Chapter 40

"Being by such a noble lover kissed,

This one, who ne'er from me shall be divided,

Kissed me upon the mouth all palpitating."

-Dante Alighieri, The Inferno

My mind couldn't quite grasp the fact that Arthur had broken off his engagement. Emma was holding the laptop in her hands, streaming live BBC news, and my head was suddenly spinning. I wanted to pick it up and toss it across the room so I didn't have to hear the thrill of excitement in the reporter's voice. Arthur couldn't have been that stupid. He was committed to Natalie, and our affair was long forgotten. There was no way that the royals would let such significant news leak out. This whole thing was either a hoax or a shameful truth.

This has nothing to do with you, Max. He just wasn't ready to transform his whole life.