Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 76857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
She would be excited to see me—I was certain. Proud of her hybrid daughter who had never let a human die on her watch.
I reminded myself of all of this when nerves came to tangle with guilt. It was only my conditioning making me feel as if leaving the grounds was a betrayal of everything I was raised to believe.
What was my anxiety’s purpose, if it came between me and what I wanted: the fog, my family, my freedom?
Hair twisted atop my head, I had done my best to copy one of the photos in my forbidden magazines. The painstaking process involved every hairpin I might find, yet it was worth the effort.
I would make myself as beautiful as possible, corner a male, and get this over with.
One final pin, followed by a long lingering look to make sure I was acceptable. Hands to the bodice of my black dress, I smoothed the lines as if smoothing my uniform.
Around my breasts, it fit to my form, a full skirt blooming outward at my natural waist. Modest yet feminine. A creation years in the making, encasing my body and ready to serve a higher purpose.
Lipstick was saved for last. Pink and waxy, I dragged it over my pout and felt I looked very pretty indeed.
Pretty enough at least one male would desire me.
And all I needed was one.
Maeve had observed my preparations, watching from her perch on my bed.
Unlike my hand-sewn dress, she had procured a real one. Sprays of pink flowers on a dark-blue background, it was far more vibrant than mine.
Like her.
Blonde curls caught up on top of her head, her swan neck on display, she could have been one of the females in my magazine. And I could not help but love that even if we were risking our lives, the two of us got to enjoy such a feminine moment together.
Never had I shown another sister my black dress.
Never would I have guessed she’d had one of her own.
“You look beautiful, Lorieyn.” Smiling as she looked me over, she added, “But we may have a problem. Neither of us has shoes.”
There was no getting around that issue. It was one thing to sew my dress, but to be caught asking a human to smuggle me pretty footwear was beyond stupid. “I’m quieter with none. Should we approach this correctly, no one should have time to see us long enough to observe our feet.”
Escaping the academy had never been my motivation in the past. I preferred to simply sneak out of the dorm and wander my home at will. The path was not that different, only our end goal. However, I did enjoy the looks of shocked disbelief when I led Maeve through my catalog of tricks.
She had no idea the things I’d been up to in my unruly years. And I will admit, I had an innate need to rebel every time injustice pounded me down.
I was not the kind to be kept in a cage. I would gnaw the bars; I would find a way.
Even if that way caused me harm.
Leading Maeve out of the sealed vault of our dorm and into the academy proper, our escape was uneventful. One moment, we were inside; the next, we were out. Unremarkable, because what student would dare?
Roaming the halls was one thing. Roaming the city?
Unthinkable.
We may have all hated the academy, but where would we go if we left? Home? They would hang our mothers. Friends? We were not allowed communication with graduates.
The consequences were not worth the risk. Not unless your life was forfeit either way.
Mine would end if I had to stay in those walls one more day, trapped where I now knew a male heard my song and thought to make me his.
To be mated and owned by some random boy would end me.
Balmy air smelled of fog creeping over the ground. It hid our feet well, its dampness welcome as we set it swirling in our rush. Delightful, the night embraced us both as we ran down the street and into the unknown.
An hour of darting from shadow to shadow, unsure which way to go, passed before we found something breathtaking. An open reservoir, like a glittering lake banked with a walking path and eateries. A nearby restaurant had strung up twinkling lights, reminding me of things I had seen as a child on the rare occasion my mother had taken me outside of our home. Signs and colors, brightness that was never on display at the academy, all of it was there for any who might walk by.
The air smelled of mouthwatering foods. There was distant music and the hum of indistinct conversations.
Normalcy before me, right there, more alien than I could say.
In the distance, a couple walked hand in hand by the waterside. They laughed and talked, intimate and easy.