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I COULDN’T BREATHE, since Julie continued choking me, thinking I was Mariah. “It’s... I-I’m... I’m T-Taylor!” I finally managed to squeeze out between gasps. “Get off, J-Julie!”
She loosened her grip. “I won’t fall for that! Tell me how to give Taylor her body back. Do I need to shoot you with a golden arrow? Or maybe I should just rip off your head!”
“Julie! It’s me,” I gasped between breaths.
“No!”
“Do you think Mariah would really come down here and open the door? I had to play the part to free you guys.”
She raised a brow. “Taylor? Really?”
“Yeah. I’m—”
Her hand went right back to my throat, cutting me off. “Then prove it! Tell me something only Taylor would know.”
“For starters, we’re in big trouble because you called Drake!” I said.
“Anyone could see I made that call from that cell phone. Try again!”
“Hmm. Well, on the first day I met you, you were wearing a gold bikini like me with a striped bag on your shoulder. I only remember because you let me borrow it a few times, and I never gave it back. You said I could have it because you bought a red one.”
Her face softened. “Taylor?”
“The one and only. Ethan has Jesse’s body though. We desperately need Cynthia’s cooperation. I’m sure she’s the only one who can help save Jesse.”
Julie held out a hand and helped me up. “No hard feelings, right?”
“None whatsoever.”
Grant and Fred bolted over, but before they could touch me, Julie stopped them. “It’s only Taylor,” she said.
“I don’t believe her,” Grant said.
“When I first met you, you liked my paintings,” I said, “and, Fred, you thought Jesse was a witch. You also said you’d rather be a zombie than a vampire.”
Grant looked at Fred. “Maybe she’s just stealing Taylor’s memories or something. I wouldn’t put anything past sneaky Ethan and his lover.”
“If that was the case, then why did she let you out of jail?” Julie asked. “She could’ve easily have ordered her men to execute us.”
“I’m not Ethan’s lover!” I shouted. “I’m Taylor, and we’re wasting time standing here arguing about it. We have to save Jesse. Drake’s already here!”
“It’s her,” Julie said. “Now come on. Cynthia’s in the next cell.”
Gripping the keys tightly, I hurried to her cell. Her face brightened when she saw us.
I unlocked the door slowly. “Listen, I’m gonna let you out,” I said, “but we need your help to put Jesse back in his own body. Ethan took over.”
She nodded. “I’ll be glad to help.”
“Jesse’s mom said something about getting these special arrows.”
Her face lit up in recognition. “I know exactly what she’s talking about. They’re called the Golden Arrows of Life. We just have to get to the room where the ancient artifacts are kept. If we shoot Jesse...er, Ethan with the golden arrow, matters will be corrected.”
“Where do we have to shoot him? Please don’t tell me in his heart.”
“It only needs to pierce his skin. Anything unholy that doesn’t belong to Jesse will be...evicted. The golden arrows are used to rid the body of unclean spirits or possessions.”
“But how do we get Jesse back?” Fred asked. “I mean, where is Ethan keeping his soul?”
“Yeah. Surely he doesn’t have a Protection Grid in the basement.”
“Huh?” we all said in unison, looking at Julie.
“Geesh. Watch a movie once in a while, guys. Ghostbusters is classic.”
“Jesse is not being kept anywhere. He’s still there,” Cynthia explained. “He is merely dormant at the moment. It takes twelve hours for Jesse’s soul to disappear forever, so he’s still there. Once the unclean spirit or soul is banished, Jesse will immediately be restored to his rightful place. But we have to do it before Ethan is bonded to the body forever. Once that happens, there’s nothing we can do.”
“How do we get past all the guards?” I asked.
“That’s easy,” Julie said. “Just keep being Mariah.”
I nodded. “I can do that. Let’s go.”
“Wait,” Fred said. “We’re prisoners, and we need to look like it.”
Grant picked up some chains and shackles from the guard station. “This should work. I can break out of them like paper if I have to.”
I shot him a look. “If you try to fight them, it will ruin everything.”
“I’m well aware of what is at stake,” he said. “We should have been gone a long time ago, and none of this would have happened.”
