My Ninth Life: Breaking Free

tairs, the sweet wind of near-freedom

again, Leo?

irking beside her. The hope I felt mom

r tone deceptively casual. "That silver locket your parents le

the last thing I had of them. In past loops, I' d clung

locket from under my shi

h a theatrical "oops," he let it slip. It clattered onto the m

g with false remorse. "It just slipped. My goodness, were y

dare you try to curse De

e signaled to two burly security gua

es. Teach him a lesson

brutal beating with a ridin

mirk. Caroline turned her back, already cooing over Derek, fussing a

trike was accompanied by Caroline's voice in my memory, or sometimes her

ungratefu

ting Derek

isting.

Eventually,

d. It was dark, smelling of earth and decay. This was m

He was just a dog, an animal, but in Caroline's eyes, he

I closed my eyes, a wave of hopelessness washing ove

light flooding in, blinding me. Caroline sto

t u

elf to a sitting po

low and dangerous. "He thinks you put somethin

d it, of course. I didn't even have the energy to

, don't you?" she hisse

she grabbed my hair,

pered, then slammed my head