Page 113 of Ascendant King

I don’t like this, Basil hissed, drawing out the sibilant sound.This is too dangerous, and if you die here, I would likely die too, and you would be my last meal.

“So sorry this is so difficult for you,” I said dryly.

Cade exhaled, ignoring our back-and-forth. Then, he reached for the door, opening it. We stepped into a familiar ballroom.

The last time, I had been amazed at the size, the delicate ceiling, magically enchanted to move. This time, a carousel sat in the center. Instead of horses, there were people wearing House Morrison robes positioned like ballerina dancers in the center of a music box. As soon as we stepped inside, the carousel began to move, and the clockwork people moved with it, spinning in circles around each other in a macabre dance.

I pulled up short, gripping Cade’s hand tightly. I recognized the people on the carousel. One was Nicole, the cheerful House Morrison mage who had guided Cade and me around the property. Her face gleamed porcelain, ruby-red lips and painted eyes wide as she danced in circles around her partner.

The pair of mages I had fought, one tall and slender, the other shorter, gripped hands, spinning in circles as the carousel moved. The jaunty music began dragging slower and slower, becoming more horrifying as the dancers slowed, eventually stopping on a low, groaned note.

“Miles.”

At Cade’s intense voice, I turned, and he nodded behind us. The door was gone, a flat wall remaining. Windows were set every few feet, but when I looked out of them, it looked as though we were on the set of a stage play. The ocean was gone, and in its place was an oil painting of an ocean set against the window.

When I tried to force it open, the frame wouldn’t move.

The carousel music started up again, the dragged, low notes speeding up until its jaunty tune sped too fast, the people spinning so quickly they became flashes of color.

The entire machine began to shake. Pieces of it flew off, cracking against the wall over our head.

I dragged Cade with me, racing to the other side of the room, where I saw an open door. We made it through just in time, the entire carousel collapsing in on itself with a crash.

“What was that?” I dragged out the words, unsure how to ask my real question.

“I don’t know.” Cade shook his head. “This entire place feels like magic, but… I can’t tell who’s casting it or what they want. The purpose is beyond me.”

“Are we in that transitional space? The… alternate magical reality? Like Elizabeth dragged us to, when we couldn’t see the people in the house anymore?” Maybe this whole thing was Elizabeth trying to protect herself, and the fact that she had been almost drained of magic meant we’d arrived here instead of the in-between place where things were black and white.

Cade looked around the hallway, which resembled House Morrison, down to the color of the wood floors, the paint on the wall, and the scent of too many people. “I don’t think so. I’ve never seen one like this before. The in-between place is just that. You’re freezing yourself between one location and the next. It’s why it’s dangerous to be left there. There shouldn’t be anything in it.”

“The front door.” I looked down the hall, trying to judge where we were. “If we can’t get out through the back door, let’s try the front.”

Cade’s hand tightened on mine, his fingers trembling for a second before they stilled. We stepped forward, our footsteps echoing loudly as we moved. Even when I tried to walk quieter, I could hear the boom and thunder of my steps. It seemed to shake the walls themselves.

We passed an open door, and as soon as we could see inside, I heard loud screeches. I squinted, but the room was dark. When I took a half step forward, trying to see what made the horrible noise, the lights went on.

Larissa sat at a dining table with Caroline, the previous queen of House Morrison. Both of them moved their mouths like they were speaking, but instead of words, all that came outwere terrible dinosaur shrieks of noise. Larissa leaned forward, grabbing at a piece of raw meat sitting on a platter between them, ripping it loose with her fingers and shoving it into her mouth. She ate it whole, reaching for another.

When she tore off another piece, I recognized the meat was no hunk of pig or lamb but a human rib cage.

“Larissa?” I said.

Larissa opened her mouth, making another shrieking noise, but she didn’t even glance at me. On the other side of the table, Caroline laughed, throwing back her head and revealing a bloodstained neck.

“They aren’t real,” I said slowly. “Any more than the carousel was.”

“No.” Cade took a step forward but stayed well outside of the doorway. “But I don’t knowwhatthey are.”

“We have to get out of here.” I tugged Cade’s hand, ignoring the thunder of my feet as I rushed down the hallway.

We passed the stairs, but then Cade stopped in front of the next open door, jerking me with him. I turned and saw Howard Morrison, sitting on a golden throne. The crown on his head had melted onto his forehead, the skin blistered.

“King Morrison?” Cade said. “Howard?”

He inched his way closer, his toe coming right to the precipice of the room.

Howard raised his head, chin going up. Then, his head slid off his neck, falling to the floor and rolling in a slow circle at his feet.