I dug my heels in. “I can walk myself, thanks. You don’t have to drag me like a—whoa—” My sneaker slid on something slick. “Let go of me! I didn’t do anything wrong. Ifell througha mirror.” Why was I even trying to explain? A drug trip wouldn’t change because of my outcries. All I knew was that I never wanted to try drugs again. Zero stars. Would not recommend. I’d put a warning on the iron box so, if anyone else found it, they’d knowwhythey should avoid the strange dagger and cutting themselves...aside from the obvious, of course.
We reached the bottom of the stairs, the air even more frigid and heavy with moisture and something that smelled sour, like blood, sweat, and old fear soaked into stone. A draft slid along the floor, and icy fingers seemed to wrap around my ankles. Goosebumps raced up my legs, and I shivered.
A long corridor stretched out ahead. Torches flickered, throwing jittery light across the floor. Chains clinked softly somewhere in the dark.
My stomach dropped.
This was a real dungeon.
The kind of place people didn’t come back from. And it felt as real as the fall.
My wounded hand throbbed, but it didn’t feel as painful as it should. I twisted my wrist and glanced down at it. Dried blood streaked my palm and fingers, but the gash had grown smaller, despite my having gotten it just minutes ago. The edges had already knit together.
What the?—
Nope. I was tripping. Of course weird shit was going to happen. Look at thisworldI literallyfellinto.It wasn’t real.
But a part of me felt uncomfortable, like this might not be made up.
“Please,” I tried, my voice softer and my tightening throat shoving all the sarcasm out of my tone. Even if this was just a bad trip, I didn’t want to live through torture. “Just… take me back to the courtyard. Let me try the mirror. Maybe it’ll?—”
“There is no mirror in the courtyard now,” Scar Jaw said without looking at me. “It shouldn’t have worked for you when it did.”
“There’ll be hell to pay for it opening up at all,” Lilac Eyes muttered.
My heart stuttered. “It has to work.”
They ignored me, hauling me deeper underground until the corridor split like some kind of stone crucifix. The left and right passages yawned into more torchlit gloom. The guards halted, and Lilac Eyes turned to Folge. “Which way, sir? He said not to put her with the others.”
“Whichever way is back to the courtyard or out of this place,” I muttered.
Scar Jaw rolled his eyes and gave me a small shake.
Folge grunted and planted his fists on his belt like the world’s grumpiest cowboy. Then he pointed to the left corridor. “King’s in a foul mood. Put her in the farthest one. If he wishes for us to move her to another, he will tell us. Best to follow his command to the letter rather than… indulge in creativity. I’d wouldn't want to try him today.”
The guards dragged me to the left, and my shoes scraped helplessly over the coarse stone, the rubber squeaking in protest. “No. Stop.Please!”
Instead, their grip tightened into iron bands on my arms, jerking me along.
“Let go of me!” I twisted hard enough that my hair slapped my cheek. “I can walk, assholes!”
Lilac Eyes huffed. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be, woman.”
“I’m not making it—ow—harder, you’re just manhandling me like a sack of laundry?—”
“Quiet,” Folge snapped.
We reached a barred iron door near the end of the corridor. Cold wrapped around me like a wet sheet, seeping through my jeans and my stupid pink shirt and knifing straight into my bones. The courtyard had been bad, all frost and bitter wind, but this dungeon was somehow worse, like a freezer carved into the guts of the palace.
Folge grabbed the door handle and yanked. The hinges screamed like something dying, making every hair on my arms stand up.
He didn’t flinch. “His Majesty will be informed of your placement, and if he wishes to speak with you before you freeze, he will do so.”
Folge stepped aside, and the guards shoved me forward. I stumbled into the cell, and my injured palm hit the frigid wall. I hissed as pain and needles of cold shot up my arm, tightening every muscle in my body. Shit! This was bad.
Behind me, the iron door slammed shut, and the bolt locked into place with a deep sound that thudded straight through my ribs.
I pushed off the wall and wrapped my arms around myself, rubbing my upper arms hard even though it did nothing to cut the cold. My breath trembled out in white clouds. The cell was barely bigger than a large walk-in closet, and the stone bench was rimmed in frost. A pile of old straw filled one corner, I assumed for sleeping.
