“It’s the fastest way to get home. You’ll love it.”
Master Longwei stepped to the wall and pulled away curtains that revealed an elevator door.
Micha’s words of that night, that I wasn’t ready for an elevator ride, jumped into my head. Something told me this wasn’t a normal elevator ride.
He pushed a few buttons on a pad against the wall and the two metal doors shifted away from each other, revealing two chairs with safety belts and a mechanical device that raised above the chair. It was a rollercoaster ride. Where were the tracks?
My eyes skidded to Lucian as my heart thumbed.
“Relax, it’s fun.” He walked to the one seat and strapped himself in. I plopped in the seat next to him and tried to figure out the safety belt. Master Longwei came closer and assisted me. He had the clasps clicking inside each other in no time.
I looked up, and it was just black. I couldn’t look down. Where was this ride going? How did it operate?
My gaze landed on Lucian smiling at me. “This is like a rollercoaster ride?”
“If you’re scared, just close your eyes and remember to take a deep breath when everything stops. It helps.”
“Stops, where?” I asked. Nothing that escaped his lips made sense.
“Relax, Elena. Just enjoy the ride.” He gave me one of his knee weakening smiles and leaned back into his chair.
My fingers dented deep into the armrests as the mechanical arm lowered over us and pressed us tighter into the chair.
“Enjoy,” Master Longwei said with a smile, and the doors closed. I couldn’t see anything.
A nervous laugh escaped my lips as the chairs simply stayed in one place, toying with my nerves. I tried to calm myself and took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly through my nose.
The drop came, sending my stomach flying into my throat.
My ponytail blew in every direction and my lips and face felt like they were flapping like those animations in cartoons. The speed excelled, and a scream left my lips. I clutched the armrests harder.
Lucian whooped as the elevator kept descending. He absolutely loved it.
Then, as if we had just hit the bottom of the world, it stopped.
“Deep breath, Elena,” he said, excited, and I didn’t think twice.
I thought I was going to die as pain rolled through my entire body. I yelled and released the breath, which made the pain ten times worse. It felt as if someone had marked me with an iron stake all over my body. I tried to muffle my screams and ground hard on my teeth. Then it just disappeared. Everything just stopped.
I breathed fast, clutching my head in my hands. My heart pounded, and the ringing in my ears made it difficult to hear Lucian next to me.
The elevator door opened, and the light blinded me. Queen Maggie’s voice was right in front of me. How the hell? This wasn’t normal!
I opened my eyes, and she pushed a brown bag in front of me. I hurled into the bag and Lucian chuckled.
“It’s not funny?” the queen scolded.
The nausea finally quietened down.
Lucian was already out his seat, and my father looked worried at me. “You okay, Bear?”
“I’ll live.” My gaze flickered to Lucian standing at the desk, eating a packet of pretzels. “How can you enjoy that?”
“You should’ve held your breath.”
“This is crazy.”
“It gets easier with time. I’ve done it a million times and hardly feel anything anymore.”
