Off With Their Heads by Zoe Hana Mikuta

Author:Zoe Hana Mikuta [Mikuta, Zoe Hana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Published: 2024-04-23T00:00:00+00:00

NOW, A YEAR LATER, in this shitty little town again, with its shitty little arena. Shitty, shitty spectators—

“Stop muttering shitty,” Caro clucked at Icca. “Get more creative. Hideous. Dinky. Foul…”

They were down in the dirt ring of a temporary arena that had been constructed for the holiday. Icca glared at the onlookers up in the wooden stands—their heights carved with runes to prevent the Saint from scaling—at Hattie, draped in red, up in her box. The sun had disappeared again behind the gray haze. The threat of a downpour scented the air like perfume and static.

No riveting speeches would be made this year, of course, not without Il-Hyun. What was there to say, anyway? The carnage would speak for itself, would it not? Behold, witches in prime. Revel in the power we possess within us….

“Fuck this holiday! You’re all fucking blind! Fuck you, Hattie November Kkul!” Icca screamed. She stomped her feet. She knew she was essentially throwing a temper tantrum. She knew the crowd barely cared—Jabberwockies acted in such vicious ways, wasn’t it just so entertaining? “You insane bitch!”

“Your fault for giving her a public platform, unnie,” Carousel called. Then she casually smacked Icca in the back of the head.

Icca immediately spun and dove at her, but her hands were still shackled and the lunge was awkward. Caro simply sidestepped, and Icca sprawled out on the dirt. There she fumed. Part of her wanted to just stay down and get eaten up by the Saint that chattered within the massive cage supporting the royal box, hidden behind black silk.

That would put a damper on the holiday, certainly, our darling Dark witch pondered—a dead champion in the first town of the tour. Nothing to feed to the Labyrinth, after that.

Luckily for us, dear readers, our Icca knew that dying just to embarrass Hattie was a sorry trade.

Because the High Priestess, of course, couldn’t be embarrassed. Hattie, of course, didn’t give a fuck about her public image, no matter what rumors churned in the population about her intentions. This was all a part of some grander experiment that she was playing out on an excessive scale, because she could. To what end, Icca did not know.

Hattie had damned Icca, that day now a year ago, when Icca had missed her spell, had been trapped in that strange, disorienting moment. Damned her to see her as other people did not. And Icca still did not know exactly why Hattie had allowed such an instance.

Oh, if only Carousel knew they had shared that private moment, how she would boil with jealousy.

If she would even believe her.

Icca got up from the dirt.

“She’s not right,” Icca murmured, looking up at Hattie. Who was looking at her, perhaps. Who was ignoring her, perhaps…. “There’s something not right with her, Carousel.”

“So you’ve said, over and over. Why do you give a shit, truly, Alice?” Caro slung an arm around her shoulders, jostling them. They were facing the cage, the black silk of which was rippling from the breath of the beast it contained.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.