Skipping Midnight (Desperately Ever After Book 3) Read online

  Skipping Midnight

  Book Three:

  Desperately Ever After

  series

  Laura Kenyon

  Skipping Midnight

  Copyright © 2016 by Laura Kenyon

  http://www.laurakenyon.com

  This book is licensed for personal use only. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. All fairy tale references are based on works that exist in the public domain.

  Praise for Laura Kenyon’s

  Desperately Ever After series

  “Laura Kenyon makes happily ever after desperately delicious!”

  ~ Stephanie Evanovich, New York Times bestselling author of Big Girl Panties and The Sweet Spot

  “At times laugh-out-loud funny, and at times very touching, Desperately Ever After is the debut of a real talent.”

  ~ Elizabeth Blackwell, author of While Beauty Slept and The Letter

  “This story draws out the emotional side of our fairy tale princesses, while keeping the humor intact. … It’s no longer a case of just reading their stories and hoping to meet our prince charming and getting swept away. Kenyon shows that the fairy tale promise is not all that it’s cracked up to be. She keeps it real and enduring for the modern woman.”

  ~ Janice G. Ross, author of Damaged Girl and Island Hopping

  “An explosive cocktail that will have you laughing out loud and wanting more and more!”

  ~ Lost in Chick Lit

  “If you are looking for a fun and gossipy story to satisfy the holes left when Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives had their series finales (or even if you're going through Once Upon a Time withdrawal come season finale time) look no further than Desperately Ever After.”

  ~ Chick Lit Central

  “No more damsel in distress, useless without her prince, but modern day woman struggling with and enjoying love. Desperately Ever After is a wonderfully sarcastic, romantic and heartwarming tale about love and friendship with witty conversations, juicy clichés and a healthy dose of humor. I cannot wait to read the sequel!”

  ~ M’s Bookshelf

  “Empowering and hilarious, I think everyone should read this.”

  ~ Tea Party Princess

  “It’s the perfect book to be reading this summer and it’s completely unputdownable!”

  ~ The YA’s Nightstand

  “Desperately Ever After has a clever, whip-smart plot, an enchanting setting, and a lot of fun, strong female characters to root for.”

  ~ The Book Chick

  “Kenyon’s colorful imagery and often quick, lighthearted style makes it easy to keep flipping pages.”

  ~ New Canaan Advertiser

  “The book was spellbinding, a real honest tale of life that shows the bond between friends and that happily ever after isn’t necessarily the ending or the truth. Every character has flaws that make them real, and their story resonates off the page.”

  ~ Compelling Reads

  “Anyone who wants a debut author to watch before they sky-rocket into huge recognition should get this title.”

  ~ ChickLit Pad

  “I’m sure you all know each and every one of these princess’ stories but Laura puts an exciting twist on their happily ever after, which I loved.”

  ~ Chicklit vs. Fantasy

  “Laura Kenyon’s Desperately Ever After is part Disney princess, part Sex in the City, and part TMZ Celebrity Gossip Site … and it’s fabulous!”

  ~ Keep Calm and Write On

  “A fantastically funny, thought provoking and inspiring read and I am so pleased to discover that this book is the first in a series so I get to follow the women’s next adventures soon. It turns out that happily ever after was only the beginning!

  ~ Mature Bookworm

  “This book was interesting, different, funny and insightful. … From YA on up I think you will enjoy this retelling of what happens after the “And they lived happily ever after.”

  ~ Tracy Riva Books & Reviews

  “There are misunderstandings, secrets kept that should be shared (and vice versa), silly situations and reconciliations a-plenty, so summarizing the rest of the story would be no easy task and, besides, it would take away the fun of reading it.”

  ~ Girls Love to Read

  "Damsels in Distress is just the perfect blend of fairy tale and chick lit, making the fairy tale princesses far more modern and far more real life! Definitely a series to read!"

  ~ Trips Down Imagination Road

  "Although these leading ladies are royal fairy tale princesses, Laura Kenyon managed to make them not only easy to relate to, but highly lovable as well. Damsels In Distress feels like catching up with old friends."

