

Making eye contact, I did my best to swallow all the agonizing, unrequited love inside me. “We slept together.”

Woefully inadequate. Totally depthless.

“We willingly spent the night together,” I forced out around my pain. “We were...happy.”