Free Sleeping Beauty by Maureen McGowan Page A

No vampire has gone near there for centuries. You’ll be safe there with me.”
    Her father stepped in front of her mother. “You’ll be safer here in the palace, with guards and slayers who will make sure nothing ever happens to you.”
    Her mother pushed forward again. “Lucette, we’ve agreed that you’re old enough to choose.”

    If you were Lucette, what would you do?
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    OPTION A: Lucette should stay with her father. Her father was so hurt by the lies she and her mother told him. She’s betrayed him so much, and living with him now would help make up for that. He’s more likely to keep her safe and ensure the curse never falls. Lucette can reach a compromise with him that gives her some freedom while still keeping her fingers prick-free. Plus, maybe if she decides to stay with him, her mother won’t actually leave. If you think Lucette should choose option A, go to section 4: Glass Houses (page 113).
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    OPTION B: Lucette should stay with her mother. Her mother has always supported her. If it weren’t for her, Lucette wouldn’t be trained as a slayer. Her mother might allow Lucette more freedom, but she doesn’t want the curse to happen any more than her father. Her mother will do everything she can to keep Lucette safe, too. If you think Lucette should choose option B, go to section 5: Country Living (page 147).

Section 3
    BIG SECRETS

    L ucette felt sure she’d made the right decision. Lying to her father about the Slayer Academy would have been wrong. And as proof that he admired her choice, he’d finally stopped treating her like a little girl. She was thirteen and coming into her own, and her father knew it.
    First, he’d let her decide about the school—even if he didn’t know what her mother had planned—and even more telling, tonight he’d invited her to a real grown-up event. She felt sure that, with enough persuasion, he’d change his mind and realize that she was old enough to train as a slayer. Otherwise, if the curse happened, she’d end up defenseless, all alone in the dark.
    Jenny, her dressing maid, slipped a dress over her head and laced up the back. Lucette turned and scowled into the mirror. Pink with tiny white roses, the dress seemed better suited to the delicate girls she’d seen from the shielded viewing galleries during her parents’ parties. The dress looked ridiculous on her, like putting lace on a wooden spike. “Are you sure this is the dress my father wanted me to wear?”
    â€œYes, and it’s very pretty.” Jenny wrapped the bright pink sash around on Lucette’s waist and tied a bow. While her invitation to this
party made her feel grown-up and important, this dress made Lucette feel like an idiot.
    Lucette swiveled and then winced when she saw the size of the bow that flopped down over her hips, its tails hanging over her flat backside. She ran her hands down the bodice of the dress, which was scooped down in front and was no doubt meant to show off assets she lacked.
    â€œDon’t worry,” Jenny said, pulling the ties in back tighter so the bust line didn’t sag so much. “We’ll add some crinolines under the skirt to give you some shape. And any day now you’ll fill out that bust and you’ll be fighting off the boys.”
    â€œI don’t want to fight off boys.” Lucette struggled not to pout. She wasn’t a baby and reminded herself not to act like one.
    â€œOh, so you want them to catch you?” Jenny winked.
    Lucette furrowed her brow.“That’s not what I meant.” She bit down on her tongue to keep from saying that she didn’t like boys, that she found them noisy and rude and smelly and distasteful.
    â€œYou’ll change your mind soon enough,” Jenny said. “Now sit down so I can fix your hair.”
    Half an hour later, with her hair piled up like a complicated puzzle, Lucette