Page 84 of The Starling and the Hatter

He shuffled closer to the door. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you.”

I swallowed.

“I was angry when you left.” The words didn’t surprise me, but the tone was not what I expected from him. There should have been vitriol in his voice, but instead he was just…musing? “I hated that you took the money, the brooch. But I also couldn’t help being just a little proud of you.”

A tiny breath sucked past my lips, his words feeding the grain of hope inside me.

“You did exactly what I’d been trying to get you to do for years,” he said. “You stole to save yourself.”

I nodded, still staring down the corridor, refusing to face him fully.

He let out a dark chuckle. “Good for you.”

I heard and felt him move back, away from the door, away from me. So I pulled my feet from the floor and kept walking.

I knew he was only proud because I’d acted like he would—selfish and self-serving—and those were things he valued. But despite how twisted that pride was, I held fast to the bare facts. My brother had said he was proud of me.

26

Elise

I climbed the stairs out of the dungeon, surprised by the light pouring through the palace windows. It was morning?

I made my way down the spacious but dim corridor with a silent guard walking at my side. I was led to a door, but it wasn’t the main palace entrance that we’d entered last evening. The guard opened the door and I stepped out into the side gardens where the acrobats had been playing croquet last night. As I stood on the steps, trying to get my bearings and figure out which way would lead out, the door clicked shut. I looked behind me and found myself alone, the guard having retreated inside.

I looked out on the gardens that held long shadows in the rising sun, trying to see the expansive grounds as freedom, but instead the shadows seemed menacing. That is until I noticed a man pacing back and forth near the front entrance. A familiar man.

My chin quivered as hope bubbled up. “Hatch?” I called out, hardly believing that it really could be him standing there. Had he stayed all night? For me?

His head whipped in my direction. “Lisey!” He sprinted toward me, covering the distance in no time at all, his body crashing into mine and picking me up off my feet.

“They let you go?” he said in my ear as my feet dangled above the ground. “You’re free to go? We can go?”

“Yes,” I said as I hugged him fiercely in return.

“Good.” He set me down, pulling back so that he could see my face. He carefully pushed my hair back, his expression darkening. “There’s blood on your face.”

I nodded. “Daggon…he got out of his cell…he grabbed me.” I shook my head.

Hatcher ran his hands over my hair and kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry, Lisey. I’m sorry.”

“I’m all right,” I tried to reassure him, though the words were shaky.

He moved back and ran his hands over my shoulders and arms as if ensuring that I was otherwise unharmed. “Let’s get out of here and never come back.” He wrapped an arm around my back and propelled me toward the main drive.

“Gladly” was my weak reply.

He dropped his arm from around me and grabbed my hand instead so that he could quicken his pace. We walked hand in hand, our steps hurried, though we did our best not to run.

“They found Robert.” The words sounded dazed, even to my own ears. “I don’t know how, but they—”

“I found him,” he said, cutting his eyes over to me. “He was hiding in the maze all night.” His words and his steps were clipped.

“You found him?” I asked in awe.

He nodded.

I stopped and pulled him around to face me so that I could throw myself at him, hugging him fiercely. “Thank you, Hatcher.” The words were wildly inadequate.