I take a step forward, carefully placing my foot on the next wooden plank. But as I press down, it disappears.
I am falling fast. I look up and see the sky ripple in a swirl of navy and black. Wind races through my hair and whips at my yellow nightgown. My belly continues to drop. My chest burns. Panic sets in, and I flail desperately, trying to grab on to anything to save myself from the endless fall. When I think it can’t get any worse, a hissing sound echoes from below.
I spot a flash of gray scales beneath me, and I scream as I crash down into a massive bed of writhing, hissing, curling snakes. Their angular eyes glint in the darkness, and their forked tongues flick. Slick serpents coil tightly around my legs, my waist, my everything. My worst fear is realized, and my heart freezes in terror as I watch the pink caves of their mouths open, exposing their fangs.
With every scream that escapes my lips, more snakes slither out from under me and bolt themselves around my trembling body. The longer fear keeps me stiff and still, the more their venomous fangs seem to extend toward me, threatening to strike at any moment, and all I can do is pray for an escape from this nightmare.
“Use your stardust!”
Malcolm’s voice echoes from the rickety bridge high above. Desperately, I lift my palm, trying to pull some from the stars above, but it’s pointless. Sabine has disabled my magic for this challenge. Flailing and full of a helpless panic, I struggle to summon even the tiniest bit of stardust. I can’t.
Malcolm produces the golden snake whistle from his pocket, and his jaws swell as he blows a soothing melody. The haunting, calming sound lulls the agitated snakes into a deep peaceful sleep.
The snakes are spread on top of me in a twisted blanket. Staring up at the stormy sky from the bottom of the muddy pit, I ease the snakes offmy body with shaky fingers and push myself upright. My heart sags. The walls of the snake pit have more vines, their green tendrils glowing with an eerie sickly hue, and sprouting purple flowers with red spots that bloom ominously.
“Climb out!” Malcolm shouts, pointing to the ropelike vines. Remembering how different vines in this wood almost killed me, I pause. But realizing this is the only way, I exhale, steady my nerves, grasp the vines tightly, and pull myself upward.
The climb is awful. My knees are scraped raw, my arms straining against the weight of my body, but finally, I reach the top. I struggle to haul myself out. But end up clinging there, exhausted.
Malcolm kneels at the edge of the pit, gazing down at me with a mix of anger and sadness. His palm extends toward me. With his help, I finally emerge from the pit and collapse onto the muddy earth above. Raindrops pelt me as I shiver and exhale.
“You want me to die in the Tether?” Malcolm says, sounding both hurt and cocky. “Who else you got to save you?”
My heart aches, knowing how deeply my words had cut him. But before I can say anything, he adds, “You weren’t the only one who saw visions in the rocks, Emma. My visions showed me a lot about you too. So maybe I should stop putting someone who thinks I’m just some tool she can use to end the Tether, and who wants me dead, over the people who truly care about me.”
With a pained expression, he thrusts the sharp tail of the snake whistle into my thigh, sending searing agony through my body, the sting of betrayal piercing my heart.
“Sorry.” His voice is strained as he pulls the whistle back, regret and desperation smearing his face. “But I can’t let my ma die for no one. You know what Sabine would do.”
Trees stretch into long, jagged shadows as the forest around me melts away. The muddy earth beneath me dissolves into cold checkerboard tiles. Statues of enslaved children loom at the edges of the room, their lifeless faces twisted in anguish. The air is heavy as a chill slices up my spine.
Pain throbs in my leg, as sharp as the fear cutting into my chest. My family is still bound to their chairs, their wrists and ankles locked in glowing gold cuffs, their mouths gagged. Sabine paces before them, slow and deliberate, like a lion deciding which piece of prey to devour first.
“Look who finally decided to join us,” she purrs, her voice sweet as sugared poison.
My pulse rises. Sabine steps closer, her gown rippling. The heart-shaped bustier gleams white, spiraling with black threads of magic, while the ivory skirt fans out in layers of shimmering pearls. Her fiery hair is coiled into an elegant twist, gleaming like molten copper.
Trying to avoid her cruel, icy gaze, I search the room for clues, anything that might give me leverage or help me escape this nightmare I’m trapped in, no matter how futile it may be. It’s then I notice something is missing.
Someoneis missing.
“Where’s Malcolm?” My voice shakes.
Sabine’s smirk is like the slash on a mother’s throat—cruel, final, and silent.
“Malcolm!” I call.
“Always so impatient, Emma. Don’t worry—he’ll join us soon. But first…” She claps her hands. The sound echoes through the room like thunder. “Let’s make this moment unforgettable, shall we?”
I flinch as her icy fingers close around my ankle. She dips her nails into the bright blood pooling from my wound and brings it to her lips, licking it clean. Her eyes flutter shut, and she tilts her head back, savoring it. My stomach twists, bile rising as her hair begins to lighten, strands of molten gold spiraling down her shoulders. Her skin glows, her features smoothing into something even more youthful and strikingly beautiful.
When her eyes snap open, there’s something different about their icy shade of blue. Something familiar. My breath catches, and my stomach knots tighter.
They look just like Ariella’s.
“Where’s Malcolm?” I repeat, louder this time, panic cracking my voice.
Sabine ignores me, her attention drifting along with her gaze. Something’sdifferent here. My eyes dart around the room, searching for the change. The grotesque paintings remain—dark-skinned women dangling from twisted trees, ravens clawing at their flesh. The statues of children still scream silently, their terror carved into white marble. But something is different.
