Page 65 of A Yulean Sister’s Guide to Getting Kidnapped

Her eyes turned large, like fancy dinner plates. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, either I walk out that door with you coming, following your rules, or you leave me and I go alone.”

“B-but, I…”

Her stumbling left me an opening to walk down. Most people were leaving when we got back, so the ship was mostly quiet. I had no idea where Shadowhart and Bramwell were, probably in that room poring over books, but I wasn’t going to get stuck here because he thinks he can tell me what to do and I’ll just listen.

Anne’s footsteps beat behind mine. I could almost hear her mind reeling over what she should do, but by the time we hit the deck, and I fearlessly started across the plank to shore, she was still behind me.

“Where are we going again?” she asked as we walked down the pier.

“The Show of Light,” I said. “It looked spectacular.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” she said. “But I haven’t heard of a lot of things.”

“I hadn’t either until I was handed this flyer.”

On the back there were directions from the pier, leading us further into the town, away from the brighter main square.

Eventually the roads turned to dirt, muddied from rain, and street lamps became almost nonexistent.

“Are you sure you know where we’re going?” Anne asked. “This feels really out of the way.”

“I can read a map,” I said, though honestly, I was also a bit worried we were getting lost.

A few more blocks down we were met with a large brick building. It wasn’t the same well-kept outside that the main square had been. It was worn with age, some of it looking to be a bit cracked. But there were lights on, and someone standing outside of the door.

None of this felt right, but what was I going to do, go back to the ship and say I was wrong?

No chance.

I hiked my skirts up and started towards the door, but Anne grabbed my arm. “I think this is a really bad idea.” Her eyes darted around nervously before suggesting, “Why don’t we just go back to the square and have a drink. We’ll still have gone out, yeah?”

That was almost the excuse I wanted, but I was feeling stubborn to see this to the end.

“No, this will be fun, I promise.”

I tried to walk but she held me back, surprisingly strong. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

My arm pulled free of her finally. “If you don’t want to, go back, but I’m going inside.”

Anne took a long breath. “Fine, let’s go.”

“You don’t have to,” I said as we kept going.

“I’m not leaving you. We have to stay together.”

She was truly stuck to these rules, but I wouldn’t fight her about it. It was kind of nice to have someone that felt on my side.

We approached the door, where the large guard stood. He didn’t have pointed ears like most fae did, but he was wide, and upon closer inspection, his fingers were fuzzy and had claws pointing from them. A shifter, then. I hardly ever saw them half shifted like this, and it only prickled my nerves more.

“Hello,” I said as we approached. “We’re here for the show.”

He looked us up and down. “Do you have an invite?”

“I didn’t know it was by invitation,” I said.

The bouncer nodded. “Everyone needs one.”