Page 40 of Love at Full Tilt

Phoenix’s Landing, Fableland

Orlando, FL

Very little is known about Sam Casterman’s world outside of Fable Industry.

His only brother died of cancer when the boys were in their teens, and his parents were killed in a car accident when Casterman was in college.

Although he never married, he was rumored to have maintained a long-distance relationship with a woman named Ava for most of his life.

Many rumors have sprung up about who Ava might have been and why they lived apart, but the identity of this mystery woman has never been unveiled.

—The Unofficial Biography of Sam Casterman, Magic Maker

“I hate this thing.”

Mason mutters the words as he follows me into one of the cars for the Phoenix Rising Ferris wheel. Every movement causes it to swing like a boat on choppy waters.

He sits down across from me, and our feet tangle between us. It’s been like that since he met me at the park entrance this morning, some part of us always connecting. As if our bodies recognize we only have so much time left together.

I pull out my phone to text my mom a picture, since Ferris wheels are her favorite.

Anything to stay in her good graces after missing two check-ins in one day.

I can’t help but smile as the screen lights up.

My text chain with Mason is still open to the messages he sent me last night, forgetting I wouldn’t get them.

Most are descriptions of whatever nutty thing Waffles and Toast were doing, but the last one simply says, “I wish you were still here,” with a photo of the empty pillow my head lay on for hours yesterday while we talked.

I shove my phone back in my pocket after texting Mom and grin at Mason. “Buckle up, buttercup. We’re going to have to move around when we reach the top.”

“You’re taking the picture for both of us.”

The second clue for today requires contestants to snap a photo of the elaborate phoenix mosaic crafted at the bottom of the man-made lake that sits on the eastern edge of the park.

The top of the Ferris wheel is the only spot in Phoenix’s Landing that provides a clear view of the whole bird in all its fiery glory.

We then have to show the image to the cast member dressed in a bird suit to get the QR code.

I tilt my head. “You’ve been on a bazillion roller coasters this week. Why is this so scary?”

“The other rides don’t feel like they’re seconds from falling apart.” His watercolor eyes flick toward the gondola above us as it rocks back and forth. “Plus roller coasters move. You’re not sitting still, forced to confront how squishy you really are and how far a fall it would be.”

The ride creaks along its slow upward climb, and Mason grips one of the bars on the window, his knuckles turning white. “Why couldn’t this have been another food thing like earlier?” he mumbles.

We started the day at the royal dining room on the third floor of Reddingshire Castle for the first clue, the park’s renowned hot-chocolate croissants.

Though the riddle wasn’t hard, accessing the pastries was, because they’re only served in one spot, and guests need an invitation or the secret code to gain entrance.

Thankfully, I’d watched the rerelease of Percivel Night recently enough to know the code.

In the post-credits scene, Percivel stares up at the sky from the balcony of the castle and whispers, “Thank the stars for my royal jewel,” before hurrying to join Regina for dinner.

I whispered those words to the cast member stationed at the top of the stairs in full military regalia, and he let us pass.

I couldn’t help but shoot Mason a triumphant grin as we pushed through the elaborate French doors. Who was helping whom now? Without me, he would have been milling around with the five or six other contestants we saw, trying to find the answer online.

Even Tess looked impressed as she’d shoved a croissant in her mouth. “Maybe you’re not such a nerd after all,” she joked.

She and Issy both share Mason’s distaste for Ferris wheels, so they’d left us to finish the clues for the day while they met Carter in Hero’s Quest to explore the Land of Plenty, the pavilion with food demonstrations and re-creations from all of Fable Industry’s films.

Mason sucks in a sharp breath and shuts his eyes tight as our gondola rises higher.

I tuck a sneaker against his ankle in the hopes of comforting him. “Have you really never been on this? The view is supposed to be spectacular.”

“You’re the first one to even get me in line.”

“Would you have come without the contest?”

He sneaks open one eye to peer at me. “If you asked, probably.”

My heart leaps in my chest.

“Why don’t you check the leaderboard while we wait?” Clearly, he could use the distraction.

I get my phone back out as well. Unlike most Ferris wheels, the Phoenix is unpredictable.

