Page 88 of The Great and Terrible

“Planned on it,” I grated, picking up speed.

When we finished, I marveled. A new mural, yes, painted around an actual door.Thank you, Momma.

I looked to Leona, who looked to me.

“Go ahead,” she said, motioning with her chin. “Open it.”

Tentative, I turned the knob. Hinges squeaked as the door opened, revealing a dark void. A soft breeze carried the scent of must.

“An escape hatch?” Leona asked.

“Maybe.” Probably. I didn’t enter but backed up to view the mural with the new opening. In it, Sandra Shaker gestured to the door with one hand and held onto a small rock with the other. Only, the rock wasn’t made of paint. Like the door, it was an actual object.

Unsteady, I detached the rock from the wall. Light weight, with a crack spanning the center.

“Let me.” My cellmate took the rock and pulled on both halves, which separated, revealing a tiny, yellowed paper and a velvet patch.

I caught the paper before it hit the floor but missed the pouch, which clinked against the stone. Tremors plagued me as I retrieved and opened the material, finding a ring exactly like the one the Guardian had stolen and two serpens-rosa, marveling at my mother’s foreknowledge. I returned the grains to the holder, stuffed the pouch into my pocket, and anchored the band around my finger.

The tremors worsened as I unrolled the paper. Familiar handwriting caused tears to well.

To my darling daughter,

You must wonder how I know of you before you are even born. You must wonder about a lot of things. But I think we both understand now isn’t the time for a long, detailed letter. Take the tunnel.What occurs next will hurt, and I’m sorry for that, but there’s no other way out. You must survive, return to your father, then take your place as queen of Hakeldama. Tell the people the truth. War comes, whether they are ready or not.

I love you, Rye. Always and forever.

I pressed the paper to my chest. My heart cried,I love you, too, Momma. The hurt, whatever it was, I could bear. I would escape. Return to Ozworld, heal my father, then come back to Hakeldama and save the people. There was a way. Mom all but guaranteed it.

“Moriah,” Jasher rasped, as if he sensed our end.

I cast him a final glance. He watched me with heartbreak in his eyes. “Have a good life, Jasher.” I swiped up the cloth the Guardian had ignored and shook it until the hat reformed. Once the headgear was anchored to my head, I offered Leona a hand. “Join me?”

The mayor rolled back her shoulders and accepted. “Please.”

“What happened here?” Ian’s voice echoed, and I twisted to see him and his minions rushing to the cell. “Stop her!”

Urgency whipped me.

Jasher called, “You will not touch her.”

“Reece,” Ian snapped, and a guard quickened his step.

Jasher’s brother.

Both men roared and morphed into their monstra form. Jasher stood guard at the bars, daring his brother and the others to try and pass him.

Reese raked his claws over the floor, flames sparking from his nostrils.

Would Jasher truly fight his beloved brother for me? This could be an act, another trick, but…I believed him enough to hang back. The remaining soldiers morphed, too, and flanked Reese.

The brother lunged first, slashing and biting at Jasher. Theothers followed suit. A savage battle erupted, many against one, and I cringed inside.

Only the Guardian remained unaffected by the chaos and aggression. None of the beasts attacked him. Rather, they allowed him to step out of the war path. He observed me with slitted eyes. “This won’t save you. But it does mean the end of Jasher. Unless you’d like to stay and bargain for his life, of course.”

An endeavor that would only get us both killed, no doubt.

“Moriah?” Leona tugged me onward.

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