I Hear the Bones Singing

by LA Knight

Violet Fitcher is Bluebeard's eternally-sixteen ex-spouse and the mother of his child. They're also the leader of a team of undercover fairytale cops from all corners of the world that hunt monsters out of bedtime stories. They're on the prowl, ready to take out Bluebeard once and for all...until they meet Nick Arai, who gets trapped in the bonds of her fairy tale.

1. 1779

PROLOGUE

1779

"Black house will rock.
Blind boys don't lie.
Immortal fear—
That voice so clear—
Through broken walls
That scream, I hear!"
~ "Cry, Little Sister" by Gerard McMann

On cat-quiet feet, Violet crept down the stairs. The breath trapped in their chest threatened to burst out of them at any moment. Darkness pressed around them, and it almost seemed as if the shadows had teeth. Wintry cold still clung to the icy flagstones beneath their feet; the chill leeched the warmth from the air, from their body. They shivered, but pressed on to the bottom of the cellar steps.

They shouldn't have been doing this. Jonathon had told them not to. They'd promised him they wouldn't...but the mystery of it was driving them mad. It was just a cellar, for heaven's sake. Why couldn't they go into it? They were sixteen years old. They were Jonathan's spouse. It was their cellar, too, and they could look inside it if they wanted to.

Otherwise they'd lose their mind, and Violet was fairly certain Jonathon didn't want a lunatic to keep house for him. Besides, he would never find out. And if he did, he wouldn't be cross for too long—not with the wondrous news they had for him. What would he say when they told him they were going to have a baby? They could just imagine his face.

When they arrived at the door to the third cellar, they drew a deep breath, then wrinkled their nose at the odd, unpleasant odor underneath the smells of lye soap, cold stone, and frost. They would have to speak to Goodwin about checking the meat in the second cellar when they made it back up the stairs. The housekeeper would know what to do in order to replace whatever had spoiled.

That's peculiar, Violet thought as they inserted the key into the lock. The slender, golden skeleton key slid home with a sharp click like bones clacking together. I think the smell's coming from in here.

They turned the key in the lock. The lock snicked open. For some reason their hand trembled as they turned the knob.

The door swung open. It took perhaps ten full seconds for Violet to realize just what they were seeing. Then they started to scream.