Nelle stood on the balcony. Tucked under her arm was a precious board game.
“That’s my fucking Clue set!” I bellowed, storming toward her.
She quickly jabbed the hand holding a red figurine over the railing and wiggled the game piece, taunting me. “Take one more step and Colonel Mustard gets it!”
I groaned, halting at the opening in the wall, tugging at my hair with both hands. “It’s Miss Scarlett.”For fuck’s sake!
Her gaze darted to Miss Scarlett pinched between her fingers. “Huh?” She frowned before shrugging nonchalantly. “Whatever.”
“It’s a godsdamned collector’s item.” I pleaded, freaking out. I held my hands out in submission as I approached cautiously. “Worth thousands. I don’t want a single piece lost.”
“Then let me out of here, or else I’ll fling it all, including pretty Miss Scarlett, all over your courtyard. Trust me, you’ll never ever findallthe pieces…guaranteed.”
I hesitated.
“You can’t keep me locked up here.”
“I sure as hells can.”
“Let me out.”
“Not gonna happen.”
“All I’ve had is these walls to look at. It’s driving me mad.”
No fucking kidding. Me too.
She fingered Zrenyth’s collar. “What do you think I can do? Run away?”
Fuck with me further. That’s what she could do.
I glanced at Miss Scarlett held haphazardly over the edge and gave up. I waved my hand, my stomach sinking, indicating for her to toss the piece over the side.
Then Nelle’s whole demeanor shifted and softened. She sighed, pulling Miss Scarlett back to safety. “I promise to behave. I just need to be able to stretch my legs properly, not pace around and around in this cage.” She slipped the game of Clue from under her arm, tucking the red piece inside, before looking up at me beneath her lashes. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”
When I remained silent, she walked closer to halt right in front of me, the edge of the Clue game resting on her thighs. Craning her head back, she blinked up at me. “Are you going to take this cord off and set me free?”
She was wearing a sundress in soft cream. It was too big for her, perfect for a girl who couldn’t be harnessed like a wyrm. It had buttons running down the front and capped sleeves, and a cut to the fabric with tiers of layers that gave the dress an old-fashioned, antique look. She looked as if she was from another time period. A princess trapped in a tower.
“No.” Not a lie and not a truth. My answer was a gray area, the place between black and white, good and bad. Like my name.Like me. I resided in the shadows, as Nelle had rightly said when we were in the woodlands.
“Here’s the thing…” she replied, tilting her head and running her gaze over my face, searching for what, I wasn’t sure. “Your family can’t do anything to me. They need me in one piece to sell at the Witches Ball. I’m not particularly worried about your family. What can they do that would be worse than what the Butcher will do to me?”
I closed my eyes, reminding myself to breathe, just breathe.
“If I’m going to die, then I want to live, even if it is confined to this estate and only for a few months.Pleaselet me out of the tower.”
I swallowed thickly. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
I nodded my head, opening my eyes to see her beaming up at me.
I shrugged. “Let me shower first.”
“Ugh,” she grouched, her shoulders slumping as she walked away. She tossed the game onto one end of the couch while flopping down on the other, the leather groaning beneath her sudden weight. She looked sullenly over at me. “You take forever in there.”
I shucked off my sparkly pink boots. I still hadn’t gotten around to ordering new shoes. “I’ll use my Crowther superpowers to move faster.”
