Page 25 of Claiming What's Mine

“I know how to tell time, Betty- Sue Fable.”

“Don't call me that,” she snapped, her eyes narrowing as she glared down.

She hated her name, and she hated it even more when I said it out loud. I liked to say her name just to get under her skin. Teasing Blue never got old.

Smirking, I looked back over my shoulder into the darkness as I spoke. “Come down, I want to show you something.”

Pressing her hands into the windowsill, Blue leaned forward more, peering down at me. “Shh, you'll wake up my parents.”

Waving my hand, I asked her again quietly. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

“I wish I could.” Blue shook her head no, her smile growing as she bit her bottom lip. “But you know I can't, I'll get in trouble if I get caught.”

“It'll be worth it.”

“Will it?”

“Come on.” Pushing out my bottom lip, I pouted. “Please. . . For me?”

Blue looked over her shoulder, checking to make sure she was still alone in her room. I could see it in her eyes, in the way she tapped her fingers against the windowsill, she was debating what to do.

She wanted to come with me, I knew she did, but Blue was still that good girl, she did her best to follow the rules and hated getting in trouble. She was fourteen years old and I had only been able to get her to break her curfew once.

Her parents were furious, they grounded her for three weeks. It was horrible not being able to see her for that long. I tried to get her to talk to me out her window, but her father caught me trying to get her attention and chased me off, adding another week to her sentence.

Gregory Fable might have been a pastor, he might have been a vessel for the lord and summoned his strength from the holy man above. But he was also a father, and that was his little angel. No amount of heavenly strength could remove that from any man.

His daughter came first. And when he found out his princess was hanging around with an older boy, a boy who had convinced her to disregard the rules, he didn't hide that anger.

I could see it in his face, I could see it in the thick vein that throbbed on his neck, I could see it as he threw his fist in the air and gritted his teeth.

Every ounce of faith that man had took a backseat as his inner father took charge to protect his baby girl from this monster of a boy.

Blue plucked at her lip, her eyes darting between mine. “What do you want to show me?”

“It's a secret.”

“Secrets can get me grounded.”

The corner of my lip pulled up as I smirked. “Secrets are what make life worth living.”

“No, that's love.”

“Love is what drives the secrets. So—” I said, flicking my head towards the cornfield. “Let's share a secret.”

Blue's eyes lit up as she tucked her chin into her chest. Pursing her lips, she straightened her back. “Alright, I'll be right down.” Disappearing out of view, the room turned to black.

Waiting against the line of tall stalks, I watched the porch. The front light was on above the door, casting a glow that spread down the steps and across the grass. Pacing back and forth, I kept looking for her, hoping that she would make it undetected.

My heart was beating faster and faster the more time passed and I was still alone. Hopefully she hadn't gotten caught on her way out the door.

The soft creak of the door opened and shut, causing me to stop moving and stand taller. Her shadow seeped out across the ground as she came down the steps and around the corner.

It was funny, the size of her shadow could scare a grown man, but behind it was a petite girl, with messy hair, walking in a long nightgown that was covered in small purple flowers and bare feet.

“Where are your shoes, Blue?”

“You didn't say I needed shoes.”

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