Chapter 0320

Looking around, I searched for another exit. There was another door further down, but it was more barred than the first, not just latched but also wedged with a piece of wood.

Okay. So the doors were out.

Giving up on the doors, I looked along the banister instead.

There. An old oak stood nearby with long, sturdy-looking branches. If I crawled up onto the banister, I could reach out and catch one of the limbs. Then I could climb down.

It wouldn’t be the most delicate maneuver. I’d likely ruin my nightgown and my thin slippers, but ruining a few pieces of delicate clothing seemed a fair trade for not freezing to death.

I used to climb trees all the time when I was a kid. This wouldn’t be any different than that, right?

Like riding a bicycle, once you learn, you never truly forgot. At least, that’s what I hoped.

I climbed up onto the banister, and reached out for the tree. I put some weight on it. It didn’t creak or cra ck. Safe, then.

Carefully, I lifted myself up onto the branch, then shimmied closer to the trunk. Once there, I began the arduous process of descending. The balcony had been on the second floor, so the ground wasn’t too far. This gave me more confidence than it should have.

I jumped down to the next lowest branch. I had not tested the weight this time.

snapped in half, and down, down I

hands out, desperate to cling to something. I grabbed handfuls of leaves, a

called from the

I braced myself.

loud thud sounded. Someone

lot softer

eyes and found myself on

to my feet. “I’m so

each word a pained grunt. “I’m fine,” I said. “And

+15 BONUS

elbow to help him up.

were you doing out here?” I asked him. No one else was around, not even Brian. And Julian was still wearing

head,” he said.

floor. “I had

were

My cheeks began to burn. The embarrassment that had dissipated with the fall returned tenfold. Of course,

the truth, he’d never let me live it down.

meet someone

you thought it would be Nicholas.” He

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