The Fatal Slip

DAPHNE

My heart pounded so hard I thought it might burst from my chest. A cold wave of dread washed over me, tightening around my throat like it was an invisible rope. I stared at Beatrice, my lips slightly parted, trying to make sense of what I had just heard, trying to convince myself that I had misheard her, that this wasn’t happening.

But the sharp glint in her eyes, the smug, knowing smirk on