Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
“How so?”
“How do you not think it’s a trap? A door appears—a door that should’ve been shut and locked when Pie and Pell went… well, wherever the hell they went. And people stumble out of it on the very day where you and I are”—I point to the two of us—“fed up with our fates. Now we walk through and discover all this?” I pan my hands to the hallway. “Someone did this, Callistina.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. It could be anyone. A god, a goddess, a monster.” An oracle. But I don’t say that last one out loud.
“So what?”
“So what?”
“Listen.” She stomps her foot and plants her hands on her hips. “I’m. Not. Going. Back. I’m going through here.” She points at her open door. “If you don’t want to come—”
“I’m not saying I don’t want to go. I’m saying we should consider our options and not just walk through the doors we’re being forced to use.”
“I feel like we’re talking in circles. I also feel like you might be deliberately acting obtuse. These. Are the doors. That are open.”
“Could we”—I point to her, then I point to me—“a god and a queen—not find a way around this obvious ploy?”
“I don’t think it’s a ploy. I think it’s an ordered list, Eros.”
“A what?”
“They’re an ordered pair. I learned about this in alchemy school. You have to do things in a certain sequence. All magic is like this, right? Like a recipe that must be followed precisely. You don’t add”—she pauses, trying to recall a recipe—“eggs before… tallow. Or… something.”
“You don’t even know how to cook, do you?”
“It’s not my fault I had servants. But in this new life, I will learn.” And she tips her chin up, like she’s being defiant.
“I guess.”
“Right. So before we can go through those doors”—she points down the hallway to the set of doors we came out of, then points out the other two sets leading up to where we presently are—“we have to go through these doors.” She points to the doors we’re standing in front of. “You through one and me through the other.”
“See, this is my problem with the whole situation. This ordered-list thing, in combination with the two points-of-view doors, would imply…” I know what I want to say, but I can’t find a way to explain it.
“That we’re part of the list?” Callistina says.
Which doesn’t explain anything, but I know exactly what she means. “Yeah. Specifically us.”
“And that we’re already inside the magic?”
“Yeah. That.”
“And that… someone is playing a game with us?”
I sigh. “Fucking Tomas.”
“What?”
“It’s him. I know it’s him. He put me here. He put you here. It’s some kind of happy-ending thing.”
Callistina is making a face. It’s a combination of confusion and disgust. “Why in the name of Vinca would our happy endings be tied together?”
“Well, you don’t have to look so disgusted by it. You were just kissing me like five minutes ago.”
“I’ve been sleeping with you as well, but that doesn’t mean you’re the love of my life. No offense.”
“Whatever.”
“I have no qualms with playing a game. I don’t care about your happy ending. I just want to… move on.”
I blow out a breath. It’s frustration. Also resignation. “OK, then. Let’s do this.”
We both turn and face our respective doors. Whoever is on the other side is still riding the animal because all we see is the rolling motion view of a deserted mountain road and a deep, deep canyon that seems to go on forever.
“Do you think it’s tame?” Callistina asks.
“It better be. Are you ready?”
“I’m ready. Breath. Wind. Earth.”
And after she says ’earth’ we step through.
CHAPTER TWELVE - CALLISTINA
The first thing I notice is the hot, dry wind on my face. Then it’s the motion of the beast under me. And then… then it’s the realization that Eros is the one riding and I am his passenger, sitting behind him.
“Ho-lee fuck!” he exclaims. Which perfectly describes what I would like to say too.
He pulls back on the reins of the… horse? No. It’s much bigger than a horse, but it’s horse-like for sure. We stop on the side of a cliff and we don’t even say anything. We just take it all in. I lean to the side, trying to get a better view without his broad, tattooed shoulders blocking the way. This is when I notice he’s shirtless and my arms are wrapped around his middle. Clinging to his tight muscles.
Looking down at myself, I realize that I’m pretty much naked.
Not all the way naked. There are chains draped all over my body, dainty silver chains that are more like jewelry than anything meant to bind. They clink and jingle with a magical musicality every time I move. My upper body is (barely) covered by a fringe of these chains. A thin bar of silver intricately engraved with a botanical motif rests gently on the top of my breasts. The fringe hangs down off this bar, covering my nipples. And it’s long, draping over my breasts and down to just above my waist. Not quite covering me, but definitely giving off the impression of covering me.