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Natalie’s face peered back at me with a wide smile and her brown, puppy-dog eyes as she motioned for me to open the window.

I slid the frosty glass open, letting the cool winter air rush inside. “What do you want, Natalie?” I grumbled. “It’s late.”

Natalie ignored my question and maneuvered her slim body through my window, her chocolate curls falling around her face as she hauled herself through. I stepped back to give her more room.

“Sure,” I muttered, “come on in. You can use the front door, you know. As the one person who is allowed in my life, I don’t think Theia would mind seeing you on the security camera.”

It wasn’t until she was inside that I noticed her skin-tight mini dress and ridiculously tall high heels.

I shook my head before she could even speak. “Don’t even ask,” I blurted.

“Come on, Lyra!” she argued. “We’reofficiallycollege graduates now. Doesn’t that call for some sort of celebration?”

“No way. Theia will freak if she finds out. You go have all the fun you can, but leave me out of it.”

“But look at this!” Natalie reached into her purse and pulled out a small envelope. She opened it up and handed me the card inside.

You’re Invited!

Night Raven is hosting a special night for college graduates! All graduates are welcome to come drink, dance, and have a night they’ll never forget.

Use this invitation as your ticket inside.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Natalie continued as I pushed the invitation back into her hands. “Night Raven never hosts events like this. We have to go!”

Night Raven?I tried to think of why that name sounded familiar, and then it hit me. I grimaced. “Night Raven, as in thedemonbar? Seriously, Nat?”

She gave me a pointed look. “All the more reason why it’s so exclusive! This is a good thing for us, Lyra!”

Night Raven was the demon hotspot in town. From what Natalie had told me in the past, it was essentially the hideout for the supernatural creatures. To any humans, the bar would look completely normal.

But Natalie and I weren’t lucky enough to be regular humans. Both of our mothers were goddesses, which put us in that small category of people who knew things that the humans didn’t—including the fact that Night Raven would be crawling with demons.

“Demons aren’t as evil as we’ve been told,” Natalie emphasized. “They blend right in with the rest of us. You won’t even notice them, I swear it. Besides, my mom told me she and Theia are gone for a few days. The timing is perfect! Please, Lyra?” She pursed her full lips, giving me the best pout she could muster. “This might be our only chance.”

I tried not to let my anger take over. Of course, it was possible that Nat and I could sneak out through the window, have a great night without anybody ever finding out who I was, and then sneak back in through the window before my mother noticed I had left.

But the other possibility? The possibility of my mother finding out, realizing I had been lying to her, and then deciding to take her punishments out on me once again?

It wasn’t worth it.

Natalie could beg all she wanted to. The fear of going back to that place was what kept me in this apartment for the last four years.

It wasn’t going to stop now.

But even with my confident answer, even with the fear and the memories andher, I heard a voice. It was that same voice that had been creeping into my mind for some time now. At first, it had been easy to push away. To decline. To ignore. But over time, the words grew louder and louder.

And I actually started to listen to them.

Stop letting fear control you, the voice said.She’ll control you forever if you let her.

Similarly enough, Natalie had made the same argument. “College is over,” she pointed out. I snapped my attention back to her, biting my lip. “If you want to sit back and let your entire life pass you by, fine. But I’m trying to help you, Lyra. I’ve seen you shrivel away in this apartment for years. You aren’t getting any younger.”

I shoved my fingernails into the palms of my hands.No, no, no.Don’t listen to that voice. Don’t listen to it.

It was a dangerous, poisonous thought—that I could befree.

Those thoughts didn’t belong to me. They would never be mine.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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