  ~ M's Bookshelf

  "As with Desperately Ever After, Damsels in Distress brought about new developments in the end that made you want the next book right now!”

  ~ Have Book Will Read

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Praise for Desperately Ever After

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Map of Marestam

  List of Characters

  Mirror Column #1

  Chapter 1: Belle

  Chapter 2: Rapunzel

  Chapter 3: Snow

  Mirror Column #2

  Chapter 4: Dawn

  Chapter 5: Belle

  Chapter 6: Angus

  Chapter 7: Rapunzel

  Chapter 8: Belle

  Chapter 9: Dawn

  Chapter 10: Belle

  Chapter 11: Rapunzel

  Mirror Column #3

  Chapter 12: Belle

  Chapter 13: Rapunzel

  Mirror Column #4

  Chapter 14: Belle

  Chapter 15: Rapunzel

  Chapter 16: Dawn

  Chapter 17: Belle

  Chapter 18: Ruby

  Chapter 19: Dawn

  Chapter 20: Rapunzel

  Chapter 21: Donner

  Mirror Column #5

  Chapter 22: Snow

  Chapter 23: Angus

  Chapter 24: Penelopea

  Mirror Column #6

  Chapter 25: Belle

  Chapter 26: Rapunzel

  Mirror Column #7

  Chapter 27: Belle

  Chapter 28: Rapunzel

  Note to Readers

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  For everyone to whom life has given lemons,

  may you make the world’s sweetest lemonade.

  “It will happen to all of us eventually. The moment will come when we ask ourselves: Where did the time go? How did the children I once cradled grow up so very quickly? How did the life I dreamt of turn into a career I never expected? And how did that woman I saw each day in the mirror become someone I don't even recognize?”

  — Mary Alice Young, Desperate Housewives

  Who’s Who in Marestam

  Aaron Charmé — King of Carpale and Cinderella's husband.

  Angus Kane — Prime minister of Marestam.

  Beast — Belle’s beloved rescue dog.

  Belle Wickenham (née Middleton) — Queen of Braddax. Married to Donner but separated. Co-owner of the Phoenix B&B. When she was eighteen, Belle became imprisoned by a monster who turned out to be the cursed king of Braddax. She is famous for breaking his curse with her
love.

  Carter LeBlanche — Reluctant crown prince of Riverfell. Dating Kiarra Kane.

  Cinderella Charmé — Philanthropic “Rags to Riches” queen of Carpale. Married to Aaron. Mother of four. Orphaned as a child, Cinderella was raised by her abusive stepmother but set free when Aaron Charmé fell in love with her during a marital ball.

  Davin Lima — Selladórean native and Dawn’s childhood sweetheart. Presumed dead following the Great Sleep. Also see: Liam Devereaux.

  Dawn Tirion — Queen of Regian. Married to Hunter. Mother of ten-year-old twins, Morning and Day. Born in the eighteenth century, Dawn was cursed to fall asleep for three centuries along with the rest of Selladóre. The widely accepted story is that Hunter’s kiss woke her up.

  Donner Wickenham — King of Braddax. Married to Belle but separated after having an affair with her sister Julianne.

  Dr. Diggory Frolick — Belle’s doctor and one of the dwarves who offered Snow refuge while she was running from her murderous mother.

  Elmina Goodman — Reclusive pureblood fairy who saved Dawn’s life in eighteenth century Selladóre by changing Jacara’s death curse into a sleeping curse.

  Ethan Wilkins — Rapunzel’s beau and low-level Stularian royal. Ethan went blind when Grethel pushed him from Rapunzel’s tower years ago, but has since regained his sight.

  Gray — Belle’s mysterious love interest and quasi employee at the Phoenix B&B. He believes he was born without the ability to fear.

  Grethel — Mysterious fairy who kidnapped/raised Rapunzel and then abandoned her in Carpale.

  Griffin — King of Tantalise

  Hazel Wickenham — Donner’s mother and a pureblood fairy (the latter unknown until recently).

  Hunter Tirion — King of Regian, CEO of Tirion Enterprises, and Dawn’s husband.

