I backed away.
“Did the prince send you?”
Rhode's expression changed.
“No.”
That single word terrified me more than anything.
He helped me out of the cellar and led me through the silent house.
My stepmother and Claire were sitting at the dining table.
Both were alive.
Both were crying.
Anna was gone.
“Where is she?” I whispered.
Rhode looked toward the empty staircase.
“Princess Anna arrived at the palace yesterday.”
He placed something on the table.
A glass slipper.
Except this one was cracked.
Dark liquid filled the inside.
“She wasn't the girl at the ball,” Rhode said.
“I know.”
“No. You don't understand.”
He lowered his voice.
“Neither was the first girl.”
I stared at him.
Rhode explained that every generation, Prince Adrian held the same ball.
Every generation, a girl appeared.
Every generation, a glass slipper was left behind.
And every generation, the girl disappeared.
“The prince isn't searching for love,” Rhode whispered. “He's searching for witnesses.”
My blood turned cold.
The Chancellor had discovered Adrian's secret.
The royal family had been using an ancient curse for centuries.
The glass slippers were not made of glass.
They were made from something else.
Something that could preserve memories.
Anyone who wore them remembered things they were never supposed to see.
Like murder.
Like the hidden bodies beneath the palace.
Like the previous princesses.
Anna had entered the palace wearing my slipper.
That meant Adrian would discover she wasn't the witness.
But eventually, he would find me.
A loud knock echoed from the front door.
Everyone froze.
Rhode extinguished the lantern.
Then Prince Adrian's voice entered the darkness.
“Cinderella.”
He knew my name.
“I know you're here.”
Something scratched slowly across the wooden door.
My stepmother began sobbing.
Adrian laughed softly.
“Come out.”
Then he added:
“Or I'll bring Anna back.”
The entire house went silent.
A second later, something hit the front door from the outside.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
My stepmother screamed.
Because Anna's voice came through the door.
“Mother.”
Then:
“Please don't let him take me again.”
CHAPTER 3: THE LAST DANCE
I opened the door.
Everyone screamed at me to stop.
But I knew the truth.
Anna was already dead.
The voice outside wasn't hers.
Prince Adrian stood beneath the moonlight.
Behind him was a black carriage.
Inside sat Anna.