2 Unhitched (32 page)

Something’s wrong.
Very
wrong.

Aurora #2 gasps. And then Aurora #1 gasps in the exact same manner when she discovers her identical other.

Gallant’s eyes dart from Aurora to Aurora. His face grows stern. “Tell me now, which one of you is the
real
Aurora?”

“I am!” the two say simultaneously with the exact same voice and conviction.

There’s only one way to find out.

I grab two handfuls of my peas, one in each hand. I fling one into the face of Aurora #1. The other into the face of Aurora #2.

“What are you doing?” screams Aurora #1.

Aurora #2 winces in pain. Tiny red welts erupt all over her face.

YES! The pea test—or at least my version of it—has worked! I know who is the real Aurora. The real
Princess
Aurora!

“She’s the imposter!” I scream, pointing my finger at Aurora #1.

Gallant’s eyes narrow; his lips curl, and a fury, like none other I’ve seen, falls over him. He utters only one word, syllable by syllable.

“MA-LEV-O-LENCE!”

Malevolence!
The shape-shifting dark fairy who put the curse of death on Aurora! The deadly dragon that Gallant battled! The very she-dragon who stopped me from escaping Faraway. And likely attacked Armando and me earlier tonight. Lalaland’s most wanted villain. The one who’s eluded my father, The Huntsman, for years.

A wicked smile curls on her face.

I turn to Elz and Winnie. “Find my father. Hurry!”

Winnie looks at me, worry written all over her face. And an expression that reads: “I can’t leave you.”

“Go, now,” I command her.

She squeezes my hand and races off with Elz.

Still in pain, Aurora #2, the real deal, gazes at Malevolence. Terror flickers in her eyes.

“Where’s my husband?” she cries out.

“Don’t worry, he had a little horseback riding accident,” snickers her evil imposter. “He’ll live… unfortunately.”

Teary-eyed, the real Aurora trembles “Why can’t you just leave us alone?”

“It’s no longer you—or your pathetic prince—I want,” sneers her evil imposter. Her sinister voice is identical to that of the Aurora who told me to think about eating for one.
One.
The singular word reverberates in my head
. One.
Reality hits me like a spear. Oh my God! She’s going to kill Gallant!

Without wasting a second, I grab a sharp knife off the buffet table and lunge at her. Her reflexes are swift, and she dodges me. The knife falls out of my shaking hand, but before she can retaliate, Gallant pulls me back into his arms.

“Nice try,” she snorts. She glares at Gallant. Her face takes on an evil green glow, and her voice grows more sinister. “Always there to rescue the princess… and botch my curse of death.”

“I should have killed you!” shouts Gallant, full of rage and regret.

Malevolence roars with laughter. “I’ve waited a long time to bring you down, Gallant-one.”

Gallant’s blue eyes turn into blades of steel. I clutch his hand. It’s as cold as ice.

A fire flickers in the dark fairy’s eyes. “Over the years, I’ve perfected my shape-shifting magic. It’s been fun being Aurora, but it’s getting a little old. I could morph into you, pretty boy. Or your incompetent father. Or your self-absorbed wife.” She eyes me contemptuously and cackles again. “But really, why bother, when I can still morph into something bigger and better.”

“Oh, God!” says Gallant. “Aurora, run!” She dashes off. “Jane, hold on to me.” Squeezing my hand, he takes off like the wind. I struggle to keep up with him, my baby weight threatening to make me fall behind.

Breathing heavily, I steal a glance behind me and gasp in horror. Malevolence has gone up in flames. Her skin is crisping, turning into charcoal black scales. Her nostrils flare, and razor-sharp fangs descend from her now monstrous jaw. Consumed by red-hot flames, her voluminous black taffeta dress morphs into a powerful reptilian torso. The long black train transforms into a serpentine tail; her hair ornament into hideous horns, and the gown’s batwing bow expands into wings that span half the width of the museum.

In the blink of an eye, she grows so tall that her monstrous head appears tiny in comparison to her now massive body. She opens her jaw wide and roars. Flames shoot out. She’s become a deadly, five-story, fire-breathing dragon.

The crowd screams.

“Hello, everyone,” she thunders, her voice fierce. “Welcome to
my
show.” She roars again and blasts her fiery breath across the museum, separating Gallant and me.

Oh my God! The museum is on fire! Flames are everywhere! With horror, I watch the blazing tongues consume Gallant’s masterpieces. There is screaming all around me. “Run for your lives!” I hear The King and Queen yell. Panic-stricken guests trample over each other as they clamber to any exit they can find. Some even jump out the windows. Chaos. As Malevolence’s wicked laughter fills my ears, my tearing eyes frantically search the museum, now a towering inferno. My heart is hammering. Where is Gallant?

