Demon's Daughter: A Cursed Book by Amy Braun Read Free Book Online Page A

that he’ll hurt us. He’s a good guy.”
    That remained to be seen, but I trusted Dro’s instincts enough to give his kid a chance. Having her explain it to anyone, even me, had never really gone well…
    Elizabeth’s parents had called our Dad about five minutes after he got home. They said Elizabeth was crying and hysterical about what had happened with Dro’s random knowledge and my mean attitude. After calming them down and hanging up the phone, he walked into the living room where we were sitting on the couch, waiting to get scolded. Dro sat hunched over with her tiny pale hands in her lap, looking down guiltily. I sat next to her with my arms crossed over my chest, looking serious and feeling bored.
    Dad put his hands on his hips. He looked exhausted, his overalls and golden skin still dirty from working at the construction site. He hadn’t even had time to sit down and eat dinner before problems started with his kids.
    “Okay,” he sighed. “Who wants to explain what happened?” He looked at me like I was the one to blame.
    Usually I was, but not this time.
    “Elizabeth is just being a big baby,” I complained. “We didn’t do anything.”
    “You said she stole something,” Dad pointed out. “That isn’t a small thing to accuse someone of.”
    I rolled my eyes.
    “Don’t roll your eyes at me, Constance. Tell the truth.”
    I pouted. I wasn’t going to take the fall for this.
    Until Dro decided that she would.
    “It’s my fault,” she said quietly from beside me. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t mean to look, but…”
    Dro shifted back onto the couch and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and looking smaller than even a five year old should.
    “It was an accident,” she whispered.
    Dad looked at her strangely, glancing at me for answers. I said nothing. I might have seen what happened, but that didn’t mean I understood it. I still didn’t know if I should believe Dro or not.
    “What was an accident? Elizabeth’s mother told me you said Elizabeth stole a doll from that girl Jenny, but how do you know it belonged to Jenny?”
    Dro hugged her knees tighter to her chest, biting her lip and holding back tears. Dad walked over to the couch and sat down beside his adopted daughter. He put his arm over her tiny shoulders.
    “I’m not mad at you, Andromeda. I know Elizabeth is a drama queen, and I know that neither of you took that doll. But I don’t know how you knew about it in the first place. I can’t fix this unless you tell me the truth.”
    Dro shivered and Dad hugged her closely. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll believe whatever you tell me.”
    My sister looked at him, blinking her icy blue eyes. “I saw it.”
    “You saw Elizabeth take the doll from Jenny?”
    She shook her head. “Not in person. I saw it in my head.”
    Dad went still. “What do you mean?”
    She shivered again, like she was about to cry. Dad kept his arm around her, but his dark brown eyes were uncertain. Usually I was the one he had to be wary of. Dro was a saint.
    “It was like a dream. I looked at Elizabeth and I saw these pictures in my head. I saw her taking the doll from Jenny’s house last week and putting it in her backpack when she wasn’t looking. I just looked at her and knew.”
    Dad was still motionless, his hand starting to leave Dro’s shoulder. Almost as soon as it was gone, Dro broke down and started to cry. I put my arm over her back and hugged her to me.
    “I’m a freak,” she cried into my shirt.
    “No you’re not,” I told her.
    “Then something’s wrong with me,” she sobbed. “Something’s bad in me.”
    I pulled away from Dro to look into her eyes. Tears streaked her pale cheeks.
    “Nothing’s wrong with you, little sister. And you’re definitely not bad.”
    Dro looked at me, desperate for an explanation. But I didn’t have one, and I wouldn’t lie to her. Dro started crying again. Dad took her from my arms and lifted her