Page 27

Understanding flickered across her face, followed by relief.

“I’ll be quick,” I added, brushing my thumb once along her cheek before stepping away.

She nodded, and that was enough. I turned and moved, cutting across the yard instead of retracing my steps through the house. The ground shifted underfoot. Something caught my eye. A dirty, faded scrap of what looked like tulle. It was half buried.

I bent down and pulled at it. A few inches of brittle, discolored fabric came free from the dirt. Without thinking, I rubbed the brittle mesh between my fingers and froze. Although it was beyond destroyed, there was enough fabric to understand this was a tutu.

A very small one. Mouse told me about the rescue once. A full body shiver went through me. She was wearing this and only this that night. A thousand memories of her preening in the dance studio while wearing one haunted me. The nervous way she would run her palms across the fabric before opening night of a performance.

How many times had I seen her stomp her foot in frustration or anger? More times than I could possibly count. She stomped this into the ground. It felt sacrilegious to leave it out in the open. I dropped the fabric and stood. Using the toe of my boot, I worked it back into the ground until nothing remained.

I placed a boulder over the top of it and walked away with an enormous lump in my throat. Overgrown grass and weeds gave way, catching on my clothes as I hurried to the car. The castle rose along my right as I rounded toward the front where we had parked. I slowed, reaching the edge of the clearing, my focus shifted automatically without thinking.

After digging through her bag and grabbing what she needed, I jogged the distance back. As I rounded the corner of the castle, pushing through the overgrown yard, I stopped short. Bella now sat on the old white rabbit.

One ear had a huge crack and a chunk missing. Rust stained the brass pole running through its center. The seat that had once fit a frightened little girl now looked absurd beneath the woman she’d become.

Her legs stretched awkwardly as she straddled it. One arm was draped around the rabbit’s neck while her cheek rested against the peeling paint. She looked heartbreakingly small despite it all. I slowed my pace further.

For a moment, I simply watched. The carousel sat motionless beneath the weeds. The smiling faces carved into each one caught my attention again. They just felt wrong. It was eerie, as if the animals were waiting for the rest of the girls to return.

Bella hummed. The melody drifted through the air, low and absent-minded. A song without words. One I didn’t recognize. The sound made me hesitate. A gust of wind swept across the clearing, rattling full branches overhead.

Pollen rose from nearby flowers and swirled in the air. Isabella’s dark hair lifted and danced around her face. Mine wasn’t spared either. Several strands fell into my eyes as the wind picked up again, carrying a mournful whistle through the trees on the opposite side of the lake.

The entire place felt haunted. Just not with ghosts, but with memories and lives stolen. My grip tightened around the sketchbook. I’d only been gone a few minutes. Just long enough to reach the car and grab supplies.

God, I hope she hadn’t slipped down a path I couldn’t follow. After what happened inside Sonny’s room, the possibility was real.

“Princess?”

The humming stopped. Slowly, she lifted her head. Those sad blue eyes found mine. I sighed, and relief washed through me so fast that my knees nearly gave out. She was present. Hurting but here. Thank God. I hadn’t lost her again.

“I’ll draw the map that will lead to our rooms.” Her fingers traced a crack running through the rabbit’s painted mane. “But you must promise me one thing.”

She paused. Waited. The seriousness of her expression immediately put me on edge.

“Anything,” I answered, gulping.

Distance entered her eyes, and it made me uncomfortable. The sun chose that exact moment to hide behind the clouds. It only amplified the feelings of creepiness. Then came her warning.

“Don’t venture past the area shown on the map. There’s a room you don’t need to see. There are two paintings in each of the four rooms. You should be able to carry them. They aren’t very large.”

“Okay.”

“Promise me now, Lev.”

“I promise,” I breathed, wanting to ease the look of terror on her face. “How do we get inside from here?”

“I’ll show you.”

She slipped from the carousel and led me to a hatch door. I realized I would need to work to get it open. Thankfully, I found some tools in a shed off to the side of the house. While she dropped to the ground to draw, I cut away the ivy and grass that blocked the entrance.

It took me longer than it did her. Once I was done, I took a deep breath. The sun had once more appeared, and combined with the mugginess, sweat dripped down my face. I swiped my forearm across to wipe it away and catch my breath.

She rose and picked at my T-shirt, cleaning away some of the debris that stuck to me. I gripped the rusted handle of the hidden hatch door and waited for her to give me the go ahead.

“Lev?”