  Kiarra Kane — Angus Kane’s niece and Prince Carter’s sweetheart.

  Letitia LeBlanche — Widowed diva queen of Riverfell. Mother of Logan and Carter. Engaged to Ethan’s father, William Wilkins.

  Liam Devereaux — Billionaire head of PerdemiDivan distilleries. Davin Lima’s modern-day alias.

  Logan LeBlanche — Prince Carter’s younger (but significantly more competent) brother. Married to Penelopea.

  Matilda Holt — Reporter for the Marestam Mirror.

  Penelopea “Penny” LeBlanche — Riverfell princess. Married to Logan. Vashian immigrant. Penny is famous for feeling three magical peas under twenty mattresses, which supposedly proved she was “a real princess.”

  Perrin Hildebrand — Gossip columnist for the Marestam Mirror.

  Rapunzel Delmonico — Cultural icon, feminist, and co-owner of the Phoenix B&B. Dating Ethan Wilkins. When she was a baby, Rapunzel’s parents traded her to a witch named Grethel in exchange for rampion weed. She spent almost twenty years in a tower away from the rest of humanity, until her attempt to flee with (a much younger) Ethan resulted in her banishment to Carpale.

  Ruby Welles — Most famous pureblood fairy in the world. Skyrocketed to fame after orchestrating Cinderella’s success at Aaron Charmé’s marital ball.

  Rye Wickenham — Belle and Donner’s secret son.

  Snow White — Peace-loving queen of Tantalise. Married to Griffin. Snow nearly died as a teenager when her mother fed her a poisoned apple because, or so the story goes, she was threatened by her own daughter’s beauty.

  William Wilkins — Ethan’s father, Letitia’s fiancé, and a Stularian earl.

  THE MARESTAM MIRROR

  Diamond Ropes and Velvet Cake

  By Perrin Hildebrand, King of Gossip

  BREATHE, dear readers. Breathe.

  Take a slow stroll through Capitol Park. Watch the sun sink into the West River. Sniff the roses at Riverfell’s Botanical Gardens. Pet a puppy if you can find one, or kiss a baby with mama’s permission. Just please get your heart rate down before venturing beyond this paragraph. Enough people are in the hospital already. The Mirror won’t be held liable for more.

  Tickers stable? Pacemakers in control? Read on at your own risk.

  A FIVE-ALARM inferno broke out last night at the brand new Phoenix B&B, resulting in at least two casualties and the arrest of Braddax’s troubled King Donner Wickenham—who, we now know, is the son of a one hundred percent pureblood fairy! (That’s right, it turns out that the Braddax royals have been hiding much more than humility from the people of Marestam— they’ve been evading the magical registry for years! More on that later.)

  Early reports about the melee were sketchy. But after a fourteen-hour espresso IV (the insomniac gets the worm, as they say), I’ve regrettably confirmed a flurry of both distressing and downright stupefying news—the most pressing being that pregnant Phoenix co-owner and technically-still-Queen Belle Wickenham was among the wounded. No details yet on the nature of her injuries, but my iron-clad source at the hospital has assured me that both mama and twenty-three-week baby-to-be were “out of danger” this morning and will be released after a few more days of “precautionary observation.”

  UNFORTUNATELY, the same cannot be said for Kiarra Kane, starlet niece of Prime Minister Angus Kane and the Crown Prince of Riverfell’s main squeeze. Ms. Kane reportedly lost consciousness after suffering blunt force trauma to the head, and has yet to awaken. Educated forecasts about her prognosis are in short supply, but her royal beau’s reaction doesn’t paint a very rosy picture. In the words of Riverfell’s royal mouthpiece: “In light of yesterday’s tragedy, Crown Prince Carter has concluded that he cannot simultaneously focus on his beloved and learn how to run a kingdom. As such, he cannot in good conscience accept the Riverfell throne next Saturday, as expected. Instead, the crown will pass to his extremely well qualified younger brother, Logan, and his wife, Penelopea.”

  Perhaps this is an epic gesture of romantic sacrifice. Perhaps it’s Carter’s excuse to finally escape the responsibility he’s been trying to dodge for years. Either way, if you feel the wind picking up today, that’s the entire population of Riverfell breathing a sigh of relief—or Penelopea cussing out the universe. So much for that four-bedroom craftsman she was looking at.