“Darling, run!” Gallant’s voice! But I cannot see him. Flames and smoke are blinding me. He calls out to me again. “JAAAANE!” This time, it’s a moan. Oh, my God. He’s in pain. Terrible pain! He cries out my name again as I battle the mass exodus, heading toward his distressed voice as fast as I can. “JAAAANE!”
Oh, my darling, I’m getting
closer. Please let him be okay. Please!

Finally, by the ramp, I spot My Prince. He’s sprawled on the marble floor, his clothes cinders. He writhes in agony. Panic rips through my body. Tears spring to my eyes. I crouch down beside him and run my fingers over his sooty yet so beautiful face. “My love, I’m here,” I tell him, flames soaring all around me.

“Jane,” he moans. “Hold my hand.”

I take one look at his hands and almost vomit. They’re horrifically burnt, some parts red-raw and others blistered white or charred black. Scalding tears rush down my face. Oh, God! My Prince will never paint again.

I brush a tumbled strand of hair out of his face. “Oh my darling, stay calm,” My voice sounds soothing, but inside me, I’m bleeding tears. Malevolence has punished him in a way that, for him, is on par with death. I stifle the sobs that are piling up in my throat. “I’m here my darling,” I say again, choking out the words.

“Where are you, Jane?” There is a panic in his voice. “I can’t see you.”

His glazed blue eyes gaze up blankly at the glass rotunda. Disbelief fights reality but loses. Oh my God. Oh my God. Malevolence has not only maimed his hands. She has also blinded him. I open my mouth wide and squeeze my eyes. A silent wail fills my head.
Stay calm, Jane.
Stay,
calm!
I cradle his head in my arms.

“My darling, I’m right here. Everything will be okay,” I say as calmly as I can. But I can’t stop my tears from falling into his vacant eyes. My poor darling Gallant has lost far more than his ability to paint. Beauty will never again be his to behold.

I stroke his singed golden hair and silently pray to God to spare his life, whatever that life will be. My Prince looks up at me, and I swear, his blinded eyes are filled with longing. “Oh, my darling, I will love you forever.” The words, “until death do us part,” stay on my tongue. His parched lips part. He wants a kiss! Yes, a magical kiss will make everything better. As I lean in to him, ready to press my lips against his, he loses consciousness.

“Wake up, my darling! Please wake up!” Desperate, I shake him.

He does not stir. His breathing is barely audible. Oh no! Oh no! He’s dying.

In the near distance, Malevolence roars yet another fiery breath and cackles. “I should have barbecued your husband a long time ago. But better late than never. Right, Jane?”

Rage fills me. Rage like none I’ve ever known before. Malevolence needs to pay!

Before I can spring into action, someone, carrying a shield and spear, charges through the canvas of smoke and flames.

“Tisk. Tisk. Not you again.” The she-dragon’s sarcasm gives way to wicked laughter. She roars another fierce, fiery breath, blowing her brave assailant across the room, close to me. The assailant’s hat flies into my lap. A helmet with a seared red feather, the color of blood. I’d recognize it anywhere. Oh my God! It’s my father’s. The Huntsman.

I run over to him, my blood pulsing through my veins. I fall to my knees and cradle his limp body in my arms. “Oh, Father!” I cry, the pain inside me the only thing keeping me conscious. The force of the blow has all but consumed him. His face is ashen, his eyes mere slits, and his breathing labored. With all that he’s got left, he takes my hand in his. He struggles to lift up his head to tell me something. I lean in close to him.

“Jane,” he says softly, “I loved your mother. She was a good woman.”

“Father, don’t leave me,” I plead. Tears spill from my eyes.

“My name is really Humperdinck. Only she called me Beau.” His voice is a whisper, almost inaudible. And then he takes a breath. A final breath. He smiles. And dies in my arms. Inside, I die with him.

Malevolence flaps her wings and laughs with contempt. “The Evil Queen is no match for me, is she?”

My father. My husband. “Take me!” I scream at the ruthless monster. Tears scorch my face. I’ve lost my will to live. There’s no reason. The baby gives me a hard, painful kick. “
What about me? Don’t I deserve to live?”

A loud shatter startles me. I look up. It’s Gothel. She’s jumped through the glass rotunda and landed on the dragon’s thick, scaly neck. Clad head to toe in silver leather and shiny metal armor, she’s gripping a massive six-foot-long sword. Assorted daggers and knives are lodged in a wide leather utility belt around her narrow hips. She’s a warrior.

Malevolence is taken aback. She flings her monstrous head.

“I’m going to finish you this time,” says Gothel with a fierceness in her voice I’ve never heard before.

She grips the dragon’s neck with one hand, and with her other, plows her sword into its thick scaly skin. As Gothel yanks out the blade, Malevolence winces in pain. Red blood pours from the wound and puddles around me.

