Sleeping Beauty Read Online Free PDF

thought she should have a chance to live a normal life until that fateful birthday. They also disagreed on the subject of her learning how to defend herself. Her father thought the idea of her training to slay was ridiculous and morbid, and his focus was completely on finger-prick prevention. Her mother, however, thought the curse was inevitable and that it was better to face it head-on. At least some of their fights made more sense now, even if it confirmed Lucette’s fears that she’d caused them.
    As she walked up to her parents, the air in the room seemed icy, and she imagined what it would look like if one of them reached out to take the other’s hand. Better yet, what if both of them reached out at the same time, then turned to smile at each other as their hands joined? The image felt as real as a memory, yet Lucette knew she was projecting the actions of other couples she’d seen around the palace onto her parents. She’d never seen her parents hold hands. She herself had never held anyone’s hand—without a glove.
    Lucette stepped up to her parents and clasped their hands; at least now they were connected through her. She looked at each, timidly wondering what her punishment would be. “I’m so sorry about going into the woods. It was foolish and crazy, and I’ll never do anything like
that again. I promise I can be more careful.”
    â€œI hope you learned your lesson.” Her father’s face was stern. “But we called you here to discuss something else.”
    She felt the tension build in the room. “Is this about the curse?”
    Her father spun toward her mother. “You told her?”
    â€œIt was time she knew.” Her mother shrugged. “She’s not a little girl anymore.”
    â€œHow could you!” the king bellowed. “She’s just a child! Look how you’ve scared her.”
    Lucette scrambled to find some way to intervene. Her big mouth had done it again, and she’d made everything worse.
    â€œWe can’t keep her sealed in a bubble, Stefan.” Her mother’s cheeks flushed. “It’s crazy. If you’re doing all these things now, what do you plan for after she’s turned sixteen?”
    â€œSo you want to just give up and let the curse fall?”
    â€œOf course not! I simply believe she deserves to have a tiny bit of freedom—especially until she’s sixteen. After that, she may end up isolated and alone in the night without having any skills or preparation.”
    â€œThat will never happen if she follows her safety rules.”
    Lucette’s knees threatened to crumple as the full weight of her curse sank in.
    Alone. In the night. With vampires. And they wouldn’t all be as nice as Alex.
    Her mother shouted, “You treat your own daughter like a prisoner!”
    Her father raised his voice. “The precautions and rules I’ve set up have helped her develop good habits to prevent the curse! You think I like restricting our daughter?”

    â€œStefan, let’s discuss this later.” Tight-lipped, she glanced at Lucette, then back at her husband.“You promised we would offer her the choice.”
    Lucette looked up at the word choice . At this time yesterday, she’d felt so mistreated because she had to wear gloves, be escorted everywhere, and was coddled like a baby. In less than twenty-four hours, she’d met a vampire, learned she carried a horrible curse, and caused yet another big fight between her parents. After all that, they were expecting her to make some kind of choice?
    A solution popped into her head. “Mom, Dad. If I’m going to bring a curse down on the kingdom, why don’t we just leave Xandra? Go somewhere else?”
    Her father shook his head. “I can’t leave. I’m the king.”
    â€œBut—” She stopped herself. The last thing she wanted to suggest was that their family split up.
    â€œI thought