Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
“I heard that part too.”
“‘No horn, or hoof, or magic spell will save the life of the monster Pell.’”
“Yep. That’s what it said.”
“So…”
I just stare at her. She’s so… beautiful, and good, and sweet, and I love her. So much. And actually, I would not choose number three. I would choose number one. Run away and save ourselves.
But there isn’t a chance in hell that Pie Vita would choose to run.
Not a chance in hell.
I take her hand and twine my fingers into hers. “We’ll walk through that door when we get there.”
This is not a satisfactory answer. Not in the least. But neither of us knows what comes after. We could guess and get ourselves all worked up over it. Or… we can just do what I said.
Forget about it for now.
There’s no point in worrying because none of this is really a choice.
It’s all written down in a book somewhere.
But not a fairy tale like Tomas said.
Because there isn’t going to be a happily ever after for us.
There just isn’t.
It takes a pretty good length of time for Pie and me to make our way back down the crumbling stairs and out into the back of the cathedral. Tomas is at the top of the hill standing on the remnants of a tomb and looking down towards the lake.
He looks over his shoulder at us, snow falling onto his shoulders and hair, his ammolite scales glinting on his legs as they catch the setting sun. He’s shirtless, like he always has been inside the walls of the sanctuary, but for some reason it looks out of place now. Probably the snow.
Pie suddenly stops walking, pulling on my arm to stop too. “Oh, my God.”
“What?”
“Something just occurred to me. There are no walls, Pell. How will the… gods, or whoever’s in charge of whatever is happening here, know that we’re supposed to change into human form? Am I going into town like this? Are we going into town like this?” She’s panning her hand down her body, indicating her monster form.
“I hadn’t thought of that.” But my response is really just… indifference. “Who cares. This is who we are. And it’s not like Savage Falls is some normal place, right? It’s part of the magic.”
Neither of us understands this magic. Perhaps Tomas does. He’s been around longer and every now and then I get the feeling he knows a lot more than I do. But really, it’s the end now. Who cares?
“Hmm. I guess that’s true. But if Jacqueline is there, what will she think of me?”
“Will you having hooves and horns change her feelings about you?”
Pie shrugs with her hands. “I feel that it might.”
“Then she is stupid and not worth your time.”
“I do understand where you’re coming from. I get the whole this-is-me thing. But…” She sighs. “She’s my only friend from my human life. I would like to keep her.”
“If she’s your friend, she won’t care what you look like, Pie. And anyway, you look fucking amazing.”
Pie lifts her shoulders up and grins. “Thanks. And for the record, so do you.”
“Hey!” Tomas is calling for us from the top of his ruin. “The truck is gone, Pell! It’s gone! You were right! They left!”
I picture that trip into town and just shake my head as I image hordes of monsters and wood nymphs cramming themselves onto the back of that flatbed. They were probably piled on top of each other. Sitting on the roof of the cab, hanging off the sides. I really hope the route to town is cloaked by foggy magic because if anyone saw that, it would be a whole new nightmare.
“What about the Jeep?” Pie calls back to Tomas.
“Still here!” Tomas jumps down and then he disappears over the top of the hill.
“That’s great!” Pie is pulling on my arm. “Maybe my Jeep is a piece of shit, but it’s my piece of shit.”
“And walking nineteen miles into town just to make an offer to a bunch of asshole monsters really would’ve sucked.”
She huffs a little air. “So bad.”
We carefully make our way down the hill and across all the ruined tombs, then spill out into the parking lot where Tomas is waiting.
He’s standing in front of the Jeep, practically bouncing up and down with anticipation. “I’ll drive.”
“You will not,” Pie says.
“Shit. Where are the keys?” I ask.
“Only the gods know the answer to that question, Pell.” Pie pats my chest. “But don’t worry.” She goes around the Jeep to the passenger side, opens the glove box, and pulls out a screwdriver, a wire stripper, and a roll of electrical tape. “Hotwiring is a skill every girl should know. This car didn’t even come with keys. It took me six months to save up for a new ignition. But it runs and it was only fifteen hundred bucks, so beggars can’t be choosers.”