Cinderella Dreams of Fire (Fairy Tales Forever #1) by Casey Lane Read Free Book Online

doubled her speed and ran toward the spy. She tried not to think about the strangely-altered captain.
    Despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but connect the dead eyes of her former adversary with the vacant glare of her formerly loving father.
    Cinderella reached the back of house, only to see that the eavesdropper had hopped onto a building on the other side of the cobblestone street. She heard a late-night carriage in the distance.
    "He's fast."
    She reached deep into her reserves and pulled out a little more speed as she followed the path left by the man at the window. As she tried to scale the same building he had, once again, she only saw the slightest part of him reach the roof. Cinderella listened to his footsteps slapping against the top of the building, and she stretched for the next handhold. Her fingers slipped at the same time one of her feet gave way. The thief's stomach lurched as her remaining hand on the building carried her entire body weight.
    "Damn!"
    A familiar wave of anxiety came over her and her instincts kicked in. She swung herself off the exterior with her remaining hand and flew toward the ground. Her reflexes sharpened to a point as she approached the unforgiving stone below. Cinderella tucked her head and rolled at just the right moment. What could've been broken bones or a shattered spine for the untrained was nothing but a light and perfect impact on her rounded back. As she completed her tumble and looked up, she saw the eavesdropper's gaze following her. He ran out of sight before she could identify him.
    She grunted in frustration. “Godmother isn't gonna be happy about this."
    Cinderella heard a little girl's scream back in the direction of the captain's house. She took one second to release a loud crack from her spine and ran toward the noise. Behind her former rival's home, and far across the street from Cinderella, she saw Kiyara standing a few feet from the captain's daughter.
    The little girl pointed at the stepsister and screamed her words in a high-pitched voice. “You did this to my father! You made him hate me!"
    Cinderella couldn't hear her sister over the calamitous sound of the approaching carriage on the road, but Kiyara's face was red and splotchy. She was crying, and it wasn't pretty. Cinderella waited for the carriage to cross, but as she did, the captain's daughter took off running. The little girl tripped and fell face forward in front of the quintet of horses bearing down on her. Cinderella's heart skipped several beats when she knew she'd never reach her in time.

Part II

Chapter 11
    P rince Braedon's chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. He bent at the waist and thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't gotten a drink with Falstone before his little one-on-one race with the thief.
    His words came out in sharp bursts. “She's really fast. Strong and fast. It's almost unfair."
    He could barely hear himself over the clattering hooves of an approaching carriage. From his perch on the rooftop, the prince heard a little girl scream. Instinct worked better than his lungs as he scaled down the building with relative ease. Braedon saw a young woman crying as a girl who couldn't be older than ten seemed to scold her with an accusatory finger. He saw the carriage in the distance, just as he noticed the little girl's hips were pointed to the street.
    His eyes widened. “Not good.”
    Several steps into his sprint, he noticed the thief to his right. There wasn't enough time to stop and protect himself. He blocked everything out of his mind and channeled all his energy into the muscles of his legs. He watched the girl begin to run toward the loud and unforgiving danger that came for her.
    Braedon whizzed by the thief and saw the girl trip into the middle of the road. His lungs burned as he bent down at full speed and hoisted her off the stones and out of the way of the lead horse. He was surprised by how far he was able to throw the child just as one of the legs of the