Sometimes you’ll sit in the same spot for five minutes; sometimes it will loop around three times without stopping.

I need to be ready to snap those pictures at the first opportunity.

The last thing we want to do is have to ride this again when so many people are being cut.

“No one is finished yet, but there’s at least five of us on clue two and four on clue three,” Mason says.

“We should be fine, then,” I muse. But my leg keeps bouncing anyway. Mason and I have ended the day in the top twenty-five only once. If we don’t make that happen today, we’re screwed.

“As long as we don’t die on this thing, sure,” Mason quips.

The next time the wheel turns, we find ourselves at the top.

Mason presses his head to his knees with a groan, while I angle sideways in my seat, doing my best not to rock the car.

A gasp escapes my lips as I peer over the side.

I’ve never seen anything like this mosaic.

Thousands of glass tiles in endless shades of blue and gray and white are shaped into a phoenix that looks frozen in ice.

At the center of the lake, a fountain shoots sprays of water, creating restless waves that make the creature’s blue flames appear to dance in a phantom breeze.

I snap photo after photo, then take Mason’s phone to do the same.

“You can’t tell me there isn’t a little magic here,” I murmur as I stare down at the water.

Mason hmm s in agreement.

When I glance over at him, his eyes are open. But they’re on me, not the lake below.

Here lies a rose that can stretch across oceans.

My smile widens each time I read the final clue. I know this one, and it’s one of my favorite things about the entire resort.

“How do you know where we’re going?” Mason asks.

Despite our height difference, he has to jog a little to keep up with me.

Nothing makes me faster than being excited.

Tess says I could have been a track star if Elorra and Oliver Cray were waiting for me at the end of every race.

“The only rose I can think of is in Hero’s Quest.”

“The one in Annie DoGood’s hat?”

“Yeah. But it doesn’t cross any oceans, so I’m not sure what they’re getting at.”

“It’s not a movie. It’s Casterman lore.”

“Like the unicorn?”

I nod.

Getting back to Reddingshire Castle from Phoenix Rising means walking the circumference of half the lake, and it feels like it’s taking us ages.

I swear every person we pass has a contestant pin, until I look more closely, and I can’t help but check the leaderboard every few minutes to see how many people are ahead of us.

Tomorrow’s the last day. The cash prize is legitimately in reach for me or Mason.

It’s not a pipe dream anymore. All I have to do is stay calm and focused and trust in my knowledge of the park.

And in Mason.

I had my doubts at the beginning of the week but he’s been a real teammate and ally, and so much more.

As much as I can’t wait to get my hands on that prize money, I also don’t want to rush the clock.

I want every second with him I can get. Even if we’re just standing next to each other, fingers woven together, breathing in silence.

I don’t know how I’m going to go back to my old life now, not when he’s carved a space for himself in it.

Two people have completed the clues for the day (Ember and Erica, of course), but otherwise, the stats look the same as the last time I checked.

We’re still numbers five and six, respectively.

I don’t know how many people are aware of Reddingshire Castle’s dungeons, so it may take the other contestants longer than usual to secure their spots.

Which means a better chance for Mason and me to reach the top ten.

I switch over to my texts before I put my phone away.

I send off a quick message to Issy and Tess updating them on where Mason and I are.

Then I open my text chain with Mom to send her a picture of the phoenix.

It’s been more than twenty minutes since I sent her the last photo, and I can’t believe she hasn’t responded.

Mom never lets go of her phone when I’m not home.

Maybe she’s having an extra-good day. For that to happen while I’m away would be amazing. It would show that her meds are working.

I lead Mason around the left side of the castle, in the opposite direction from where we went to find Smokey on the first day.

“No one does the dungeon walk-through anymore,” he notes as we reach the entrance. “It’s boring as hell. Most people have forgotten it’s even here.”

From what I’ve read, there aren’t anything but empty cells and flickering lights down here, because Casterman didn’t want to scare the kids. But we’re not going to the dungeons to be entertained.

“Just trust me,” I say, smiling at him over my shoulder.

Our hands still hooked together, we duck beneath the low doorway into the first twisting hallway.

“Given your love of murder tunnels, I figured you’d be totally into this place,” I joke.

Mason shakes his head, that little smile I love so much tipping up.