Written to Die for the Angel, So I Exposed Her First novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: The Lantern
The keeper's taper was in her pocket when she reached the foot of the tower.
Perrine had walked out along the breakwater alone, in the last of the dusk.
The whole of Saltmere was behind her, still shouting in the customs square.
The door stood open.
She climbed the sixty-one steps with one hand on the wet wall.
Her legs were shaking by the thirtieth.
By the fiftieth she was laughing, helplessly, and the sound went up the stair ahead of her.
At the top she stopped in the great ring of windows, with the cold iron lamp standing silent in the middle of the floor.
Below her, a mile of harbor.
Black water, the masts, the first lights coming on along the quay.
She lit the taper from the flint.
She opened the lamp's small door, and put the flame to the wick, and held it there.
The oil caught.
The light went up through the great lens, and out, and the whole sea turned gold.
On the quay and the customs steps and the long stone pier, people who had been shouting stopped and turned.
Then, one by one, they began to cheer again.
She stood with the taper burning down toward her fingers and did not hear them.
"It's a good light," said a voice behind her.
She turned.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Written to Die for the Angel, So I Exposed Her First are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend