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...
WARNING: This story contains strong language, depictions of violence, depictions of childhood trauma, depictions of coercion, depictions of dubious consent, and depictions of domestic violence that may not be suitable for some readers.
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I didn't recognize either voice.
But I knew whatever the speakers were, they weren't human.
One voice was gritty like sand rubbed against metal and the other had a low, whiny note ringing through its words.
"Her skin could be flayed," said the one with the gritty voice. "But there's so little of her... She's so small she'd barely make a cushion cover."
The other creature spoke, making an annoyed sound at the back of its throat. "I need more than a cushion cover from her, Yezekael."
My ears pricked—Yezekael.
I had never heard the name before.
Was it a Horned God or a lesser creature?
Yezekael laughed, and the sound felt like sharpened claws raking down my back. "That you do."
I'd awoken in a strange place, laying on my side with my face pressed against something cold and wet. Cool air curled around my shivering body like mist and made my uniform stick to my skin. A thick mildew smell filled my lungs with every draw of breath. Another smell washed over me. It was coming from where the voices spoke, an odd mixture of stale spices and dead animal, as they discussed me like a thing.
I pried my sticky eyes apart just a sliver, knowing as my heart pumped faster, to keep quiet, to keep pretending I was asleep.
Where am I?
The forest.
It was a chilly night with a full moon that lit everything up bright, and I was lying on the forest floor on a carpet of rotting leaves and sharp twigs. My entire body was in pain. It felt like needles stabbed through my flesh with barbed tips. I couldn't move my legs.
