Raj walked beside me, his eyes guarded as he stared toward my mother who led the group.
“It’s hard to believe she’s alive.” He spoke quietly, out of earshot of my mother who walked several paces ahead, with the others between us.
“Yes.”
“She never contacted you, though?”
“No. She said she couldn’t.”
“I see,” Raj said.
“Does that seem odd to you?”
“Yes,” Raj said. “If I’d lost someone close and returned again, I think I wouldn’t stop until I contacted them.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “She’s not like most people. Greed and hatred have always driven her actions. She loves me, but she hates others more.”
“Can we trust her?”
I hesitated before answering. “I believe so, but only because we’re going after Varlocke. If we weren’t, then I might answer differently.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Sorry you had to be brought up by someone like her. That isn’t right.”
“She wasn’t a monster all the time. She was kind to me, and I knew she loved me. But she had different motivations than most people.”
The looming shape of a dragon overshadowed me, and as I glanced up, I almost thought the creature was real. The ice sparkled in the dimly lit chamber, making its scales shimmer. We made it through the chamber and into another hallway, then another chamber and series of hallways, making me realize how enormous this place was.
Up ahead, the roaring of water echoed. We stepped out onto a balcony overlooking a waterfall. A gray sky loomed beyond the snow-covered mountains.
“Morning is coming,” Odette said. “Hurry.”
“Are we supposed to climb down there?” Drekken asked, looking down at the thundering waterfall.
“This is the only way out,” my mother said. “Odette, you must take them back to the tower.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you must transform when the sun rises.”
“What about the curse? I’ll have no choice but to return here when the sun sets. I’ll never be able to fly to the tower and make it back before the day ends.”
“Then how do we break her curse?” I asked my mother.
“There’s only one way. Someone else will have to take her place.”
“Take her place? Surely there’s another way.”
“Unfortunately, no, and once the sun rises, my sisters will know of what has happened here. You will have to leave quickly, but one of you must remain behind.”
“Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?” I asked.
“It would have done you no good, nor would it have made any difference.”
I glanced at the wolf, knowing who I would choose. Maybe it was wrong of me to think that way. I almost felt guilty.
Almost.
“This person must stay willingly,” Mother said.
“Of course,” I mumbled. No throwing the wolf to the witches.
The sky grew lighter, and morning was only minutes away. My heart raced as I stared out over the landscape. We were so close. We’d gotten the shears, and the dragon would take us back to Rapunzel’s tower, but that would only happen if someone stayed behind.
“I will do it,” Raj said.
“No,” I answered. “I’ll need your help once we get to the tower.”
I glanced at the wolf. Was there a chance? “You’ve been awfully quiet. What about you?”
He yelped as he sat by my feet, his tail thumping the floor, though he didn’t transform, nor did he volunteer—unless one counted the yelp, which I was tempted to do.
“I will do it,” Drekken said.
“What? Drekken, no!” I said.
“Yes, it must be this way.”
“But what of your music? You wanted to see the world and play for people you met. You won’t get to do that here.”
“No,” Raj said. “None of us will stay. Drekken, I appreciate your bravery, but we will not allow anyone to become a prisoner. There has to be another way.”
“There is none,” Mother said, her voice sharp. “If you want to escape, one of you must stay behind.”
“No. We go together or not at all.”
My mother laughed—a sound that caught me off guard. Her body glowed white, then she transformed. My aunts stood where she had been. My heart dropped. I should’ve known they’d do something like this. Anger formed in the place where my shock had been.
“You pretended to be my mother?” I asked.
“You wouldn’t have trusted us as us, would you?” Aunt Gwynna said.
“Yes, you know we get no visitors here. Is it so wrong to have a little fun?” Aunt Neleia chimed in.
“But you pretended to be my dead mother!”
“Dead? No.” They stepped aside, and I saw my mother standing behind them.
“We three are one part,” Mother said. “We live and die with one another.”
“So, you were aiding them this whole time. Are the shears even the real thing? Or was that a trick, too?”
“They’re real,” Aunt Gwynna said. “Your mother convinced us to give them to you. We had to agree that it would be greatly entertaining to watch you kill the high sorcerer. As we said, we bore easily.”
“Then you’ll let us leave?” the dragon woman asked. “All of us?”
They laughed, though it was a mirthless sound filled with no cheer. “Not you, of course. You are our prisoner.”
Odette ground her teeth. “I’ve been here for so long. You have to set me free!”
“Absolutely not. You are our prisoner, and you shall always be. However, we might be willing to come to an understanding.”
“An understanding?”
“We want to see Varlocke dead, and since he is attempting to burn down the tower and kill his own daughter to gain ultimate control of our lands, we have little time to waste. We will remove your curse for a time so you will be able to fly Gothel and two others to the tower during nightfall, but one must remain here and take your place until you return. After that, you must become our prisoner once again.”
She balled her fists. “This isn’t fair.”
“Fair?”
