“Picky, picky. Just put them on and click ’em already,” Dorthea snapped.
Morte howled his disagreement, clawing at me. I slipped them on and smacked them together. Morte recoiled, protecting his eyes from the golden light the boots gave off.
The escape from the underworld usually cost a memory. This time was different. I was given one of Dorthea’s to relive.
I stared into a mirror held by Verte. My reflection glared with green-eyed shine, my hair crackling, sparking, hissing at its tips.
“What are you doing, Dot?” Verte asked.
“Sending a message.”
“I could get a fair-e-mail,” Verte offered.
“This is faster,” I said to Verte. “And some sentiments can’t be conveyed by a letter.” Then I stared back into the mirror. “I gave you a choice. I gave you an out. You chose, and now I see you too. Remember that. Take care of what is mine, but don’t ever forget he is mine. Not yours.” I snapped my fingers, and the mirror cracked.
The sound of the cracking mirror matched the sounds of cracking glass in the lab as I came back to myself.
“Are you okay?” Kato hauled me off the ground.
Remembering the words of the green-eyed monster, I wiggled out of his grip as quickly as I could. Message received. “Yeah, no place like home.” I rolled my eyes.
The only ones who remained in the room were Kato, me, and the genie. The real one. And the lab was trashed. Broken glass was everywhere, and a pink pile of crushed ice and straw, which I could only assume was what was left of Crow, was scattered across the floor. I’d forgotten Kato had frost powers.
“What happened?” I asked.
The genie answered, “He made the perfect wish. An unselfish one. He wanted to know how to save you.”
I saw Kato’s hand before he shoved it behind his back. He’d lost another fingernail. “And to get to Dorthea, you needed to use your own power.”
“I see it worked though.” Kato nodded to my new boots and sighed. “She has her own way of doing things.”
“Indeed she does. She’s growing more powerful too, I see.” Merlin stood in the doorway, beaming.
“He knows…”
“Yeah,” Kato confirmed. “Somehow he knows everything. He was the one who found us in the clearing in the first place.” He turned his back to Merlin and mouthed, I don’t trust him.
Duh, I mouthed back.
Kato handed me a loop of gold.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“What’s left of your bow.”
I stared at it horrified. “Where’s the rest?”
He looked back down at my shoes, which had golden-arrow heels and gold-bow buttons. “Equivalent exchange,” he said, shrugging.
“I’m going to kill her,” I muttered.
“You must survive first.” Merlin motioned in some orderlies. “Gwenevere demands you join her now.”
The men in white coats grabbed our arms and pulled us out of the lab.
“Hey, I think we know the way by now. You can let go.” They ignored me and kept marching. On the way down the hall, I saw a blur of black slip into the lab behind us. “Wait. There’s—”
“Quiet,” Merlin said, tapping a wand to my lips. “Touch of crazy glue. Standard use at the institution.”
My mouth struggled and stretched, but it was sealed tight.
Merlin brought us to the model castle, through the door, and past the yowling kitties.
The headmistress waited in the purple room. She was looking out the window, with her back to us. “Leave them,” she said in a sharp staccato.
“It might be in everyone’s—particularly my—best interest if I stayed,” Merlin answered, taking a post near the entry.
Gwen flicked her arm out, and the whip in her hand cracked and one of the crystal pieces shattered.
“Or I could just check on the rest of the patients,” Merlin said.
“Good choice.”
He scurried out the door. The second the door closed behind him, Gwen let out a sigh and plopped in the chair.
“Thought he was never gonna go.”
I smiled as wide as my glued lips would let me, very happy to see Hydra’s crinkly face and not Gwen’s smooth one. “Don’ know how long I gots so best be quick.”
Kato started babbling about what’d happened, but Hydra cut him off.
“Done is done. I’m not the only one who’s short on time.” She looked meaningfully at me. Kato looked at me too, confusion on his face. I shrugged since I couldn’t say anything. “We need that steel toothpick, and we need it now.” She rummaged around on her desk. “Pen. Where is that blasted pen?”
I pulled the one I’d borrowed from my coat pocket.
She took it and grabbed a piece of paper. “I’m gonna draw you a map of where it might oughta be. It’s closer than a huff to a puff. I can feel it, but I’ve searched the whole danged desk and Merlin’s workshop.” She shook the pen and banged it on the paper. “This pen is still busted.” She shoved it roughly back in my hand.
“Maybe somebody’s already found Excalibur,” Kato said.
“Nah. The only reason I’m putting up with this head is that Gwen has this lore in her bones. It’s still here, or she’d know it.”
Behind us, the door burst open and Merlin ran into the room. The kitties yowled. They were very efficient alarms.
“It’s Mordred,” he shouted over the meows.
Hydra covered her face. “Ah…ahhh choo.” When she looked up, she was pure Gwen again and surprised to see us. “What is going on now?”
“After the session ended, the black prince used the genie,” Merlin answered.
“And? Spit it out,” Gwennie snapped.
“Mordred now wields Excalibur.”
It was probably a good thing that my lips were sealed. I think curses would have flown that had never been said before. Before Black Crow recognized me, I had been about to do the exact same thing—wish to have Excalibur in my hand. I cursed her. I cursed my luck. I cursed myself because I’d lost sight of my real goal in a fit of anger and fear.
But on the bright side, at least I knew where Excalibur was. And I am the princess of thieves. Stealing is what I do best.
“Rule #24: While it’s true that most conflicts can be resolved with a little heart-to-heart talk, that would take out the drama and provide fewer life-or-death situations to bond over before triumph.”
—Definitive Fairy-Tale Survival Guide, Love’s Special Edition
26
Excaliburned