Page 43 of Too Cursed To Kiss
“There are no drugs involved. Agatha is very special, as I mentioned,” Wald replied.
Agatha leaned over to pat Wald’s knee. “Aw, honey, you say the nicest things. The photos allow the family to come and go as they please. You know what they say, death is not the end? Well, they’re right.”
I glanced at the album, still uncertain if it could bite. “Can they escape from the photos?”
“Honey, the photos are like an open door. The family isn’t trapped. They can decide which side of the photo to be on.”
I was liking her explanation less and less. “Okay, for example then, can this little boy come out of his photo?”
“Not in the way you are thinking,”Agatha replied in my head.
“Stop that,” I yelled at her.Talk like normal people, I said in my head.
Agatha’s face screwed up with distaste. “Wald, I expect guests of yours to be polite.”
Damn, wasn’t I being polite? “Okay, look, whatever woo-woo stuff you can do is really not that important. We need to get a ring fixed so I can get back to the normal life I once had with no mind reading, moving pictures, yellow eyes, or snake bites. Got me? Let’s get this done,” I said, jumping up and closing the photo album with a bang. I set it on the coffee table and stuffed my hand into my pocket. Britannia sneered and walked into the kitchen.
“And take this,” I said under my breath, handing the box to Agatha. My fingers fumbled and the old leather slipped out of my grip as the room began to spin. I looked down at the floor. The box wasn’t there, and the mirror looked back with eyes that weren’t mine. I screamed and strong arms banded me, lifting me as I fought against them.
When the darkness cleared, I was looking into yellow eyes. Wald sat back. This was not the mirrored room. I was on a bed.
“What in the nine hells just happened?” I asked, running a hand through my hair and sitting up. The cocktail was drugged. Right, I knew I shouldn’t have drunk it. The room was flamingo pink from the carpet to the pink crystal chandelier over the bed.
Wald raised an eyebrow and the corner of one side of his lips turned up while he kept them pressed together. Iconic and maddening. “No, you weren’t drugged. Agatha’s house and things can have effects, but we didn’t think you would be susceptible. Perhaps our time together has changed you.” He rolled sideways off the bed then walked to the window and peered out. I’d almost forgotten there were those things after us.
Okay, okay, get it together, Harlan,I said to myself. Getting the fricking ring fixed was the prime directive. After that, we could get back to not-going-to-jail or almost-dying. I got up too.
“Did Agatha fix the ring yet?” I asked, walking toward the door.
“She’s working on it right now. We should leave her to it.”
“Well, I think we should see how it’s going,” I said, opening the bedroom door.
Mistake after mistake. Such is my life.
Wald leapt at me in his lightning fast move and had the door closed in an eye blink. Beyond the door was the swirling vortex of nightmares.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Istaggered back, blocked by the considerable mass of Wald behind me, and whipped around. “What the fuck is out there?”
His yellow eyes crinkled with amusement.
“This is not funny. What the hell is going on? Are we trapped in that vortex, or black hole, or whatever it is?”
“Agatha is working. When she does artifice work, it needs to be in a parallel place. The artifact isn't of this time, so its repair can’t be accomplished in this time.”
“Mother of gods, that actually made sense. Thank you. But why can’t I go out into the hall?”
“Because the main room, the windowed room, is her work space. This door guards you from the dimension.”
“So, when can we leave?”
“When she’s done.”
“How long?”
“Time isn’t relevant here. It doesn't pass in this room.”
