Page 2 of Pretty Monsters

"You're hardly trapped. I'm sure you want for nothing. You've always been taken care of," I tell her. Even I can hear the bitterness creep into my words.

"My cage is pretty, sure, but it's still a cage. I've never had a friend not chosen by my father. I can't go out without a chaperone. I'm eighteen years old, and I'm still babysat like a toddler. You say I'm taken care of, but really I've been stored away, and I still don't know what for. My parents have made it more than clear they don't want anything to do with me."

Every second I'm near her I'm at risk. She might be trapped, but the difference between us is if I step outside of my boundaries, there is a hole somewhere in the woods for me. She is more valuable to Damian Blackthorn than I'll ever be.

"Go back to your room, princess. It's temporary anyway, you'll be back at school soon enough."

I don't spare her another glance, and run off into the woods. The house suddenly feels too small and far too dangerous for me to go back to.

* * *

Deep in the woods,where briars grow freely and the gnarled tree branches cast spooky shadows sits an abandoned cabin. At one time it was probably someone's hunting cabin, but now it sits empty in Damian Blackthorne's woods falling further into disrepair every year.

I've made some repairs to the roof, which doesn't leak nearly as bad now, and I've replaced rotted floor boards. It wouldn't stand against a strong storm, but it does provide a drier place away from rain and shelter from the wind

I'd stay here and never come back if someone wouldn't eventually come looking for me. As it is now, there's only one other person besides myself who uses this place as a temporary escape. Lucien Blackthorne, prince of the Blackthorne empire himself.

The closer I get to my sanctuary, the more I realize I will have to share it with his highness. A large bonfire crackles in the night, and embers float away from the kindling as it lights up the night.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me you had a sister?" I shout when I'm close enough to see the icy blue of his eyes.

The girl, who's name I never asked, has the same look as Lucien. They both have thick dark hair and pale skin, and both have piercing blue eyes. It’s a striking combination you don’t see often, and I should have noticed the connection immediately.

"Hello to you too, dickface." Lucien remains seated on the stump he's using as a seat around the fire drinking from a can of beer.

"Sister, fucker, why didn't you tell me you had one?" I persist.

He tips his can back, draining the contents, before crushing it and throwing the empty can into the fire. "What difference does it make? I barely know her. My dad keeps her locked up when she's home, and that's very rare. She's been away with a nanny until she was old enough to send to boarding school. I think there's something wrong with her."

Unless innocence is a debilitating condition, I don't think we are thinking of the same girl. "Why do you think something is wrong with her?" I grab a beer out of his cooler without asking him.

He shrugs. "Because my parents don't seem to want anything to do with her. Even I'm not allowed to talk to her. I've only seen her a few times. More often when we were kids. She seemed fine back then, but once I got closer to twelve I've seen less and less of her. Before that I saw her a few times a year."

I toss my own empty can into the fire and stare at it as the flames blacken the aluminum. "You've got a fucked up family."

"You don't have one at all," he says without any hint of anger or irritation.

Lucien never broadcasts what he's feeling or thinking. That is assuming he even has feelings.

"Family and friends lead to attachments, and that's a weakness," I finally reply.

"We've got a trip." Next to him is his leather duffel bag. He reaches inside and throws me a large manilla envelope.

I set it down next to me. It doesn't matter what it says. I'll do as I'm told, like always.

"Don't you want to look at it?" he asks.

"Does it matter?" I shoot back.

He shrugs. "I made the same demands I always do."

I nod. He and I are cut from the same cloth. I can follow orders without questioning them, because Lucien has already made sure the very few scruples I have remain intact.

"What time do we leave?"

Lucien looks at his watch. "We've got to go early to take care of this one. We've got to time everything right, because the security system is a bitch, but there's a vulnerability."

"Let me guess, when someone is leaving or entering the premises?"

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