Sleeping Beauty Read Online Free PDF Page A

extreme—especially after meeting Alex. But if her mother were right, it was chilling to think how close she’d been to a vampire tonight, how close she’d come to death.
    She felt foolish for running off into the woods. Some days it felt as though she couldn’t take one right step. She sighed and hugged her mother. “Some days I feel like I’m cursed.”
    Her mother stiffened and pushed her back to arm’s length. “Who told you about the curse?”
    Lucette sucked in a ragged breath. “What?” She scrambled off the bed. “Do you mean I really am cursed?” She’d only said it so her mother could say “Don’t be silly, Lucette. Of course you’re not cursed.” Instead, it felt as if the world had tilted on its side, as if the room were closing in around her, as if the air were suddenly too thick to breathe.
    â€œWhat do you mean?” She looked at her mother, hoping for answers.
    Her mother slid off the bed, stepped up to Lucette, and hugged her tightly. “My darling daughter, it’s time you knew the truth.” She pulled back, but gripped Lucette’s upper arms tightly. “And it’s time you learned how to defend yourself, how to fight.”
    â€œLike a vampire slayer?” Her mother had to be kidding. Her parents were so overprotective it was crazy, and the idea that they’d let her learn to be a slayer—it was too much to hope for.
    But her mother’s expression remained serious. “Your father thinks he can protect you. He thinks it’s his job to keep his wife and daughter safe, but I think it’s important we also learn to protect ourselves.”
    â€œI’d give anything to be a vampire slayer.” Lucette felt excitement bubble up inside her. Had her mother been watching the other night
when she’d been practicing her slayer moves? Reading her mind? She looked into her mother’s eyes for clues.
    â€œLucette,” her mother said evenly and calmly. “It is crucial that you train as a vampire slayer.”
    Crucial? Confusion set in. This afternoon she would have jumped for joy at the opportunity. Now she wasn’t so sure. But if training to be a slayer meant shedding the protective blanket her father had smothered her under, she was on board.
    â€œAre you serious, Mom?” Lucette wasn’t convinced she could actually kill a vampire, but the training sounded exciting, and she wasn’t about to question her mother’s motives and risk her changing her mind. This was sure to spark another parental fight, though. Torn between her dreams and keeping the peace, her stomach hurt.
    Her mother let out a heavy sigh. “Lucette, your father doesn’t want to scare you, but I think you’re old enough to know what happened when you were a baby.”
    Lucette opened her eyes wide.
    â€œSit down,” her mother said. “It’s time you learned about your curse.”

    The next morning, Lucette approached the room to which her parents had summoned her and kept her gaze focused on the marble floor with its alternating pattern of silver and blue tiles. She’d barely slept last night, and learning about the curse had left her feeling numb and in a state of disbelief. She couldn’t imagine why a vampire queen, whom she’d never even met, would hate her enough to curse her.

    A guard opened the door, and she bit down on her lip in irritation. She wasn’t allowed to touch any doorknobs herself, even though all the doorknobs in the palace were perfectly smooth. It seemed unlikely that one would ever cut her—especially since she’d worn leather gloves every day for her entire life. But at least now she understood her father’s obsession with finger safety—sort of.
    According to her mother, her father thought she needed to develop good safety habits before turning sixteen—hence the gloves and his rules—whereas her mother