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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I drove my car like I was in the Grand Prix. The faster I got to the Szarvas estate and dumped their entitled daughter's ass off, the quicker I'd be out of her company.
"Varen you're driving too fast!" Irma shrieked.
"I'm a Crowther for fucks sake!" I had sharp reflexes...unless I was gobsmacked like I had been, starving and watching my scone fall to the floor, or half-asleep and staring down at a girl as she jabbed me in the chest with a wooden spoon.
One of Irma's hands was braced on the dashboard, and the other hand was fighting for control over the stereo's volume button. Aerosmith's 'What It Takes' blared from the car speakers, set intentionally loud, because I wanted to drown out her voice. Steven Tyler had it fucking right. The lyrics in the song pretty much summed up me and Irma.
I kept turning up the music, loud, and she kept turning it down while shouting, "Varen, we need to talk. You cannot keep avoiding us!" Irma spread her fingers over the volume button and slapped my hand away when I tried to push hers aside to turn the music up again.
Fuck my life.
I gave up and sank back into my leather seat. Taking a puff on my cigar I raked my fingers through my hair.
Dappled sunlight poked through the canopy of leafy-green branches laced with rust-red trees that lined the road weaving through the outer band of the Hemmlok Forest. Much like a compound, two high fences enclosed the estates of the Deniauds, Lyons, and Szarvases who shared the forest between them. One was infused with adamere and the secondary fence was electrified with magic. At the entrance of each estate would be twin monolith towers to keep out anything that swifted.
There was hardly any traffic down the country road as no mortal ventured into our terrain, and if they did, they'd never see anything wrong with the estates' set-up because all they saw was what they wanted—simply an innocent fence and a forest. And no one would have the urge to stop and investigate as the magic softly humming from the electrified fences kept them repelled.
It was almost noon, I should have already struck out to find this hole in the ground Sirro had ordered me to investigate. But I'd lingered at the Deniauds', at first waiting for my younger brother Sander to deliver an array of items I thought my twin and I might need for our venture into the forest, but really, I was loitering, hoping to spot Tabitha. I was worried about her encounter with Sirro and wanted to check if she was alright.
I'd finally eaten, thank gods, showered the filth from me, and changed into armor. Even ready to set out, I found I couldn't leave the Deniauds' until I'd spoken with her.
My conversation with Sirro regarding Tabitha was still tumbling around in my head. We'd met as children on the night that Tabitha lost both her memory and her mother, and frankly, what I learned from Sirro about Tabitha concerned me.
