Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
I walk around and pick them all up, putting them back on the equally fancy chairs. Then I stare down at the stupid wheel on the floor and ponder what it might mean.
“Well.” I sigh. “Wheels are for spinning. That’s one option.”
Except it’s not a real wheel. It’s a painted one.
But just as I think that, the whole thing shimmers below my feet. Like it’s got a secret. Like, perhaps, it can be spun. I tilt my head a little. All the while the twinkling continues, and then, almost as if it’s an illusion, it changes, just a little, with a tilt of my head.
When I turn my head back, it goes back to normal.
“So. Stupid wheel. You are hiding a secret.”
Obviously. Since I didn’t ask to come here, it was the will of the doorknob gods.
They put me here for a reason. I vowed to serve, didn’t I?
A little spark of hope lights up my heart. Because if they brought me here to serve, then that means… could it be?
Could they be considering my request to help Madeline along on her transformation?
I press my hands together in gratitude. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. I will not let you down. I will not. I will figure this out and I will do my part. I promise.”
They, of course, do not answer me.
Not for the first time I wonder if these gods are even real. I mean, couldn’t this all just be coincidence?
No.
I feel this to be true. I have never seen the actual gods, only the damaged ones. And then, unless my memory is failing me, only the ones Pell is tangled up with.
But still, I feel them. Not all the time, but certainly there are times when their attention is very much focused on me.
And this is one of those times.
Suddenly, and without warning, the air all around me begins to shimmer as well. And then the next thing I know, two doors are appearing. Doors that were always there, just unseen.
And who comes tumbling out?
Well, naturally, the only two people who could.
PART FIVE
PART FIVE
So here we are, the end is near
On the line, things you hold dear.
Love, and lies, and magic spells.
Choose your path and choose it well.
CHAPTER TWENTY – PIE
My mother’s grip on my ankle is so tight, I can actually feel a bruise forming.
This is how it all started. She and that stupid eros kidnapped me and sentenced me to a life I was never supposed to live.
And now she thinks she’s gonna do it again?
I don’t fuckin’ think so.
Just as I slip through the door, I pull my leg back and I kick her in the chest with the flat bottom of my boot as hard as I can. She gasps, losing her breath, lets go of my leg, and goes reeling backwards into dark, empty space.
For a moment, I smile, filled with satisfaction.
But it’s only for a moment. Because in the next moment I am spinning and reeling through the darkness after her.
“Noooo!” I’m screaming it just as light appears in the distance.
A door. And I am spinning my way towards it.
I wriggle and twist in the blackness, trying to change my trajectory. But it’s no good. And the next thing I know, I’m over the threshold. I come tumbling out into a room, slide across a polished floor, and then crash into a… velvet pillow?
I blink a few times, then look up. “Tomas?”
He laughs out loud and comes towards me. “Pie! Oh, Pie! You’re here!”
He picks me up off the floor, but just as I get to my feet, there’s a flash in the room.
“Oh, dear,” Tomas says.
“What’s that?” My heart is racing and my mind is spinning just like my body was a few moments ago. I can’t quite place where I am. I mean, that was the craziest hallway trip ever!
And then I’m thinking, How did I get into the hallways again?
Another flash, and then a crash, and a bright white light. I cover my eyes, but when the flash is over, I open them and see—
“Pell!” Tomas is elated again. “Look! We’re all here.”
Pell is just as confused as I am. He looks around, trying to understand what’s happening. “Where am I? How did I get here?” He squints. But then his yellow eyes find mine. “Pie!”
I rush over to him and help him up off the floor and that’s when I recognize where we are.
I look at Tomas. He shrugs with his hands. “I guess we’ll be playing a game again.”
“What are you talking about?” Pell is still catching up. I have no idea where he’s been, but I have a sneaky suspicion that his trip through the doors and hallways was a lot like mine.
Weird.
And… true.
“Look.” Tomas is pointing at the floor. “It’s the truth-or-dare room. There we are in the wheel.”