Page 86 of Storm of Shadows

I’m sure I locked it. IknowI locked it.

I swing the door all the way back and gasp, my hands flying to my mouth.

It’s trashed. Utterly and completely trashed.

The bed, the wardrobe, all my belongings.

Everything has been smashed to pieces and ripped to smithereens.

“No!” I cry out, racing straight to the wardrobe. “No, no, no, no, no!”

I can’t feel it. Is it gone?

I’m in such a panic, I trip over my own feet and struggle to make my stupid lungs work.

The wardrobe door hangs at a funny angle and the paneling has been kicked in. All my clothes have been dragged from the shelves and what remains of them tossed around the room or lying destroyed at the bottom of the closet.

“No!” I screech again, “Please no!”

I toss the pieces of torn up clothes over my head, scrabbling down to the bottom of the wardrobe.

Tears slide down my cheeks and bile rushes up my throat.

How can I have been so careless? Why didn’t I keep it somewhere safer?

I find the blanket at the bottom of the pile of clothes.

I close my eyes and cross my fingers and my toes.

“Please,” I whisper, “please.”

I pull the blanket away, holding my breath as I do.

My bag lies underneath. It’s still there.

Of course that doesn’t mean the contents are.

I can barely look, my hands trembling as I yank down the zipper and open the bag.

My hands shake even more, as I tip my head forward and peer inside.

Then I slump back in relief, all the air rushing from my lungs.

It’s still there, resting at the bottom of my bag.

Whoever did this, they didn’t find it.

It’s safe.

In fact, as I survey the carnage, I’m certain the perpetrator wasn’t looking for my one hidden treasure. They were here to trash my room. To punish me.

And I’d bet my last coin, I know who is responsible.

She would have to have the last word. She’d have to let me know that, even with the Princes protecting me, she’d find a way to get back at me.

Because she’ll deny it of course. And there’s no evidence it was her. No way to prove she did this.

Odessa.