Tangled

Chapter 267

Unshift 267

Unshift 267

267 Lisa: Waking to War

A tiny hand shakes me awake with incongruous force, something I'd attribute to King Kong and not the gnomes who've been sheltering me and teaching me about magitech since my escape.

Groaning. I pull my blanket over my head. I'm too tired. "Go away

"Wake, wake, lazy girl! The war has come!"

The wizened old housekeeper-it has to be her, because no one else treats me like an unruly pig -yanks my covers off and slaps at my legs. "Hurry up, or die here alone!"

War?

I

Die?

My brain isn't functioning yet, but I stumble out of bed as she throws some clothes at me. "Dress! Hurry! Boots too!" Those are tossed at my feet, bruising my pinky toe in a way that has me hissing and hopping on one foot. "No time, you lazy girl! Get moving!"

Uncertain of what's going on but recognizing that her anxiety level is sky high, I throw on a clean shirt and jeans that they must have sourced from humans. Too bad they didn't bring a bra, too.

But at least there's socks.

Shoving my feet into them, the gnarled woman shoves at me until I fall onto my ass on the bed. "Put this on," she snaps, throwing a coat at me.

"Okay, okay. Hold on. You haven't even explained what's happening!"

"War!" she snaps. "Hurry!"

Despite her gruff demeanor, she kneels to shove my boots on as I shrug on the coat, two sizes too big and I double check what I'm feeling strapped in some hidden pockets-armed. With knives. In fact, they seem to fit the term dagger more than knife.

"Let's go. Hurry, hurry. The Grand Sage is waiting"

wing and owns this place. He's some sort

from this gnome-Elverly is her name, but I'm not allowed to call

a real title, but it's definitely what she enjoys

"Mistress Keeper, I don't-"

you don't understand, then shut your face," she hisses. "This isn't

go."

questions bubbling up inside me. Even

14

Waking

out pain to keep me in line. So I follow

once-confusing paths.

perusing a map for hours on

of comfort at the moment, as I'm dragged through the halls in the middle of the

boom shakes the entire structure. The floor bucks beneath my feet, and I stumble, my heart leaping into my throat. Elverly's

gravelly voice laced with

having to put in a

kind that chill your blood and raise the hairs on the

War.

new meaning. I'd thought she meant some sort of far-off conflict,

Not a war here.

Not a war now.

a flight of stairs. The

what he calls the "safe room. The door swings open, revealing a

calm demeanor cracking under

The room comes alive, whirring and clicking. Panels shift, mechanisms engage, and the space around us

the question, and

all breathe into this tiny space, sharing the mingled scents of oil, metal, and fear. I

ever since my

unable to keep

24

C

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