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...
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Waiting patiently, time stretched out and darkness wrapped around us.
Aunt Ellena began to speak so quietly that had to lean closer. "I used to accompany your mother as her chaperone when she dated your father, even after they were engaged. Asta and Jasper liked to meet in Ascendria and spend the day there. I was annoying, and they, like most couples, wanted time without me dogging their heels. It was terribly wrong of me to leave them alone, but I did."
She left them alone? It flickered in my mind briefly before it was dashed away like dust by the wind. Maybe I hadn't been conceived on the wedding night, perhaps it was beforehand if they weren't chaperoned.
But did it matter?
I was born in wedlock.
"It was there at the lake that I met him—Wyatt."
I rolled the name Wyatt around in my head, liking it, wondering which House he belonged to before my mind charged ahead imagining a young Aunt Ellena out in Ascendria meeting a boy on a pretty trail winding through the woodland surrounding the city's lake.
I was unable to stop the snicker as I grinned. "Wyatt sounds like one of those cowboys."
My aunt swallowed thickly as if nervous.
My grin fell off my face at her guilty silence. I breathed, "Wyatt was a mortal?"
It was even more dangerous for any of us to be tangled up in a relationship with a mortal. No one from our world could leave the Horned Gods, nor expose our dark sect to the mortal world. If it had been discovered my aunt's life would have been ended as well as the man she'd fallen in love with. "How did you two meet?"
Aunt Ellena chewed her lip and actually looked sheepish. "I saw him working at the lake's garden. He was so handsome. I pretended I was new to the city and lost and asked him for directions."
"You did?"
She nodded. "I did, and then later on when he started showing me the sights of the city, I had to act surprised and awestruck every single time."
A laugh bubbled from my throat at the thought of my prim aunt doing that. "How old were you?"
"Seventeen."
"Oh my... Aunt Ellena!" I gasped, shocked.
Her teeth flashed out to nip her lower lip as the corners of her mouth turned up. "He had wild blond hair and these striking blue eyes. Every time he smiled at me with those dimples I melted. He was a few years older, but there was something about him I could never quite explain. A sense of timelessness. Everything he touched became more vibrant."
"What was he like?"
She stretched out her hand and the tips of her chilly fingers pinched my chin. I basked in the glorious smile shining in her eyes. "You would have adored him. Wyatt made me laugh so easily. He was clever and sweet, if a little unruly. A knowledge gatherer. He seized hold of life and lived, really lived. He was a wandering soul and you could see the yearning in his eyes to hit the road and keep on moving. Before we met, he'd already traveled a fair bit and had so many great stories. He had a motorcycle and he'd take me on rides all over the city and through the countryside." She sighed wistfully. "I loved sitting on the back of his bike with the wind whipping around us, the sound of the engine roaring as we ate through the asphalt." Her fingertips left my chin and cool air swirled between us as she drew back and spread her hands on her thighs. "Wyatt was the one who actually taught me to ride a bike. Later on, when I bought my darling Vespa, I had to pretend all over again to learn."
