Spelled

Chapter 5: A Nightmare is a Wish Your Heart Makes

**This is part 5 of a 10 part excerpt of Spelled, released nationally on June 2 2015 by Sourcebooks.

"Rule #23: If you keep a storybook villain talking long enough, they will never fail to spill all the details of their evil plan. Some might even draw you a diagram."

- Definitive Fairy-Tale Survival Guide, Volume 2: Villains

When my vision cleared, I had no idea where I was. Surely it could not be the same party. It looked like a war zone. The floating chandelier had crashed and shattered on the dance floor, freeing the now-dark floating orbs. People ran madly for the exit. Some were being chased by pickax- wielding dwarves, to say nothing of the ogres. The floor was littered with frogs. Hopefully they weren't enchanted princes, because some of them were getting squished by the mob.

I looked around for familiar faces. The beautiful people I had known since birth had changed or twisted into things nearly unrecognizable. Rapunzel remained by the treat tables, her hair now lying completely in the éclairs, with not a strand atop her bald head. By the punch bowl was a giant pumpkin- wearing glass slippers. A ferocious growl drew my gaze to the back of the room, where a hairy beast wore a yellow ball gown. I tried to block out the memory of Beauty in that dress earlier this evening.

Shutting my eyes, I shoved the star back into my pocket and willed everything to go away. This had to be a night-mare. Any minute now, I was going to wake up in bed, under my golden- goose down comforter. There would be no party, no beasts, and no engagement.

I needed to wake up. Then I needed therapy.

What was it that you're supposed to do- pinch yourself? Somebody did it for me. My eyes snapped open from the needle- sharp pricks to my toes. "Ow! That..."

A little ball of fur chewed on my slippers, not caring that my feet were still inside. I'd never seen another creature like it. It had the auburn- colored body of a lion cub, but it also had nubby horns, wings, and a dragon's tail. Its little black talons scratched at my leg; then it stared at me with accusatory ice- water blue eyes.

"No pixing way! Prince Kato?"

The look of disdain the little fuzz bucket gave me was all the proof I needed.

This was all too crazy to be real, but the pain debunked the whole nightmare idea. But maybe there was an upside to this. There was no way I could marry Prince Kato now. I just had to show my parents...

Where were my parents?

They were gone. The only signs they'd ever been there were their two emerald crowns still spinning on the ground.

Nothing else mattered. I'm not sure how long I stood there frozen- seconds, minutes, hours. I was semi- aware of Kato tugging my gown and growling. Too bad, runt. My attention stayed focused on the spot where I'd last seen my parents.

Until the clapping.

My head reared in surprise. The sound sliced through the chaos, clear and crisp and completely out of place. Making her way up to the dais was the little girl from the garden. The opal necklace flashed with brilliant orange and red streaks against her pale skin.