Page 25 of Even Angels fall
There is a semi-transparent bionic curtain that circles it to avoid any water to go outside and it feels like it’s the perfect way to balance the historical feel of the room and technology in a way that actually protects the room.
I slip out of my clothes, being extra careful not to lose or damage what Léandre and Ariël gave me.
A media key is what Ariël slipped inside my hand and I’ve never been so happy to know that there’s already a computer in my room and I’ll be able to read it without having to ask for one or having to find one around.
What Léandre gave me is a bit different. And from another time.
I’m staring at what looks like a first edition of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”.
Why did Léandre let me sweat on something this precious?
I open the book and… no, that’s not a first edition.
It looks like one but it’s only a copy, and I feel relieved. This one has been published in 2024, and yes, it’s old, but it’s not a first edition.
I turn a few pages, and that’s when I see it. The pages are numbered weirdly, as if some of the pages are in the book twice.
I turn one way and the other, but I can’t see any difference.
What were you thinking, Léandre?
I close the book and slip the media key from Ariël between the pages.
I don’t want anyone to find them while I’m in the shower. I know that no one is guarding my door, and that they did everything not to make me feel like I’m a prisoner. But we’re all shifters, and they don’t need to have someone at my door to know when I’ll be in the shower. I suspect that there’s someone close enough to hear whatever I do in my room, and I shouldn’t assume that they won’t search my bag when they can.
I try to think where I could hide the book and finally settle for under the mattress.
It’s not really a safe place to hide something, but they would probably start by searching my bag, and since I have three daggers, and as many bottles of poison in there, they would have enough to focus on.
Now, let’s test that bathtub.
I’d like to say that I enjoyed that bath to the fullest and that I took the time to take care of myself, but I didn’t.
First, because I felt a tiny bit on edge.
And second, because my stomach grumbled as if I hadn’t eaten in days and there was no way I could focus on anything with the loud noise that came from it.
So, I dressed again, picking amongst the clothes I brought with me and wondering if it would be alright to ask Elhyor or Brice for more clothes. By their respective behaviors, it would probably be easier to ask Brice, but I keep that in a corner of my mind.
I was only authorized to bring a backpack, so it’s not like I have a shit ton of clothes with me, but the fact Elhyor refused the wedding, or at least said he wasn’t sure there would be one, begs the question of what I’m going to do here.
It also makes me wonder what my father is going to do when he realizes that I didn’t get married today and that, by consequence, Elhyor is still alive.
I don’t know how long he’ll leave me before he plans something else. Like bombing Notre Dame, because he would be the kind to destroy something if he can’t have it.
I shudder at the thought.
No, he wouldn’t dare bomb it with me possibly inside, right?
That’s why he got Anne to put a tracker on me. He wouldn’t do that.
13
Angélique
After my little freak out, I don’t have time to digThe Hunchbackfrom under my bed before there’s a knock on my door.
I expect it to be Brice, or even Elhyor, but I’m greeted by someone my age, with a wide smile.
