Burning in hell.
“I want him to rot in jail,” she said, voice hard. “Maybe that’s asking too much.”
I worked my mouth. “I know the servants keep evidence… But even still. It’s Beryl Crowne. He owns every small piece of law enforcement.”
I had one coin left. Maybe I would use it to try to lock up Beryl Crowne for good.
Her eyes blazed. “You have to try. We have to try—”
The door beyond us opened, and we both turned as the four Horsemen came out.
A tattoo.
The Crowne family crest was tattooed bright on Grim’s inner wrist. The Horsemen and the Crownes were now irrevocably tied together.
“Does this make us family now, Rich Girl? Should I call you sis?”’
She worked her jaw.
I didn’t even have a second to contemplate what that meant, or what else Gemma had given up.
Gemma stood off the wall. “Go save my brother.”
Everyone looked to me.
“You don’t have to do this, Story,” Lottie said softly.
“I’m tired of being a pawn,” I said. “I can’t keep being the girl behind the girl. I’ve spent so much time hiding. Hiding my body. My hopes. My dreams. My love.” I paused. “I don’t want to hide anymore.”
Everyone knew my name, and I was hiding more than ever. Hiding under fiction and fantasy.
I took a deep breath and turned the phone’s camera to face me. I’d always been stuck on what happened when the prince chose someone like me. But what happened if I decided I was worth choosing?
Before we faced the final dragon, I had my own to slay.
I would tell the truth.
The ugly.
Raw.
Jagged.
Truth.
Sixty-Nine
Dear world,
You don’t know my name, but you think you know me.
You called me Cinderella.
You called me slut.
You’ve read my letters for months and cheered me on, all the while tearing the real me down.
Do you want to know the real me?