Artis scowled at the jagged spire erupting from the tunnel floor. “This is the third time I’ve seen a spire like this.” “And?” My voice cracked. How many hours since we’d last had water? How long since we’d turned around? “I don’t know.” He trudged around the spire. “I’m sorry, Elsa.” “Stop apologizing. This was […]

I knew the music box was a menace the moment its silver handle caught a ray of sunlight and bounced it around the parlor. I shut the curtains tightly, of course, but that ridiculous box still gleamed. As ridiculous as the nephew who left it on my mantle. I didn’t touch it for the first […]

I woke up this morning with my finger in the shape of a key. The kind with teeth and a notch at the end, except this one was still the same pale flesh as the rest of my hand. I sat still in bed, my tea growing cold, a euphoric nausea swelling in me. I’d […]

Shera studied the shadowy crease between Armand’s eyebrows while he surveyed the tapestry hanging from her hands. Was he pleased? Surprised? Disgusted by her first vision of her own world? Why had she chosen to weave a cornfield, anyway? It looked plain and blond surrounded by the rich curtains of Armand’s royal tent. “There’s something […]