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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Don't do it, don't do it...
But did I listen to that whispering voice warning me off?
Like the damn fool I was, no.
I slunk along the balcony like a battered alley cat with exhaustion wrecking my weary limbs. As I huddled within the shadows of an inset balcony that overlooked the Banquet Hall, my swords' leather scabbards scraped against the back wall and gloom dusted my figure with dirty fingers. Gloom had settled on more than my body, it had burrowed its way inside and blackened my mood.
Despite needing to shower and finding something to relieve the hunger gnawing at my gut, as soon as my muddy boots had crossed the threshold of the Deniauds' mansion I'd aimed here like a shot arrow, despite the mantra playing over and over—don't do it, don't do it...
I'd spent my day hunting through the Hemmlok Forest in an attempt to distract myself from the unease scratching beneath my skin. I'd awoken this morning worried about Laurena Wychthorn who'd spotted me with Tabitha at the club, and feared what she'd do with the information. My foul mood had worsened the deeper I'd traversed the forest's sinister depth. My thoughts had turned once more to that fateful night with Gratian. The pull to go further, to press onward to the Heart of the Forest, roared through my bloodstream, a dark melody strumming in my veins to find the beast that had killed my brother. Vengeance. Forgiveness. Atonement. I could earn it all if I only found the beast and felled it.
It was the merest glimpse of light, the faint glow of fireflies dancing around curled leaves, similar to the way sunshine seemed to radiate with one of Tabitha's smiles, that snapped me out of the death haze.
I'd stopped short, shocked to find it was nightfall with thick fog rolling between my legs, surrounded by knotted black vines that strangled ancient trees. All the fine hair on my body stood on end. A deep pulse of menacing power hummed like a sinister chanting of monks through the cold air, reeking of stagnant rot, beckoning me on, enticing me to enter.
I'd been so close, so terrifyingly close to entering the Heart of the Forest.
I whirled around and ran, crashing through the understory, a surge of black speed and bleak thoughts.
Upon entering the mansion, I'd convinced myself just a glimpse of Tabitha would soothe my anxious mind. And that dickhead move blew up spectacularly like a grenade in the face the moment I angled myself to peer down below and found Tabitha dancing with Tomas.
My spine stiffened.
A shocked gasp whistled into my lungs.
Holy shit...
I almost had to punch my own heart to fucking kick it back to life like a defibrillator. Jealousy was a haze of blood dripping into my eyes. It ate through my veins and I choked on its noxious fumes as I watched Tomas and Tabitha gracefully twirl across the redwood polished floor in a Quickstep.
