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)
It smells like dirt, but the good kind. The wet kind. And flowers, of course. There are a lot of flowers blooming these days. Again, I hadn’t noticed them before Pie came. I didn’t really look around much. I certainly didn’t go exploring. I just… came in, walked to my favorite tree, and settled down on the grass underneath for sleep.
But Pie and I often go for walks in here. And we have discovered that the woods are like the hallways upstairs in the cathedral. They change all the time. But the paths in here don’t really lead anywhere except right back to my favorite tree.
That’s where the doors are too. It’s kind of a home base, I guess.
They are all lined up—closed, thank God—and ready for… something.
The bag of rings is kind of hopeless at this point. I never did get Tomas to seal it up properly, so they stay in there sometimes. But other times they just float in front of the door they open.
Pie and I do not open the doors.
We will have to go back to Vinca and check on Tarq and his people and we should really do that sooner rather than later. Pie’s not entirely wrong about why I haven’t gone back to Vinca. Was making Tarq king a great idea? Probably not. But I don’t think it was a horrible one, either. He needs time to assert his authority. Maybe wage a war or two in the process.
I’m perfectly happy giving him all the time he needs to do that without my input.
What do I care about Vinca? I’m not from there. And even if my best friend is the king, I don’t see any reason to go back. Especially when I will be pushing all these satyrs and wood nymphs through that door the first chance I get.
“What are you smiling about?”
We’ve reached my tree and Pie and I are just lying down when she asks this.
“I’m thinking about how pretty soon we can push all these annoying monsters through that door over there and be done with them.”
She giggles a little, settling her head onto my chest. “I hate to say this, but I’m with you. I don’t like them here.”
“Me either.”
She props herself up on one elbow so she can look me in the eyes. “I don’t think they belong here.”
“Agreed.”
“And…” She sighs. “Are you disappointed that Batty and Eyebrows turned out to be total dicks? Because I am.” She lies back down, sighs heavily again. “Were they always like that? Because I never got the impression that they hated me when Batty was giving me grains of sand and Eyebrows was making me racks and racks of custom clothes. Even Cookie looked pissed off.”
I mull this over for a moment and have to agree. “It is kinda weird. They didn’t pay much attention to me, but they were all pretty enamored with you.”
“Maybe it was Tomas? Maybe he was the one kinda keeping them in line. He didn’t much act like a leader, but now that I think back, they did treat him like one.”
“Speaking of Tomas—”
“Don’t start, Pell. He’s not dangerous.”
She says this almost convincingly. But when I turn my head to look at her, she’s biting her lip, which means she’s lying. Or, because Pie’s really not a liar, she’s maybe holding something back.
“What?” I ask.
“What do you mean, what?”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
She sighs. “I know you don’t want me to see Tomas, but I’m not gonna stop doing that.”
I didn’t figure she would. But this is not the point she’s trying to make. “OK.”
She turns again, resting her chin on my chest so we’re face to face. “It’s kinda creepy down there. There are eggs, Pell. Not rotten ones, either.”
“What?”
“He’s hatching eggs. And Madeline?” Pie cringes. “She’s got red scales all over her face. And she’s not some dragon chimera, either. I think she’s slowly turning into an actual real dragon.”
“Well, that’s wonderful. That’s all I need. Crazy Tomas and his pet dragon raising babies in my basement.”
Pie giggles. “That’s not nice.”
I let out a long sigh. “Where do you think this is all going?”
“Going?”
“You understand that this is… you know, a plot, right?”
She sits up a little, breaking contact with me. “What kind of plot?”
I’m immediately sorry I started this conversation. I just want to forget about the outside world now. In fact, ever since Pie spelled her way into my tomb, this is really the only place I want to be.
But only if she’s here.
And she is here. So I push her back down. “Never mind. I have something better for us to think about.” I roll over on top of her, propping myself up on my elbows, and stroke her cheeks with my thumbs. She opens her legs a little and my hips fit between them like they are meant to be there.