- MARCELLA -
I’m at Aelia’s window. The farthest away from Lyra’s. If I can persuade her to leave with us, I’ll have an ally who can help me convince the rest of the women, too.
My best chance at getting inside the rooms won’t be from the hallways. Not when I would have to knock if they’re all locked. My stomach drops at the thought of scaling the castle walls to try and get to every woman.
What if they refuse to listen? What if rather than agreeing to leave, they decide to stay? Decide to alert the rest of the castle?
I push the thoughts out of my mind. Because I don’t have time for it.
Aelia’s lying in her bed, her back to me. Sucking in a breath, I tap the glass gently with my foot. And wait.
Nothing.
Grumbling, I tap a bit harder.
Her head shoots up from the pillow, staring at the wall in front of her. Tapping the window again, she swivels. Eyes rounding even more when she realizes someone is hanging outside of her window. She scrambles out from her sheets, never taking her eyes off me as she races toward her door.
“No!” I hiss. “It’s me! Marcella!” I drop to kneel on the ledge, my thighs screaming at the amount of strength it takes to keep me from slipping, my fingers aching with the pressure of holding onto the ledge above. Bringing my face closer to the windowpane, I hit the glass with my forehead.
As she’s reaching out for her door, she drops her hand. Lips parting when she recognizes who’s at her window. Tossing a quick glance over to her bathroom, then the door, she then strides for the window. Unlatching it, she swings it open.
“What are you doing?” she hisses.
I grunt as I try to quietly crawl in, and she grabs my forearm to steadyme. As I drop onto the floor, I stand to face her. “We need to leave. Tonight. Now.”
“Are you out of your mind?” She glances around my shoulder to the window. “How much did you drink tonight?”
I grab her wrist. “I’m not drunk. And there’s not much time. Lyra told me?—”
“You spoke to Lyra?” She squints in confusion. “When?”
“I just left her room. Our quarrel was just a ruse. She and I are friends.” I tug her toward the window. “We need to leave.”
“Where is she?” She leans around to glance behind me out the window.
“She…is going to meet us in her room and we’ll all leave together.”
She narrows her eyes at me, pressing her heels down so I can’t pull her further.
I tighten my grip on her wrist. “We don’t have a lot of time. We need to alert all the other women. Willow didn’t run off, she was murdered here in the halls while we slept. You know that after Lyra told you about the earring. And—” I swallow, pushing through my hesitation. “Aelia, King Cyrus is not a man. He’s a…a creature. None of us are safe here, so we must leave at once?—”
She pulls her wrist out of my grasp. “No, I’m not leaving.”
“Are you insane?” I hiss. “Did you not hear everything I just said?”
“You haven’t spoken to Lyra or me in almost two days, then you almost fight her, and now you break into my room in the middle of the night expecting me to follow you? No.” She steps back. “As far as I know…you’re a Briarstone here to shave off the competition.”
“The reason I couldn’t speak with you two is because LadyBethanythreatened me.”
She flinches. Asking slowly, “Lady Bethany? Threatened you with what?”
“She threatened that if I spoke to either of you one more time, she’d have me killed. And after I saw her collecting the blood of the other women who were‘dismissed’and so-called‘sick’, I wouldn’t put it past her.”
She doesn’t flinch. Only stares back at me.
Narrowing my eyes, I step closer to her. “You don’t seem…surprised.”
Her eyes widen as I prowl forward, then backpedals to keep space between us.
