Page 440 of Once Upon a Fable

Her house was homey but stark.

It was yet another thing I didn’t know about her. I knew she was kind and caring and forgiving to a fault, but I didn’t know what sort of person she was in this world. A spender or a saver? A partier or a recluse?

What did she do during her time off?

What lucky people got to hang out with her while I’d been rotting away in my valley?

My head pounded as the urge to know everything made me groan.

Whispers of the ghosts I’d left behind tried to fill my ears.

She’ll realize what you are soon enough, Kas.

You’re nothing. That’s why you were taken from this world and given to Fables. You’re worthless without that place.

Spinning on my heel, I turned my back on those lies.

I might not be whole yet, but I wasn’t so badly cracked that I believed them anymore. Jareth had helped with that. He’d pushed me into healing, and Gemma was the glue keeping me together.

I was mending.

I was grateful.

I would evolve.

This was my new life now.

And I’m not going to waste it.

Surveying the mess in Gem’s house, I blinked back tiredness and began to earn my keep.

I cleaned.

I cleaned until her house sparkled and exhaustion leaped on my back.

I cleaned until my mind felt clearer, calmer.

And only once I was satisfied that the mess was tidy did I stumble to the couch, grab her delicious-smelling pillow, and land face-first into unconsciousness.

* * * * *

“Any last words?” My hand held the knife to some rapist’s throat, poised to slit him from ear to ear.

“Yeah, tell that Nyx chick that she’ll never be free of me.”

I looked over my shoulder at Nyx.

She stood with her legs braced and arms crossed. Blood trickled down her cheek, and tears danced in her eyes, but she wasn’t cowering, wasn’t running. She was done being their possession, and I was so fuckingproud of her.

“You’re wrong, asshole. I’ve already forgotten you,” she hissed. Her eyes latched onto mine, glowing with death. “Do it. Kill that son of a bitch so we can walk in the sunlight.”

My hand sliced.

The guy howled.

Warm copper splashed my face and throat.

Rising from my squat, I caught a glimpse of myself in a blackened mirror.