Holiday Heroine by Sarah Kuhn

Author:Sarah Kuhn [Kuhn, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DAW
Published: 2022-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

“WHO ARE YOU?” I hissed. I made my voice firm, trying not to betray the fear building in my chest, the shock rattling through my bones. “And what are you trying to do?”

I glanced around, but everyone else was fully focused on building their own gingerbread houses. No one seemed to notice that we’d stopped working and were now engaged in hushed, tense conversation.

“God, you are all so stupid.” Dahlia set the pastry kaiju down on the table. Its gumdrop eyes stared at me blankly. “You know, I’d like to think I make this shit pretty obvious, but apparently I need to start dropping clue anvils left and right!”

“I . . .” I shook my head, my brain working frantically to put the pieces together. Dahlia’s musical voice had taken on a sharp, condescending tone—and as I replayed her words, horrified recognition pinged through me.

“Shasta?” I whispered, my eyes widening in disbelief.

“Very good,” she smarmed, gifting me with a delicate golf clap. “Got it in one.”

“How are you here? I thought your bumbling ass was trapped in the Otherworld!”

“My physical ass, yes,” she preened, twirling a bit of Dahlia’s wispy brown hair. “But something happened during that adorable power combo spell you did with Aveda Jupiter and her consort. I suppose I should tell you all about it, since it will answer many of your questions.”

“I am just fucking delighted to listen to another one of your long-winded supervillain monologues,” I snarked back. “But first—are you about to destroy this bakery or any of these people with some demon shit? Because in that case, we might have to battle it out first.”

“Oh, Beatrice.” Dahlia-Shasta gave me a disappointed look. “Of course I mean you no harm. I merely want to talk.”

“What do you mean of course?!” I exploded. A few heads turned our way. I tamped down my rage and pasted a smile on my face. “Sorry!” I called out to the other contestants. “Just having a slight disagreement about our artistic direction!”

“Don’t you remember?” Shasta purred without missing a beat. “You and I were almost partners, back during my unfortunate battle with Evie and my useless son and the rest of their annoying entourage. You came to me, Beatrice. You were so lost and alone and I was going to make you a powerful demon hybrid! We could have ruled both of our dimensions together, but alas . . .” She pouted. “Your disgusting human instincts won out. Those ugly feelings of yours ruin things every time.”

I squirmed in my seat, humiliation flooding through me. That incident still filled me with visceral shame. I’d almost burned down my entire life, my family’s life, because I’d been pissed at Evie.

Yes, I’d been an impressionable teenager with a ton of unprocessed trauma. I’d also almost become a full-on supervillain because of a dopey fight with my sister.

“Not exactly my proudest moment.” I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to keep my bravado intact. “Now talk.”

“Let’s keep building this quaint

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