“She knew my birth mother. They had grown up in an orphanage together and had sworn to friendship. The kind of friendship that blossoms into love.” A hollow laugh escapes me, “Or so the story goes.”
His gaze drops to the photographs in his hand, the proof that my parents exist somewhere. Evidence that the people I longed for, the mother and father Iwaitedfor, have been on this earth while I’ve been trapped in this hell.
“She chose the prince over the villain.”
“And cursed her child the day she was born.”
A cruel, bitter smile hits my lips, “I hid in that godforsaken closet night after night. Waiting for the men to break into my bedroom. Hoping that this time, maybethistime, somebodywill find me. Somebody will swoop in and save me so I can finally go home.”
For five years, I kept track.
Carved a line into the small wooden space to remind myself of how many days I’d been stuck here.
How many days had passed since anyone cared to come look for me.
By the sixth year, I stopped counting.
By the tenth, I stopped hoping.
“She told me it was punishment for my mother’s actions. The punishment I had to reap in order for justice to be served. I wasn’t supposed to survive.” A hollow sounds escapes my throat, “But I kept fighting. Kept pushing to stay alive until Maleficent Drache decided she could no longer deny suchpotential.”
“And kept you as her own.”
“You asked me what was in this vault.” Shaking my head, the last bit of the truth tumbles free, “I came looking foranswers. I came looking for the birthday of a little girl who was stolen from her home. Searching for the names of the parents she never got to know.”
It used to be an ache I longed to fill.
The missing piece of me. The life I never got to live.
But the longer I stayed here, the more I realized there was no other destiny for me. Not after Maleficent brought out the monster that was inside.
And after that... well, there wasn’t anything worth keeping.
“Seven. Seventeen. Three.” His eyes flitter across my face, hunting for a sign of recognition, “She used your birth date as the combination.”
07.17.03.
A huff slips past my lips, “I thought for sure I’d be an Aries.”
Christopher blows out a shaky breath, the sound falling short of laughter.
“It’s a lot to take in.”
“I’ve had a few years to get used to it.”
Another laugh that doesn’t sound much happier than the first.
“Give me another minute and I’ll be caught up.”
“Intruder detected. Initiating lockdown sequence.”
The alarm blares through the room, it’s impeccable timing driving a sword through the tension between us.
Jumping into action, I grab a pillowcase from the bed and start throwing folders inside. The Dragon’s mountain of blackmail and trade secrets gets tossed inside her silk sheets as I race to empty out the rest of the safe.
“She’s really got to upgrade her security. We just robbed her blind andnowthe guards are stomping up here?”
“Let’s worry about that later.”
