Page 49 of The Shadow Fae Rhapsody
Make me human.
The words snap me out of my despair. That’s right. I made a promise. I can’t die here in this stupid house. I’m going to come home to Svenn. I’m going to break his curse.
I can do this. Come on.
If I can just lose the fae for one second, I can hide, and he’ll never find me. Not even Svenn with his enhanced hearing as a Strigon could catch me and my silent feet. I open the lid to one of the large pots lining the wall and sneak inside.
“She’s over here!”
I blanch at the shrilling sound of the voice.
What?
“The girl is on the fifth floor!” Another joins in, revealing my position. “She’s trying to hide in the giant urn.”
Then dozens of them speak simultaneously. “There! She’s hiding here, Master Landon.”
Cold fear slithers down my spine. I was sure no one saw me. I peer outside the pot. Looking around the passage.
No one is around.
“The girl is in the brown pot!”
There is no use in hiding now. I release a frustrated sigh and climb out of the urn.
“She’s getting away!”
I look around for the source of the strange voices. They’re coming from the walls.
No.
Not walls.
All the paintings hanging along the hallway are moving. They’re all snitching on me.
I take one in my hand, a portrait of a court jester in colorful clothes. He has an adorable face and wears a green hat with mismatched red and yellow socks.
“She’s taken me hostage with her dirty hands,” he cries desperately. “Someone help!”
“Shut up!” I shake the stupid thing. “How do I get out of here?”
His red painted lips pull into a wide grin. “I’ll never talk. I’ll never betray Master Landon.”
I draw out my dagger to scratch the painting.
The jester’s mouth pops open, fear filling his face. “All right! All right, I’ll talk. You need to turn left at the next corner. There’s a window at the end of the corridor.”
“How do I know you’re not lying?” I ask him.
His brows furrow with confusion. “A fae can’t lie.”
He’s right…
I dash towards his given direction in a heartbeat.
“Wait, you’re taking me with you?” The jester gasps with disbelief. “I gave you what you want. Now put me down!”
I shut out his annoying voice and continue charging faster and faster until my legs burn. Dappled sunlight glints on the golden frame of the large window panel at the end of the long corridor. The painting was telling the truth after all.
