Page 218 of The Demon's Spell

Oliver raced by my side, meowing loudly. There had to be a doorway up ahead, because if there wasn’t, we’d all be crushed. The walls were so close together now, Nadine and I could hardly hold hands.

Fuck!

“This is getting us nowhere!” Chloe shouted.

I stopped dead in my tracks and whirled around. “What else do you suggest!?”

Unless she had any better ideas, I wasn’t interested. By now, I could reach my hands out and press both of my palms to either wall. The school was shrinking quickly, and soon it wouldn’t be able to hold us any longer. Once the hall vanished, we’d either be crushed, or we’d be stuck in a pocket universe and starve to death like Cooper had.

Chloe remained silent. She was a smart, cunning witch, but she had no better insights than the rest of us.

Oliver yowled loudly at my feet again. We didn’t have the fucking time. “Oliver!” I growled. “I’m not—”

I looked down at him, and I realized he wasn’t meowing at me at all. He sat at my feet, looking straight upward. I followed his gaze, and my heart lifted. Above us was a door set straight into the ceiling—a wooden door, like the ones in our dorm hall.

“Of course!” Nadine cried. “The rules of spatial reality as we know it are no longer relevant. We have to think outside of the box.”

“Let’s get moving then,” I said quickly, lacing my fingers together to help boost Nadine up. She put her foot into my hand, and I hoisted her upward. Nadine grabbed the door handle above our heads. I expected her to have to heave the door upward, like a trap door, but it swung open effortlessly. Gravity had no rules here, either, apparently.

I hoisted Nadine up further, and she pulled herself through the doorway. She barely needed my help, and I realized it was because her center of gravity had shifted. Nadine crawled across the floor of the next room to scramble inside, but she was perpendicular to the rest of us. She should have fallen straight back through the doorway, but she didn’t. She looked relieved. It seemed like the room was a safe escape for now.

“Quickly!” I shouted, ushering the others through. Talia went next, clutching both Gus and Isa to her chest. I hoisted Chloe and Charlotte through next, along with our other cats. By the time they were through, the hall had shrunk to one person wide.

“You’re next!” I barked at Miles. Grant and I hoisted him through. My heart hammered as my shoulders touched both walls. Grant and I were the last ones standing there, and he hesitated.

“You first,” Grant offered through heavy breaths.

“There’s no time,” I demanded. I laced my fingers together firmly and bent down, showing him I wasn’t fucking around. Grant knew we didn’t have time to argue, and he reluctantly stepped into my hands. He kicked off the ground, and I used his momentum to toss him upward. Miles dangled his hand out of the doorway and helped Grant through. I could feel the resistance of his shoulders against the shrinking walls.

Oh, fuck!

The walls touched me on both sides, and my heart lurched. I spun to the side, giving myself a few extra inches of space, but there wasn’t any room to jump.

“Lucas, I’ve got you!” Grant screamed, holding his hand out toward me. The ceiling was too high to reach him.

I didn’t have time to think this through. I pressed my back against the wall on one side and my feet and palms against the other, wedging myself between the walls to push myself upward. My heart slammed against my rib cage. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it.

I tried not to look upward, because I knew if I did, I’d see the doorway disappearing above me. The walls were narrower now than the doorway was. This was bad.

I pushed my feet against the wall once more, but as the walls closed in on one another, my balance faltered, and one of my feet slipped. I was nearly straight upright now, unable to wedge myself between the walls for much longer.

“Lucas, now!” Grant cried.

I threw my hand upward, and by some miracle, my hand connected with his wrist. Grant curled his fingers around my arm, locking our hands tightly together as he pulled me upward. My feet grazed the walls on both sides. The world seemed to tumble around me, and I got dizzy as gravity shifted. I landed hard on top of several other people. I heard the slam of the doorway as the hall behind us disappeared for good.

We were all alive, thank the Goddess!

As my heart settled, I managed to sit upright. I realized I’d landed on top of Grant and Miles. Grant must’ve leaned into the hallway to grab me, and Miles had made sure he hadn’t fallen through the doorway. That’s why I’d been able to reach his hand at the last second.

“Thank you guys,” I said breathlessly.

“No one’s getting left behind, all right?” Grant said.

I nodded. “Not a chance.”

Nadine helped me to my feet, and I finally got a look at the room we were in. It was one of the Seer classrooms, with several fireplaces along the walls and crystal balls on the mantles. The walls seemed steady here, so that was a relief.

“There’s got to be a way out,” Nadine theorized. “It’s like a puzzle—a Rubik’s cube being twisted and mixed up.”

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