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I wondered, too, if any of it was real at all

When, finally, I inhaled sharply, aze shot over to Brooklynn I was relieved to find she was still asleep besideor suffocating within the confines of her own body

She wasn’t terrorized by drea to her

I wished I could sleep half as soundly

I sat up slowly, carefully, quietly It was strange to be in this roo what I’d seen

It was definitely the same place, the sa soly revealed a part of her past she’d probably hoped would have re dead and buried

Yet here ere, the two of us, under the roof of the palace where she’d taken the body of one girl, and violently killed another

All in an effort to remain on a throne--any throne--forever

Iin the floor should be Unlike in the drea there now

I reached for a corner and tugged

It barelyscraped across the floor, and I cringed, looking again at Brooklynn She was still asleep I pulled again and again, and it moved in increress My heart was pounding when the corner of the trapdoor finally ca back the corner of the rug to reveal the rest of the opening

I reached for it

My chest ached with hope as I lifted the recessed rung It squeaked, and I wondered how long it had been since soe

But despite the rusty handle, the door pulled open with a sigh

Cold air rushed up fro I shivered but took a step inside anyway

The first few steps were easy; I foundfrom the bedchamber behind me But as I left the stairs and entered the tunnel beyond,cah to see in There was only the cold, and a vague recollection that I’d been there beforeAhow far it was, but finding that focusing on such adown here--alone--less unnerving When I stopped, it was almost on instinct I wasn’t sure why, exactly, but I felt like this was the place That I’d gone as far as I needed to go

I reached out blindly and felt the walls around me