Chapter 14: Let the Cat Out of the Bag
The sun stabbed through my eyelids, dragging me out of whatever half-sleep I'd managed. Another miserable morning in Norwegick. I muttered a tired prayer as I sat up, voice barely above a breath.
"Lord, take control. Bless me today. Amen."
Routine took over like muscle memory: slip in the blue contacts, run fingers through tangled curls, dry the tears I pretended weren't there. The hum pulsed faintly in my chest—dull, brooding, like it already knew what was coming.
Today was the day.
The scholarship list.
My last real shot at leaving this broken town without torching it first.
I unlocked my phone, fingers trembling. Scrolled. Scanned. Read. Re-read.
Nothing.
Not my name.
Not even close.
"Please, Lord…" But the prayer was empty now. I knew it before I saw it. I didn't make the cut. Again.
305 out of 400. And still not good enough.
Connections. Corruption. Nepotism. The usual suspects.
The scholarship? A badge of privilege, handed out to those who knew the right hands to shake or the right beds to warm. It was never about merit.
"Fuck!"
I slammed my palm into my forehead, the sting nothing compared to the gut-punch of disappointment. My vision blurred, not from tears, but rage.
The hum flared, sharp and furious.
I looked in the mirror. Blue eyes stared back, fake and frozen. Blonde curls framed a face that belonged to someone else—a girl the world wanted to see. Not the one who burned Kane alive. Not the Female King.
And today?
She was done being quiet.
Norwegick wanted to keep me trapped? Fine. But they were going to feel every second of it.
Starting with Dr. Carter.
I smirked at my reflection. The hum purred in delight.
"Oh, don't look at me like that," I muttered, tilting my head. "I said I wouldn't tell his secret... but I never said I wouldn't expose it."
Dr. Carter. The charming therapist with a cheating heart. Messing around with Anna, keeping secrets, hiding a kid. A walking contradiction wrapped in a buttoned-up shirt and fake concern.
I wasn't going to confront him. That'd be too kind.
No, I had a better idea:
A letter. Anonymous. Blunt. Folded and slipped right under his wife's door.
Let her see who she married. Let her feel the betrayal he so casually dished out.
And he was just the beginning.
Norwegick was full of secrets.
Shopkeepers skimming off the till. Cops taking bribes. Teachers who played favorites like high school was still high school. I had dirt on all of them, and today?
The dirt was going public.
The Female King was pissed.
And when I'm pissed, towns burn.
I laughed, dark and wild. A sound that didn't belong to the girl in the mirror anymore.
"Get ready, Norwegick. If I can't leave…"
I leaned closer to the glass, my voice a promise.
"I'll make sure you remember me."
The hum rose like a war drum—steady, sure, merciless.
Mystery M could wait. Edenville could wait.
But today?
Today I ruled.
And I was about to let every dirty little secret out of the bag.