“Grant, chill out,” Julie said. “Be a good little prisoner, and don’t pick any fights with the warden...though I’ve gotta admit that bad boys do turn me on.”
“Julie! Don’t encourage him,” I said, playfully smacking her before I picked up the chains and began shackling Fred, Julie, and Grant into a chain-gang.
***
AS WE TURNED THE CORNER, my stomach dropped. A dozen guards had their weapons trained on me. I recognized them as some of Ethan’s closest knights. I had to play up the Mariah card. I knew they knew all about Mariah. Because they were the ones that dragged me off to the ceremony. I was sure they wanted to see their beloved gargoyle princess alive once again.
“Move out of my way!” I snapped. “These are immortal bonds, and I am delivering these prisoners to Ethan. He has special plans for them. My sister will inhabit the blonde, and we need this other one’s daylight ring,” I said, pointing to Fred. “How is the vampire situation? Please tell me it’s under control.”
“It’s not good, Highness.”
“Then what are you doing down here? We cannot be defeated, and every available soldier and guard should be tending to the intruders. Is that understood?”
“Yes,” the dozen shouted in unison.
“Then don’t just stand there gawking at me. Go!” I shouted.
They snapped to attention and took off down the corridor.
Julie smiled. “You’re one tough chick.”
“It’s all in the script.”
We made our way to the artifact room. Cynthia knew of a secret way in, and she had no trouble getting the door open by murmuring some odd-sounding passwords.
“Whoa,” Julie said, looking around.
The treasure room was filled with mysterious artifacts and ancient relics. The walls appeared to be made of gold, carved with ancient symbols and zigzagging lines. It was beautiful, but I had no idea what any of the markings meant.
Cynthia walked over to a glass case. “They’re here,” she said.
Grand immediately walked over and raised his fists in the air, ready to smash it.
“Stop!” Cynthia shouted. “There is a security system in place. If you trigger it, we will be killed with lethal gasses.”
“We haven’t time for all this mumbo-jumbo,” Grant said. “We need to get out of this hellish castle.”
“We do this my way, or else I walk away.”
“Fine,” he snapped. “Just please hurry.”
While Cynthia spoke a few careful words to slide the case open, I stared at the exhibit next to us: a large, ancient silver cup with a flame spewing from it.
“What is that?” Julie asked.
“The eternal flame of destruction,” Cynthia said as the case whooshed open.
“It’s amazing,” Fred said.
Grant couldn’t stop staring at it. “This is the stuff of legends.”
Cynthia nodded. “It is quite remarkable. The mystical flame was stolen from Surtur by Odin and his brothers. Many of the treasures housed here were...pilfered.”
“They had to take it, to stop the enemy of demons from lighting his sword and starting the biggest war ever,” Grant finished.
“Yes. It could even destroy the Norse gods of Asgard.”
“Thanks for the history lesson, you two, but can we just get a move-on?” Julie said. “This medieval storage unit kinda gives me the creeps.”
Cynthia grabbed the crossbow and five golden arrows. “And now we shoot him,” she said.
My heart started to beat, and my eyes grew wide.
“Aw. It’s just like Cupid,” Julie said.
“Yeah, well, let’s just hope he’ll be madly in love with me and not Mariah.”
Julie touched my hand, trying to comfort me. “Jesse will be his old self again,” she said. “You can count on it.”
“Where do we find Ethan?” Fred asked.
“He’ll be supervising the battle,” Cynthia said. “That distraction should provide us with ample opportunity to escape. It’s the perfect diversion, and with the cover of night, we’ll be able to sneak in the shadows.”
“After we shoot Jesse,” I said.
“Yes, of course.”
We crept outside, and all hell had broken loose. I waited behind a huge boulder while my immortal friends took off to go look for Ethan.
A few minutes later, Grant pulled me over to where Ethan stood off in the distance.
“We have to get Jesse back,” I said.
“I know. But we can’t hit him from that distance. We need to get closer.”
“Getting any closer is dangerous,” Cynthia said.
“Mariah can get as close to him as she wants,” I said. “Give me that bow.”