Page 97 of The Alien's Vicious Starflash Manor

But it doesn’t take long for the ice maze to entrance me. It’s magical.

At least at first.

All around us, the icy walls glitter and shimmer, some of them so polished I can see our reflections in them, distorted and stretched. And the moonlight bounces off the walls like we’re walking through hallways full of hundreds of mirrors.

With a shiver, Izzy says, “We can take a left turn ahead. Let’s keep turning left whenever we can. At least that way we’ll be able to backtrack if we need to.”

“Backtrack to what?”

“I don’t know. The entrance? Anything that might help us find our way out?”

As the four of us wend our way through the maze, nothing makes a sound except for the creaking of the ice, the crunch of our boots on the snow.

“Why did I agree to this?” Izzy mutters under her breath.

I assume her words aren’t meant for me, but I answer them anyway, giving emphasis to the lie we’re acting out. “Because you want it to be clear we’re totally on board with Ivrael’s plan?”

She blows out a laugh. “That’s it.”

We make five left turns without anything changing. For all I can tell, we might be going in perfect circles.

“This place is fucking creepy,” Izzy finally says, halting at a Y-split in the path.

“Welcome to life among the Icecaix,” I say dryly.

Rhaela laughs.

“ Every time I think I see an exit,” Harai says, “it closes.”

“Caix tricks,” Rhaela snarls. “We should not agree to any of their entertainment suggestions when we get to court.”

“Icecaix entertainment does tend to run to the macabre,” I say.

“I half expect to find a dead body at the center of the maze,” Izzy adds with a slight laugh.

“At least that would make sense,” Rhaela says.

They keep talking, but Izzy’s words have made me think. “I have an idea. The goal of a maze is to get to the center and then back out again, right? So what if in order to get out, we have to go all the way in first?”

“You mean, like solve the maze?” Izzy asks.

“Yeah—get to the center. Then we can get out again.”

“Surely it couldn’t be that simple,” Rhaela says.

“I’m willing to try anything,” Harai announces.

“I’m glad we’re together,” Izzy says quietly to Rhaela.

I need to encourage that connection, I decide. It might be helpful to have these firelord twins on our side—even if they are the daughters of Ivrael’s co-conspirator.

If we’re going to leave the Icecaix lands with the firelords, we’ll need all the help we can get.

For a moment, we all stand huddled together, glancing around.

“So which way should we go next?” Harai finally asks, then points to our right. “That way?”

“Couldn’t you two turn into dragons or something?” Izzy waves her hand, gesturing between the firelord twins and the tall hedge woven from the ice-plants. “And then… I don’t know, burn your way out? Melt the ice with your fire? Fly over the walls?”

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