  NEEDLESS to say, it hasn’t been a banner year for Donner, who was still at Marestam Central Prison at the time of publication. The beleaguered regent has come under intense scrutiny in recent months, following his very public affair with his sister-in-law; an ugly on-again/off-again relationship with his wife; and the revelation that Belle is finally carrying the heir to the Braddax throne—but is also most likely seeking a divorce. Inside sources expect a formal indictment within the next twenty-four hours, with possible charges ranging from misdemeanor offenses like unlawful use of magic and avoiding the magical registry, to felonies like destruction of property, arson, assault, and even attempted murder. (Or, if Ms. Kane’s consciousness decides to leave Marestam for good, just plain murder.)

  Both of his “alleged” victims are being kept under excruciatingly tight lock and key (no joke—I’ve tried everything!), and none of their loved ones returned calls for comment. So for now, we’ll have to assess his guilt using quasi-reliable eyewitness accounts like this one from Bartholomew Mares, a corporate accountant who was staying at the Phoenix on the night in question.

  “I’m not one of those anti-magic fanatics,” says the numbers cruncher, who is now enjoying a complimentary suite at the Waldorf Plaza—one of many organizations that stepped in to help in the wake of this tragedy. “But my wife and I will never forget the look on that man’s face when we raced downstairs to see what all the commotion was about. I swear on the cornerstone of Carpale Castle: Donner Wickenham’s eyes were glowing red and he moved like something I’ve never seen except in horror movies. I’m not saying he had fur or claws or fangs—though I can’t entirely dismiss the latter what with all the thrashing about—but I’ve never seen a little magic do that to anyone before.”

  Nor have I, Barto, which begs a very dangerous question: Are we to believe Donner’s magical abilities are really that strong? Or is t
here something else at play here? Is it possible … just possible … that when he lost Belle’s love, he also lost the antidote for the curse she broke five years ago? Could the King of Braddax be transforming back into a beast all over again?

  Only time—and your faithful King of Gossip—will tell.

  IN ADDITION to installing Angus Kane as temporary steward of the Braddax throne and issuing an international arrest warrant for Hazel Wickenham’s deceit (unenforceable so long as she never gets nabbed on Marestam soil), Parliament has responded to Friday’s tragedy by reconvening its Magical Security Committee (MSC) for the first time in half a decade.

  The move has sparked both cheers and jeers throughout the kingdoms, with demonstrators from all sides converging on Capitol Park over the weekend—and ruining a beautiful candlelight vigil in the process.

  When asked about the MSC’s marching orders, Kane gave his usual ambiguous answer, ripe with glittering generalities and inconsequential truths. “When I laid my hand on our sacred Constitution and pledged my life to the people of Marestam twelve years ago, my number one priority was keeping them safe. A great many things have changed since that time—my hair color and daily ratio of fan-to-hate mail, for example—but my pledge most certainly has not. What happened with the Wickenhams shows a flaw in our system that must be identified and rectified before any more innocents are sacrificed, before any more blood is shed. This should in no way be interpreted as a move to divide those with magical heritage from those without. If anything, it is a way to unify all law-abiding citizens, regardless of class or title, and protect them against those who might do us harm.”

  And there you have it, folks: unintelligible clarity from the upper echelons.

  Chapter One

  BELLE

  Belle vowed not to cry until her room was completely empty and her baby was safe in the hospital nursery a few floors below.

  Dr. Frolick had been insisting for hours that this was the best place for him, at least for the first night while she got her bearings. The phrase was laughable. Got her bearings? Not two days ago, her handy, week-by-week pregnancy calendar said her baby was roughly the size of a spaghetti squash. It said his lips and eyebrows were becoming more distinct, and while the eyes were no longer fused shut, they’d yet to acquire any pigment. It said her baby wouldn’t be fully formed for another fifteen weeks, and she shouldn’t expect to hold him until the trees stood bare along Fifth Avenue, draped in fuzzy white lights.