Stolen Hearts: Book 1 (Grim's Labyrinth Series) Read Free Page A

swallow. She’d rather have been hated than pitied.
    The rest of the day went well enough, if anyone could think of high school as a good thing. She wanted nothing more than to get through the day, get home unnoticed, and hide out in her room. Just like every other day.
    Instead, Faydra had other plans for her, starting from the moment she stepped foot on the edge of their yard. It was like that woman had a sixth sense for when Jessica was close by. Surely to goodness she couldn’t actually smell Jessica, like some deranged watchdog.
    Only today, Jessica was the one who could finally sense Faydra instead of the other way around. It wasn’t any kind of sensory experience she could pinpoint, more like she knew without even understanding it herself that Faydra was nearby and ready to pounce. Those seconds of warning gave her all the time she needed to prepare a defense, another skill she’d never known she needed.
    Just as she rounded the mailbox at the edge of the street, a shove from her left—one that should have knocked her to the ground but instead barely moved her—made her wince before turning and blocking her stepmother’s slap with her forearm. The sudden motion dazed Faydra for a second. She stared at Jessica in wide-eyed disbelief before narrowing her eyes and letting her venom flow through her veins.
    “How dare you raise your hand to me, you little bitch!” Faydra screamed for the sake of the neighborhood. She lunged at Jessica again, her arms outstretched to grab her by the back of her sweatshirt, but once again the younger girl was too fast for her, staying one move ahead. Faydra couldn’t help but show her surprise.
    “Get away from me, Faydra. I’m not putting up with you right now!” Jessica turned to go in the house, ignoring the painful tingling running up her neck that reminded her how foolish it was to turn her back on Faydra. Her instincts were once again right. Her stepmother kicked her legs out from under her, gloating for only a second as she stood over Jessica before finally straddling her and looking down on her.
    “Get up!” she hissed, grabbing Jessica by her backpack strap and pulling her up before tossing her aside with more force than a woman her age should have been able to. But instead of rolling to the ground and trying to scramble away from another barrage of abuse like she usually did, Jessica moved through her stepmother’s violent shove and continued forward until she was standing, turning defiantly and shoving her hands down at her sides as she glared.
    “I told you I’m not in the mood for this! Now I’m going inside!” Jessica heard her voice come out of her mouth but didn’t recognize it. The anger at having taken the years of abuse without stepping up to defend herself fueled her fury even more. “Don’t even think about putting your hands on me again, either, because I’ll make sure you’re sorry!”
    Jessica stormed towards the house, the strange sensation of warning absent this time. Sure enough, when she reached the front walk and turned towards the front door, she could see Faydra still standing where Jessica had left her, her hands on her hips, pure rage plainly distorting her face even from this distance.

Chapter 3
    Dinner would be the real test. Faydra had always insisted Jessica cook them dinner as part of her daily chores, but maybe the woman had finally gotten smart enough to realize that she was done pushing the girl around. Or maybe she was actually afraid of being poisoned by whatever Jessica did to her food. It would serve her right for the furry bagel that had been breakfast.
    I can’t even hope that she’s not sitting in the living room, plotting her revenge, Jessica thought to herself. Instead of misery, though, a new feeling had replaced all the hurt that she’d felt for the past six years, the agonizing time span since her father had died. Not that Faydra had ever been loving towards her—it had been a shock to everyone involved when