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What were they doing to my princess?
Chapter Thirty-Four
Josie
I shut the door behind me and locked it. Fern stood awkwardly in the middle of my room as I paced back and forth.
None of this was right. I’d spent the entire night with my family. A family I’d known my entire life, and yet I felt like a stranger. Maybe it was the amount of crap I’d gone through since this happened. Or maybe I was realizing how selfish my parents were.
They didn’t care about Kellan. The man they hired to save my life. I guess his life didn’t matter in the meantime. I’d reluctantly eaten. Even though my stomach was empty, it felt like there was acid in my throat. I walked over to my window and pushed the glass doors open. The breeze hit my skin, and I took a deep breath.
“Josie,” Fern whispered behind me.
I looked over at her worried face.
“Are you okay? You look ill.”
I swiped my palm across my sweaty forehead and chuckled humorlessly. “I am worried that my parents aren’t going to let me go back, Fern. I have to go back. I have to save Kellan.”
She smiled sweetly and pulled me in for a hug. “Let’s get a plan together.”
The floorboard creaked from outside my door. I tiptoed over, pressed my ear against the wood and listened.
After several minutes, it creaked again. I gestured toward the bathroom and met her inside.
Fern watched as I turned on the shower and sink. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Someone in this house stole Deidamia’s spindle. Someone in this house doesn’t want me to give it back. We have to be careful who we trust.”
Fern wrapped her arms around her ratty clothes. “You don’t trust your parents?”
A pang of guilt slammed into my chest. I wanted to trust the people that raised me. How could I? Both of them were acting clueless to why Deidamia would take me.
“No,” I answered honestly. “I don’t know who to trust. The only other people that are here regularly are Melissa and Luther since they let Jenny go.”
Fern cleared her throat. “It could be them.”
“It could,” I said, biting my nail. “I think we need to search the house tonight. We’ll wait until everyone is asleep, and we’ll go from there.”
Fern looked nervous. “What if they catch us? Will they throw us out?”
“No. If they do, we can find somewhere to go.” Sighing, I pushed my hair from my face. “Would you like a shower?” Fern looked excited when I gestured toward the shower. “I’ll get you some clothes to change into. The towels and washcloths are there. Use anything you need.”
She seemed giddy looking at the shower and accepting the clothes I gave her. I shut the door and felt an uneasy feeling settle over me.
My gaze shifted toward the door. Carefully, I lowered myself down to look underneath the door. There was nothing there. Whoever had been listening had left.
I rolled over to my back and stared at the vaulted ceiling. There were only a few places inside the house that could hide a magical spindle. The attic and the basement.
Both of them gave me the creeps.
I laid there on the hardwood floor until Fern came out thirty minutes later. She smelled like my bath wash and looked relaxed. “That’s an amazing invention. I want one for back home.”
I pushed myself onto my elbows. “My parents are in the bed by 10 PM. I’ve snuck out plenty of times to know they’re out by then. That's when we'll start searching.”
Fern nodded hurriedly. “Are you afraid of what we’ll find?” she asked.
I stood to my feet, realizing I was afraid that it was one of my parents. “I’m more afraid I won’t make it back to Kellan. People are disappointing,” I said. “But I don’t want to be one of those people.”
