My imagination did not do you justice. You are beautiful.
Yours,
Nick
P.S. Are the other girls at the orphanage taking your food? I’ve included a basket of things for you to keep in your room, just in case.
Amelia stared from the letter in her hand to the giant basket of food sitting on her desk, unsure which oddity in his letter to address first.
He said he’d seen her, but how? She always assumed he used magic to deliver the letters, but maybe he slipped in and out of her room without her knowing? No, that couldn’t be it because he claimed to not have seen her before now. Nothing about Nick and his letters made sense.
She glanced down at her body. Why did he think she wasstarving? Once again, she had the uneasy feeling that the letters weren’t meant for her. After two years, he still hadn’t used her name.
The only thing giving her hope was that he always wished her a happy birthday. She didn’t know when the other girls’ birthdays were—birthdays weren’t celebrated at the orphanage since some of the girls didn’t know theirs—and she didn’t want to ask, afraid of the answer.
She stared at his signature.Nick. “Who are you?”
The paper crinkled slightly in her hand when she pressed the letter to her chest, hating that she couldn’t keep it.
Nick wrote to her every month, and a few months ago, she’d held onto one of the letters and tried to copy down what it said, but it’d been plucked from her fingers and disappeared into thin air before she’d finished the first line.
Sighing, she stared at the paper despairingly. “Can’t I keep this one?” she whispered, hoping the letter-stealing magic would take pity on her. Her finger traced over the words she’d never forget.
He called me beautiful.
In her peripheral, she saw something, orsomeone,flicker in and out of existence. She blinked, sure she’d imagined the teenage boy who looked at her over his shoulder before disappearing again, leaving the letter behind.
6
SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY
Letter #30
Happy Birthday, Love,
I saw you in the woods with your bow last week. You’re getting better.
Watching you walk through town with my gift strapped across your back made me feel like everyone knew you were mine (even if they didn’t). It made me want to find something you could always wear… like a necklace.
I thought one that said MATE, or your name would be perfect, but Ora said you would hate it. She helped me choose this one instead.
Wear it for me, little mate.
Yours,
Nick
P.S. I put a sweater in the bag for that little fox ofyours. He looks cold.
Amelia held up the gold necklace and stared at the trout pendant dangling from the chain.
She hated Ora.
“Did she like the necklace?” Rennick asked Finn, eager to hear her reaction.
Finn raised a brow. “I don’t wait around to watch her. When she finishes, the letter, I take it and leave.”
Rennick threw his hands up. “How am I supposed to know if she liked it or not?” It was the wrong thing to say because Finn looked mad.
