Page 38 of Edge of Wonder

She wrung her hands together. “I don’t understand. Why come at all if you plan on leaving?”

“I wasn’t given much choice at the time. A mercenary tracked us down in front of the portal. It was get stabbed or jump, and I didn’t feel like getting stabbed,” I deadpanned.

“No. One usually tries to avoid that. Tried it myself, in fact. Unfortunately, I did not have the same outcome.”

“You were stabbed to death?”

“Afraid so. It was a zero out of ten experience. Would not recommend.” She lifted her arm and pointed to the words written up to her elbow. “See, I even said that with my dying breath.”

I stopped to read what she’d written, and sure enough, getting stabbed was listed as her cause of death. “You were very thorough in your note-taking.”

Shire grinned. “Thank you, Sebastian.”

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing to a full circle, followed by a half-circle set of symbols she’d drawn above a list of words.

She twisted her arm and read the words out loud. “Duck. Stuck. Duck.” Her nose wrinkled. “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s a shopping list, and I planned to cook duck.”

“That makes no sense. What does stuck have to do with it, and why would you list duck twice?”

“I don’t know! It’s not a perfect system,” Shire muttered. “And don’t change the subject. What are your plans, then?”

“I’m already here, so I’ll help Alice until I can find a witch to open a portal to send me home.”

“Hmm…I don’t know of any witches. But I do know how you can get home.”

“You do?”

“Yes, the gateway. We used it to sneak Alice out when she was a child. It’s a rift between the realms hidden in the forest. It also happens to be safeguarded by a good friend of mine. The Duchess. She’ll let you through. Unless you change your mind about leaving, of course. You might.”

“I won’t. Now can we pick up the pace? How much farther is it?”

“It’s right there, sheesh!” As we came around a bend in the trail, Shire pointed to an extensive stone wall with a staircase leading up to a red door. Then she pointed the other way. “And there’s the town. See? It’s super close.”

“What’s with the stone wall?”

“It’s guarding the town from trespassers…and, um…to keep the plants contained.”

“And Alice is on the other side?”

Shire nodded. “Hopefully. Unless she was mauled by the choking vines and buried beneath the savage lilies. Though that still puts her on the other side, so yes.”

“You are terrible at your job,” I said before taking off at a run.

“Wait! Don’t forget to knock!” she shouted.

When I reached the steps, I took them two at a time. A scream sounded, coming from the other side of the wall. My heart stuttered inside my chest at the silence that followed. I stopped in front of the door and tried the handle. It was locked. I tried again, refusing to believe it wouldn’t open.

“Alice!”

Another scream rent the air.

I threw my shoulder into the door, cursing violently when it didn’t budge. My eyes squeezed shut.Wait… Don’t forget to knock.As absurd as it sounded, it was worth a try. I knocked twice on the door and waited.

“Come on!” I knocked again, but this time with my fist.

Click.

The door opened.

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