Page 18 of Myths and Manuscripts
Nyssa tilted her head and then started laughing. “Good one. What will you think of next? That people are hopping inside books like a cool vacation?”
I waited for her to stop laughing, trying to resist the urge to use my shadows to drag her over to the table of books. There was no way to prove Willow was inside. It wasn’t like there would be a picture of her screaming face on the first page, hands pounding the paper.
Would there?
“Just fix it!” I snapped. “The book tree’s magic is out of control again.”
“Wait, you’re serious? And you left her in there alone?” Nyssa gasped, shoving me toward my book. “Get back in there and take care of her, you ridiculous demon! I’ll contact Oren and we’ll figure something out. Check in again tomorrow if you haven’t found a way out yet.”
My book started glowing, as if welcoming me inside, but there was one more thing I needed to do. I grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled a note to Willow’s Gran, letting her know that Willow was safe and sound but we’d be working on the book for a while.
“Give this to the apothecary for me.” I forced the note into her hands. “Don’t forget.”
“You’re nicer than you look, but hurry up.” Nyssa nudged me again. “She’s probably terrified.”
I nodded, diving back into my book as quickly as I could.Unfortunately, Willow wasn’t there either. Or at least, she wasn’t where I’d left her. In her place on my bed was a note of her own that read:Gone exploring, don’t wait up.
The paper crumbled beneath my fingers as I clenched my fists. Why hadn’t she just waited for me? I was barely gone fifteen minutes!
My pulse thundered in my ears as I searched empty castle room after empty castle room. After every room had been thoroughly searched, there was only one option left.
Willow had gone outside. Even I’d never done that before...
Outside was where the story of the book took place. My character had never been part of that, I was always locked away in my castle doing evil schemey things in the background. If I tried to step outside, I’d risk not living up to people’s expectations. No matter how hard I tried to be terrifying and full of darkness, I seemed to fall short at every turn. Fans swooned over me, children adored me, and dragons cuddled me. Not exactly the monster everyone thought I’d be.
But Willow needed me right now, so I’d just have to glower and push through this.
I took a deep breath and pushed the doors to my castle open for the very first time since I’d woken up in the library. I’d find Willow, drag her back, and then return her to the library where she belonged.
Chapter 8
Willow
One minute the Demon Lord was there and then the next, he was gone. The golden light just pulled him up and completely ignored me.
Now I was alone.
I tried not to worry about what that might mean, but there wasn’t really anything else to occupy my mind besides the chill in the air. I shivered, rubbing my hands along my arms. The castle apparently had no heat, not even a fireplace for the supposed lord of the castle’s room. If I sat here much longer my mind would race with worse and worse possibilities.
Was I stuck in here? Why and for how long?
I sank onto the Demon Lord’s sorry excuse for a bed. It was cold and hard, nothing like a bed should be. Picturing him sleeping here every night, and apparently not knowing that beds could be better, made my chest hurt. Did he really think this was how things were supposed to be?
Maybe that’s why he was so grumpy. I would be too if I slept on a stone slab.
There was no way he’d leave me here all by myself for too long though. So, until he came back, I might as well explore a bit. I was inside a book! I’d dreamed of going inside my favorite stories so many times, but now I was really in one. I couldn’t justsit here and not even take a peek outside.
Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I wandered into the hallway. Torches lit up when I walked by them, revealing half-finished tapestries and mostly empty rooms. Some areas were just fuzzy holes in the wall, literally blank spaces, like the author had gotten bored thinking of what the rooms would be for. Which was fair since this castle was gigantic, but what stood out most were the cracks. Dozens of spiderwebbed fissures breaking what should have been a strong and fortified castle.
I ran my fingers along the cracks, the walls cold and rough. With all these unfinished and broken pieces, how much of the Demon Lord’s series was left unknown? If I was really going to write the final book, then I needed to see more than this castle.
I had to fill in the blanks. I needed to go outside and meet people.
Excitement rushed through me as I grasped the handles of the large entryway doors. Once I stepped outside, I’d be talking to other characters from a story, just like the Demon Lord. Would they know they were inside a book like he did? Or would they think their world was the real world?
Depending on how much I could explore, maybe I could find all the answers I needed to write an ending the fans would appreciate.
I flung the doors open, gazing out at a sky covered in a dense miasma cloud that turned the sunlight a surprisingly beautiful shade of purple. A forest of stark white trees surrounded the castle, fencing a sprawling village in on all sides. A shout drew my attention to the right as I hid behind the doors, half expecting the village to be full of monsters.
