Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere by Bella Forrest Page 0,85

the eerie black sphere. If anything, the percussion of my shoes on the metal added to the melody, punctuating it perfectly.

“Don’t go without me,” I pleaded, suddenly afraid they might vanish.

The orbs twisted in a spiral, playful and hypnotic. “We would not. We have been waiting. We want you to be where we are.”

At the end of the walkway, the orbs dove downward and disappeared into the darkness below. Frantic that I might lose them, I didn’t hesitate. I jumped. Sure enough, I spotted the twinkling lights dancing beneath me and smiled. I’m coming to you. Moments before I hit the bottom curve of the sphere, a hazy instinct encouraged me to release a blast of Air to cushion my fall.

“You are wonderful,” the glowing lights cooed. “You will be welcomed.”

I dispersed the Air and stood tall, bathing in their radiance. I’d never felt so alive. Their song continued and my lips moved along, as though I’d finally learned the haunting lyrics. Then the twinkling orbs swooshed around my head in a circle before zipping forward. My eyes trailed them longingly as they evaporated through a door. Some small, distant part of me knew the door shouldn’t exist, but it didn’t perturb me. It seemed to be standing on its own, with no walls to support it, floating an inch or so above the curve of the sphere. It thrummed with energy and light.

“Wait for me!” I called, walking toward the door.

“We are here. We are waiting,” they replied from behind it.

I reached for the handle and swung the door wide. Waves of light rushed out in a blissful torrent, warm and inviting, like the gates to heaven itself. All I had to do was step forward, and I could join the twinkly lights in their joy and hear that beautiful song again. I didn’t even need to think about it. Smiling in the ocean of warming illumination, I did just that.

And I disappeared into the light, just like the orbs before me.

Twenty

Persie

Morning came, the bright sunlight mocking me with its yellow cheer as it slid through my pale beige curtains. I’d tried to sleep because there was nothing else to do, but it hadn’t come. I’d showered at around three in the morning, but that hadn’t helped, either. The cracks in the mirror and the decimated soap just reminded me of my failure with the pixies. My wet hair soaking the pillow, I’d tossed and turned, checking my phone every five minutes for news from Genie. But her radio silence continued, and the hexed room prevented me from going to find her.

Checking the clock and wincing at the harsh blue light, I saw that it was 6:03. After dialing Genie’s number for the billionth time, I held the phone to my ear, willing it to go through… only to get the same voicemail recording: “Sorry, I can’t come to the phone right now. Leave a message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks, bye!”

Her chipper tone made me all the more desperate to reach her. Worst-case scenarios tumbled through my head. What if Victoria had hexed her into her room, too? What if she was hiding out, unable to get in touch? What if the person responsible for these kidnappings had taken her? I couldn’t stomach that last one. As bitter ironies went, that would have been the cruel icing on top of this rancid cake.

I tapped the phone against my chin, trying to come up with something. Anything. I thought about calling Nathan, but I didn’t have his number. Even in this modern age of technology, I had no way of getting in touch with anyone outside this door. I could’ve called my mom, but that would’ve left me with a lot of explaining to do, and frankly, I didn’t want to cross Victoria again. It would guarantee me a ticket out of there for sure if I went against her wishes a third time. Oh, and there was the big fat fact that it wouldn’t have worked, even if I’d wanted to do that, since she’d blocked outside calls from coming in or going out. She clearly wanted to keep this inside the Institute, to avoid an external scandal.

Do you have any idea what damage this could do to my family name? That was what Charlotte had said, but I sensed it went deeper than that. It wasn’t just the Basani name at stake, but the entire Institute. Magical authorities would have