“Fuck you!” The she-dragon’s jaundiced eyes flicker with rage, and her scales stand up on edge, making her look bigger than she already is.

Whipping her long tail around, she swats Gothel, sending her flying. Gothel lands onto one of Malevolence’s outstretched wings. The black she-dragon flaps her wings madly, trying to shake her off. Her sword lodged in her belt, Gothel manages to hold on with her strong, muscle-packed arms. She works her way on all fours to the dragon’s powerful torso.
Go, Gothel, go!

A sudden blast of water of water almost knocks me off my feet. Water is blasting out of valves all over the blazing museum. The Seven Dwarfs must have installed an automatic fire protection system. I run back to Gallant. He’s still breathing! The water is quickly rising around us. I must get him to safety! I start to drag him by his forearms, trying hard not look at his charred hands. My lungs are burning. My eyes are stinging. Flames engulf me.
Don’t panic, Jane
.
Focus
. Yes, I must save the man I love. My Prince. The father of my child. If only I could get him out of the museum or to a higher level. But his dead weight makes the going slow. I can barely see two feet ahead of me. And the waves of nausea that rise to my chest each time I glimpse my beloved’s once beautiful hands hold me back. Flames threaten to consume us, and the water keeps rising. We’re doomed!

“Babe, let me help you.” A familiar voice startles me. I whirl around. It’s Hook!

“Hook, take this and save Jane!” Gothel yells, still scaling the dragon’s torso. She tosses the swashbuckler a large, shiny dagger. He intercepts it with his iron hook in midair.

“Nice catch if I must say so myself,” says Hook as full of himself as ever. “But I’ve got this.” He pulls out a sparkling sword from his belt and replaces it with the dagger. Gothel smirks.

“So, babe, how’s it going?” Before I can respond to the swine, he hoists me over his shoulder with his good arm. Sloshing through the rising water, he lopes toward the museum’s main entrance. He grips my ass tightly. The water splashes in my face.

“Put me down!” I scream. “It’s Gallant you must save.” I try to free myself. Furiously kicking, pounding his back, and yanking his glorious hair. I choke from the smoke. It’s futile.

“Yo, babe. Just how much do you weigh?”

That’s it. I snatch the dagger and press the tip into his backside. “Put me down if you want to live.”

Hook comes to dead halt and shouts up to Gothel. “Yo, babe, I have a little problem down here.” I twist my upside down head and glimpse her scaling Malevolence’s back. She’s oblivious to the swine. I press the blade deeper—I’m sure I’ve drawn blood—and at last, a wincing Hook releases me. He won’t be sitting any time soon.

The water is now above my ankles. With Hook close behind me, I run back to Gallant. I gasp. His body is covered by the water. In no time, he’ll be completely under. And floating like a dead man.

“Hook, please, I beg of you. Get him out of here!” My voice is a desperate, hoarse plea.

Wordlessly and effortlessly, Hook lifts my lifeless prince into his arms. Even in the thick, blinding smoke, I catch a tear roll down his sooty face.

“Stay with me friend,” he says, his voice tearful. His soulful eyes meet mine. “I’ll be back for you, Jane.”

I hug my arms around him and gently kiss Gallant. The water is now knee-deep. “Just go!”

Hook throws Gallant over his broad shoulder and charges toward the front doors of the museum.

“You’re not going anywhere, pirate-boy!” roars Malevolence. To my horror, she stomps toward him and seizes both Hook and Gallant in one of her enormous claws. Oh no! They’re going to be dragon dung.

Hook snarls. “No one calls
me
a boy.” He plunges his sword deep into the beast’s groin. She groans.

“I’ve always wanted to do that,” gloats Hook.

Contorting her face in pain, Malevolence lets go of Hook and Gallant. They land safely in the water, now almost hip-deep.

“Good one, babe,” shouts Gothel from high up on Malevolence’s back.

Hook gazes up at her and blows her a chivalrous kiss. Wasting no more time, he wades through the water, using the sword as an oar and his hook to secure Gallant, who’s dangling lifelessly over his broad shoulder.

I take a deep breath and wipe sweat off my brow. My eyes stay fixed on Hook and Gallant as my heart thuds in my ear.
Go, Hook, Go!
Thank god! They’ve made it to safety! I pray for my Gallant to live.
Please, God, let him live!

The water is rising faster and faster. My gown is completely drenched, and I’m shivering cold. I look up at Gothel. She’s still scaling Malevolence’s back, jabbing her with a dagger as she creeps along. Malevolence swats her powerful serpentine tail at her, but keeps missing. Frustrated, she roars another blinding breath of fire. Letting go of Hook’s dagger, I shield my face with my hands and pray for my life. I’m spared.