Blythe and Fate Share an Unexpected Moment In This Excerpt From Final Belladonna Installment Wisteria

Blythe Hawthorne has never let anyone tell her what to do—not society, not her overprotective father, and certainly not the man she’s bound herself to, no matter how rude and insufferable he is. In fact, she’s determined to be a thorn in his side for the rest of her days, even as he ensures that her life in his palace is anything but a fairytale. But as Blythe discovers a new side of herself linked to his past, she’ll have to decide if she’s willing to let an unexpected spark ignite…and to discover the truth about who she really is.

Wisteria won’t hit shelves until August 20, but we’ve got an exclusive first look at the Belladonna trilogy’s final installment for you right now. 

“I despise you,” Blythe spat, ripping off her gloves and tossing them at Aris’s chest before she hiked up her dress and stomped to take a seat beside the fire. Though the skies had been clear when she’d left, all of Wisteria trembled from roars of thunder. How strange it was that the storm mirrored the one brewing in Fiore so perfectly.

“Get in line.” She hadn’t heard Aris sit down, but suddenly he was beside her, his voice low as he asked, “Did he touch you?”

Blythe knew at once who he referred to. She was grateful for the flames against her back, for goosebumps slithered down her spine at the memory of Death’s touch. “I’d be dead if he had.”

The firelight cast severe lines across Aris’s face, sharpening the planes of his scowl. “You were a fool to let Death so close.”

“Don’t pretend you’re worried for me.” It was impossible to tell how cross Aris was, for Blythe made a pointed effort not to meet his eye. All she could see was that he’d crossed one leg over the other, and that his foot tapped a silent rhythm in the air as the stillness between them stretched on. Eventually, as the storm died down and Death’s lingering chill finally seeped from her bones, Aris asked, “Did you have a good time at Foxglove?”

It was such a ridiculous question that she laughed. “Of course I did. I was glad for the company, and to spend my day staring at more than hideous gray stone because you’re angry that I stopped your attempts to manipulate my cousin.”

“Manipulate? She was my wife. It’s Death who’s manipulating—”

“Signa was never your wife. Life may have been, once upon a time, but not Signa. My cousin is free to spend her years with whomever she wants, and it isn’t going to be you.”

The lights flickered as Aris reached out, taking her chin in a deft hand to demand her stare. “And you know that for a fact?”

Blythe wasn’t so foolish as to cower. It wasn’t as though he could hurt her, so what was the worst he could do? Send her to sleep in the stables? That, at least, would be more comfortable than her stone slab of a bed.

Aris didn’t want Blythe to believe that she had any power in this situation. But if there was one thing that Blythe was growing more certain of by the day, it was that she had so much more than he’d planned for. And she’d proved it today when she’d left for Foxglove.

When Aris bent so that his forehead was pressed against hers, she kept her gaze level.

“It’s your fault she doesn’t remember,” he spat. “I could have brought her here. I could have shown her the life we used to have!”

“And what life are you referring to, exactly? One that existed literal centuries ago? Whatever caveman life you had back in the prehistoric age is gone. Continue to waste your years pining, or do everyone a favor and move on.”

He was so bright that Blythe’s eyes burned to look at him. She nearly pinched them shut but didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. Something about Aris’s anger and the burn in her belly felt familiar. Almost . . . expected. So much so that she did not lose her voice, but told him sternly, “Burn as brightly as the sun if you wish, Aris, but I will not look away.”

To her surprise, the light flickered out as quickly as a snuffed candle. Blythe hardly had the chance to blink clarity back into her eyes before she saw that Aris once again stood before her. Not angry this time, but with his lips pressed tight and a crease between his brows.

“What did you say?”

Blythe thought over her words—a little forthcoming, perhaps, but not so aggressive as to warrant his reaction. She gave Aris no response as he drew back to lean against a settee, perhaps plotting his next move. He looked not to Blythe, but at his hands. Then, to her surprise, he laughed.

Blythe wondered if perhaps she should hide, though she couldn’t convince a single one of her limbs to budge. She was too enamored by the sound, for this laugh was not like his others. This laugh was the first light of dawn, warm and pleasant as it shuddered across her. It was a sound that lasted only a second, but in that second Aris became another person entirely. One she did not recognize, but found herself unnervingly curious to know.

“Life once said that very thing to me,” he told her eventually, which was fortunate given that Blythe had lost her voice. “It was during our first true argument, so long ago that I’d nearly forgotten.”

Wisteria will be released on August 20, but you can pre-order it right now. 

Lacy Baugher Milas is the Books Editor at Paste Magazine, but loves nerding out about all sorts of pop culture. You can find her on Twitter @LacyMB