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

Faydra had first suggested that she adopt Jessica, saying that it was the only way to ensure the girl didn’t go to foster care if something should happen to her dad—but every day had been miserable since that premonition had come true and Faydra had been stuck with a barely preteen girl.
    She stopped crying herself to sleep at night years ago, mostly because there was no point. For someone to hear her muffled sobs and come running to comfort her, someone first had to care.
    But not tonight. Whether it was the better day at school and the validation of a good friend, or just finally having had enough and standing up to Faydra afterwards she didn’t know, but either way, it was a mixture of thrilling power and shocking fear. She had no idea what had come over her, but she liked it .
    The dream.
    Jessica sat upright in her bed, staring around her room with new eyes. Everything looked the same, her room, her clothes, her backpack, all the same as always. But something was different. She was different.
    And the only thing that had changed was the dream, the one that had woken her up in the middle of the night thousands of times drenched in a pool of her own sweat—and a different bodily liquid back when she was in kindergarten, if she wasn’t too ashamed to admit it. Only this time, the whole thing had changed at the end until she was in control, she was the one to be feared.
    I hope I didn’t turn a stupid dream into an excuse for Faydra to punish me tonight. Like I would ever eat someone’s heart. Gross, she thought, flopping back against her pillows and picking at the edge of her sweatshirt mindlessly, a whole new worry creasing her forehead. What if I’m not such a badass after all? She’s probably in the living room right now, plotting her revenge.
    Instead, the house was silent, so quiet that Jessica had to wonder if she was finally home alone. When the gnawing in her stomach couldn’t be silenced with any more sips of water from her bathroom, she opened the door a crack and listened for a long few minutes. There was definitely a voice speaking somewhere in the house, but she couldn’t tell if it was Faydra or the television left on downstairs.
    She crept down the stairs, an odd feeling of déjà vu almost crippling her as she remembered the scene from her dream. On the surface this was completely different, but beneath the part of her brain that held her conscious thought Jessica remembered it all too clearly.
    At the bottom of the stairs, she turned to peer around the worn-smooth oak banister and jumped back when she saw Faydra standing with her back to her, the phone receiver of the old wall phone pressed to her ear. When she dared to look again, she saw Faydra’s knuckles were a bloodless white where she gripped the phone tightly.
    “And what do you expect me to do about it?” her stepmother hissed into the phone, cupping her hand in front of her mouth. “I’m telling you, she’s strong!” There was a brief pause. “I don’t know, maybe it’s all her stupid running every day! I told you I should have taken her out of school after that coach came by here!”
    Jessica stiffened. She’d suspected Faydra was talking about her, but she thought maybe she was just bitching to a friend of hers about her day. This didn’t sound like girlfriends complaining over a glass of wine at the end of the night. This was serious, darker.
    “That’s the best you can come up with? And what exactly am I supposed to do with her body?” Faydra shrieked before remembering to be quiet. Jessica froze, her breath trapped in her lungs until she thought she might fall over. When she managed to gulp a chestful of air, she turned and tiptoed back up the stairs, wanting nothing more than to run but knowing it would give her away.
    She made it to her room before panicking. Standing for only a minute with her back pressed tightly against her bedroom door—like that would save her if Faydra was determined to “hide the