“Shit shit shit,” I whispered.
My wrist went in and then my forearm. Releasing the packet of salt, I shot my legs up and pressed the soles of my boots into the ceiling, trying to fight against the suction, but the pressure almost dislocated my shoulder. My feet skidded off the ceiling and dangled uselessly beneath me. My stomach squeezed as tightly as my heart, and cold sweat beaded on my forehead.
The dot of gold I’d mistaken for flaked paint transformed into a human body. Relief that I’d been unstealthy, and thus followed by alucionagain firefly form, vanished the moment I saw mussed red hair. Out of all the sentinels in the kingdom, the one to trail me had to be the one who wanted me gone.
Today really wasn’t my day.
Fate, you cruel lady, you saved me just to curse me.
When the portal sucked in my shoulder, I shut my eyes and damned the day I’d struck up a bargain with a Locklear. If I’d known my ticket out of trouble was a trip into a supernatural jail, I would’ve owned up to my mistake instead of allowing Josh to take the blame.
The gelatinous portal molded around the top of my head, then my face, neck, and chest. I swore that once I climbed back out of the dimension I was about to enter, I wouldneverfind myself indebted to anyone. Maybe I’d even abolishgajoïsaltogether.
After I used mine.
Mine . . .
I’d wanted to make Remo break up with me, but if for some reason I couldn’t find my way out of Gregor’s magical lockup, I’d make Remo tell my father where I was. The solution appeased me, but that lasted all of two seconds.
The moment my head popped out the other side of the magical doorway, I knew I was screwed.
Oh, so very screwed.
9
Faerie Jail
Either I was dangling upside down, or Gregor landscaped the ceilings of his prison.
I realized when the portal spit me out, and brutally so—Skies damn you, Wariff—that my first assumption had been the correct one.
Even though I tried summoning my fire to break my fall, it didn’t answer me fast enough, and I tumbled out of the magical doorway head first. I squeezed my eyes shut and coiled my body into a tight ball, somersaulting as I fell.
My lower back connected with the ground, which squelched like mud. Surprisingly, the impact didn’t shatter my spine. I grunted and little stars crackled at the edges of my vision. Slowly, I opened my lids and unrolled my limbs, sprawling out onto the sticky ground while I waited for my heart to peel itself off my lungs so they could fill with air again.
Air.
What if it was tainted with noxious gasses, or what if it wasn’t air at all, and I would suffocate? I cautiously sipped some in. After a few breaths, which didn’t kill me, I concluded it was safe to breathe.
Brain ringing, I didn’t attempt to shift out of my starfish position. How far had I fallen? I stared at the mirrored disk floating over my head. Farfarover my head. At least fifty feet up.
How had I not passed out?
I twitched my toes and fingers to make sure they were still connected to my spine. Everything wriggled. I was the luckiest unlucky person.
Sure, I would’ve healed—eventually—but entering an unknown dimension as a paraplegic wouldn’t have been efficient. I twisted my neck to look around, which was a feat considering the damp ground sucked at my skull and back like a starved mouth.
The sky was the color of cotton and the cacti circling the muddy yellow field were gigantic, bulbous things decked with fluted pink blooms and spiky needles that gleamed as though made of steel wool. I’d never seen a species as large, neither on Earth nor on Neverra.
I was about to yellhellowhen I thought better of announcing my presence.
The damp chill of the ground penetrated my suit and licked my skin, sending a shiver through me. I hadn’t felt cold since before my Year of Flight when the fire in my veins was still just smoke.
I started to raise my gloved hand to test my fire when a grunt made my attention pitch upward. A body was hurtling straight for me. Adrenaline flooded me. Gritting my teeth, I snapped the right side of my body off the soggy ground and flung myself sideways, managing to roll onto my side just as the fleshy missile went splat where my leg and arm had lain, showering me with more brown glop.
Even though I should’ve hopped to my feet and sprinted away from the portal’s second human ejection, I sat up and swiped two fingers over the clump slithering down my cheek, sniffing it tentatively.Priorities.It smelled mineral and green even though it was entirely brown—ochre actually. Now that I knew I wasn’t covered in dung, I checked out what unlucky soul Gregor had pitched through the portal.
My pulse batted my ribs anew when I caught sight of the flaming tuft of hair atop the navy tunic-clad body. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mumbled, until I realized Remo couldn’t possibly be here as Gregor’s prisoner.
