Page 116

No…

It was hers.

The earth around them shook. Thicket reached for the door knob to steady herself but found it was gone. In its place was a swirling mass of purple, green, and gray. Standing this close to it, she could no longer smell the sickening scent of lavender.

She smelled astromeia.

She smelled home.

And then, the world around them started to crumble. It was like someone had yanked on a loose thread, unraveling everything around them. The walls, the floor, the tables and chairs and sofas. The bags full of candy and disks still scattered across the coffee table. Even all the picture frames, holding all the memories of this life, began to deteriorate.

Thicket turned towards the doorway, ready to step through it. Before she could fully face it, her mother said, “If you leave now, there is a chance you will never find happiness. Are you willing to gamble this life for one that isn’t even guaranteed?”

Thicket faced her mother one last time. “I would rather risk it all for a chance at true happiness than live in a lie.”

She stepped back, letting herself fall through the swirling mass.

“Thicket!” Her mother raced for her, hand outstretched, as though intending to pull her back. It was already too late.

Her mother, like the rest of the Dream World, had already crumbled to dust.

PART THREE

But that is not our story…

In this story, Sleeping Beauty saves herself

with an act of truest love.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Thicket was met with blackness. She no longer smelled lavender or astromeia, but an odd combination of dust, fire—and blood.

Warm arms wrapped around her. They trembled, smelling of smoke and ash.

Marcellus. He had broken free of Enola’s control. He was holding her. She could feel the beat, beat, beat of his heart. The next moment, he was clutching her to his chest as he screamed. Heat licked her cheeks.

Fire, she realized.

“You are as stubborn as my sister.” That was Lavender. Her heels clicked against the floor, approaching wherever she lay.

“One more step,” Marcellus growled. She heard the shift of his sword as he angled it above her. “And I won’t hesitate to slit your throat.”

“You think you are a threat to me, guard? Look at you. I am surprised you are still conscious.”

He didn’t move from his spot. Thicket could feel his determination to keep her safe in the way his muscles were as taut as armor.

She had to get back—now—or Marcellus was going to die.

Thicket tried to move, but her body wouldn’t allow it. She was trapped in this lifeless state, this coffin of darkness.

Her mind raced, trying to remember how she had gotten out last time.

She hadn’t woken from the dream of darkness. She had gone through a door.

The hallway. She needed to get back to the hallway. But how? She had never done it willingly before.

“I tire of this,” Lavender said. Something scuffled against the floor. It sounded like the scrape of a blade. “You wish to play guard? Then so be it. The two of you will die together.”