Two girls. Two secrets.
Only one can survive.
Years before Nelle Wychthorn plans her escape, Tabitha Catt may unearth something in a Horned God's lair that is the key to freedom.
Desperate to save her beloved aunt from a dark curse, Tabitha is out t...
She spun around and broke into a fast-paced walk that carried her toward the crossings of hallways. "Thanks for the kiss, but I have to get going."
Completely floored, I stared at her retreating figure. "Where are you going?"
"The fireworks," she tossed over her shoulder, before turning around the corner and disappearing deeper into the house.
What the...fuck...?
And then, as I heard the muffled boom of a firework let off outside, my own watch alarm went off—beep-beep-beep.
I scrubbed my hand over the scruffy beard she didn't like, the bristles abrading my palm, and figured that after the Wychthorn Princess heist, I'd track her down and convince her otherwise. At the very least, if none of that was going to happen, I wanted to carry on kissing the hells out of her. Beard...or no beard.
***
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I clambered out of my bedroom window as quietly as I could, which wasn't particularly easy as, beneath my oversized black hoodie and sweatpants, I was wearing a footballer's shoulder pads, leg padding, and sneakers three sizes too big for me.
I'd watched a TV show a while back—maybe MacGyver or Hart to Hart, I couldn't remember—and the villain had changed their body shape with padding to cast off suspicion. I figured it might help me too if I was inadvertently spotted. I was the same height, but I looked boxy and much stockier, perhaps a man rather than a woman, and if I left footprints behind to trace my whereabouts, they were bigger than my own foot size.
Above the leafy canopy of the chestnut tree which grew beside our bedroom window, along with neatly clipped junipers and ivy climbing the stone walls, fireworks in great bursts of metallic colors sprayed the night sky, one after the other, bleaching the leaves and branches like lightning flashes as they exploded overhead. Rapturous cheering and clapping followed each thunderous boom.
Time was of the essence. I had a plan, a really patchy plan, and now was the time to move on it. I grabbed hold of the branch and swung myself into the tree, leaving my window slightly ajar so I could get back inside later.
Jagged stems with their bushy leaves and chestnut burrs tugged at my clothes as I awkwardly crawled along the narrow branch to the tree trunk. Climbing down, I balanced on the jutting roots and pushed off, jumping as far as I could over the raised bed littered with curled yellow leaves and onto the pebbled path. I crouched down, my heartbeat racing as I swiftly took in my surroundings in the dark, sending my senses shooting outward to double-check I was still alone. No one was about. Thank Zrenyth. Shifting to the grass, with the toe of one sneaker I carefully scattered away the dent left by my shoes in the pebbles.
Closing in around the servants' quarters was a thick line of trees and shrubs. I'd always assumed they formed a natural hedge to hide away our existence and our numerous washing lines, to keep up the majestic illusion of the chateau-esque mansion.
