Page 78 of Kiss of a Hellish Prince

Who was I to judge?

When Sarah left, I stepped into the shower. I scrubbed every inch of my skin, washing away the dust from crawling under tables and around bookshelves, and the sweat from running, panicking, and other things.

In any other situation, during a shower, I would think about Rune. But I didn’t think about where he touched me, or the way he touched me. I didn’t even think about the delicious things he said to me. All of that would have to wait.

I thought about how out-of-control everything was. How I pretended I had control over my life, my destiny. Then the last few days showed me how ridiculous I was being. And how scared Vivi must be, assuming she was okay.

God, I needed her to be okay.

She was a tough kid. I knew she could handle a lot, but I didn’t know what Sif’s end game was, or where her lines were.

Once I was out of the shower, I dressed in something clean, just a T-shirt and sweatpants.

I checked my phone when my timer went off. No updates from Rune, so I sent him a text.

Just out of the shower. Any updates?

The response came almost immediately.

Rune

Not yet. Get some sleep. I will get you as soon as I have anything.

Well, I tried. I slid my phone into my pocket and went to find Sif’s room.

I wasn’t sure what I expected. A black room with a shrine to Rune and my picture with the eyes scratched out maybe. What I saw instead was perfectly normal, chic even. The walls weren’t black; they were a soft, greyish lavender. There were a few framed photos, mostly of her and her mom, and a few with Evie.

Sif looked happy in these photos, and she was stunning when she smiled. Not at all like the soulless evil harpy who had come at me and Sarah and kidnapped my baby sister. What had happened to this girl that made her turn so bitter?

Was this all Rune’s doing?

Could there be something more?

Did I care?

No. I didn’t.

I might have cared before she took Vivi. Hurting my family was a line that once someone crossed, as far as I was concerned, they didn’t recover from.

I threw the picture of her and Evie across the room, and the glass shattered when it hit the wall.

I tore through the drawers in the desk, throwing random papers that had drawings or printed receipts from Amazon. Nothing useful.

The bookshelf was full of non-fiction books, memoirs, and a few classics. I flipped through the worn pages, looking for hidden notes or plans. If I weren’t already positive Sif was a monster, the dog-eared pages of her books would confirm it.

Nothing there.

Why couldn’t she have made this easy and just had a notebook with The Secret Plans of Demon Barbie written on the cover in Sharpie?

There weren’t many clothes in the dresser. I pulled the few that were there out and left them scattered on the floor. Nothing behind the drawers, nothing under the mattress or the box spring. I even checked behind the mirror and in the bathroom.

There was nothing to give me any kind of clue. In fact, if it weren’t for the pictures, I would have never even known this was Sif’s room to begin with.

I did find a lockbox under the sink in the bathroom.

I took it back into the now destroyed bedroom. I turned the chair back over to sit at the desk and try to pick the lock.

It took me all of two minutes to give up, so I smashed it open, leaving a large dent in the edge of the wood desktop. The contents of the lockbox spilled out on the surface.

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