Glitter & Doom: A Masque of the Red Death Story Read Online Free

shouldn’t have said anything.
    “Decency. He’s loyal to your uncle.”
    As far as April knew, Elliott hadn’t spoken to Prospero in over a year. Elliott gave her hope. He hadn’t succumbed to Prospero, but even if he had, she wouldn’t have blamed him. He’d been a child and everyone had abandoned him. If Father had been alive all along, then he should have moved heaven and earth to save Elliott from the prince. He had no right to curl his lip when he spoke of her brother.
    And yet, somehow the tides had turned. Elliott had escaped from their uncle, and here she was, alone with this stranger who used to be her father. Was Elliott searching for her? What about Araby? Her mother?
    April scanned the room. It was built from dull stone. Ugly. The only windows were high on the wall, and the light that came through was muddy and thick. They were underground. A cellar? This room had several doors, but no staircase. If it was a cellar, then the building above must be large. She’d have to leave this room to find a way up. Maybe she’d even take the other boy. He was important to her brother, after all. She turned her attention to her father.
    “Why are you wearing those robes?” she asked. “Have you been hiding in some sort of monastery?
    He laughed, but it was the boy in the corner who answered.
    “He’s the Reverend Malcontent. The one who’s stirring up the city.” His voice went low and accusatory. “Bombing churches.”
    April considered her father, wishing she had a fan, or something else to hide behind.
    Was he going to hurt her? Was he like Uncle Prospero? Would batting her eyelashes save her?
    “Well, those robes are not very becoming.”
    “Tell me about yourself,” her long-lost father suggested, settling himself stiffly on the other side of the sofa.
    What to tell? What not to tell?
    “I belong to a club,” April said slowly. “The one where your associate found me, in the Debauchery District. It’s a good place for . . . making friends. Passing the time. It’s where I go when I can’t stand being home with Mother anymore.” He must have cared for Mother once. Should she tell him that his “death” had ruined her? That she couldn’t stomach the world created by the plague? That she’d abandoned Elliott half a decade ago and was barely a mother to April? And he’d been alive the whole time and never contacted any of them. A flash of anger flooded her. He’d abandoned them for what? Wearing robes and masquerading as some sort of religious figure? Bombing and burning? The city had had enough of that.
    “You’ll be with me when my army takes the city.” His eyes gleamed. “They have been through hell and back, but you will give them hope.”
    “Because I’m so . . . ” She glanced at the boy in the corner. In the gray light his face was sickly pale. For some reason, knowing that he was listening, she couldn’t bring herself to say the word “pretty.”
    “They’ve been in the swamp,” Malcontent continued. “Away from civilization. And you represent everything the city can give them.” April had more than her share of experience with madness, but the mania in his eyes was more than she could stomach without shuddering. Was he simply seeing her as a pretty girl—some sort of prize—an incentive? Why had he gone through the trouble of abducting her now?
    “I spend my afternoons putting on fake eyelashes,” she stuttered. “It’s a lengthy process that I’ve mastered with a bit of practice. Sparkling eye shadow. Sequined dresses.” She launched into detail about the feathers she collected for her hair. His posture never changed. He nodded, and his eyes bored into her. She forgot about the boy in the corner in her rush to appear unthreatening and simple.
    “Lovely,” Malcontent said, standing. “I was right to save you. You will be very useful. So, I can’t have you disappearing, little peacock. I’m going to lock this door behind me. If you need anything, you can ask