Mahogany and Teakwood

Chapter 37: Snapdragon

i trace the stars and map and mourn until my misery

its single light up in the sky, i'll bind it back to me

i can't escape my destiny

They regrouped in the prison courtyard, a desolate nook of cracked concrete and scrawny grass.

Virgil spotted the Hedge gap immediately: an ancient, rust-covered door, accessed by a short staircase at the corner where the two outer walls met. Originally it probably led up to the guard tower. Now the whole wall shimmered with that fae, eye-bending, "not quite there" aura, stronger and greener and more leftward than anything Virgil had ever seen.

Kate was right; this place did feel unstable.

They paused on the threshold.

"Roman and I will go through first," Kate warned. "Virgil, Patton, don't panic if you don't see us when you cross; gaps in a tangle like this don't necessarily line up. The more important thing is to not get separated from each other. Got it?"

Nods all around.

Kate yanked on the Hedge door's grimy handle. It swung open with a loud groan, which made them all glance nervously around the gloomy courtyard.

Roman brushed a hand against Virgil's arm, looking like he had a million things he wanted to say. "Safety straps off, apprentice," was what he settled on. "May the Force be with you."

"Really?" Virgil said dryly, prompting a shrug.

He exhaled, flicking open the straps holding his knives in their sheathes. Kate stepped through the Hedge door with Roman on her heels; Virgil got a brief glimpse of darkness and branches before they had disappeared into the gloom.

"Shall we?" Patton stared into the darkness beyond the doorway.

Virgil exhaled. "Waiting won't make us or them any safer."

He held out a hand; Patton gripped it. Their palms felt feverishly warm against each other. Virgil took a hesitant step...

...and staggered back in shock when the entire doorway vanished.

"The fuck?" Virgil's voice cracked. Had he been any closer, he'd have been digging the toe of his boot or his nose out of solid brick. He slapped the wall, hoping it was just an illusion, but the brick was solid under his hand. "No, no, no, how are we supposed to get through?"

Patton knocked on the now-blank wall a few times as well, blue eyes contemplative behind their glasses.

"I've heard of this happening in older, unstable Hedge tangles," he said. "Sometimes the gaps themselves go in and out of phase." He scrubbed a hand through his curls. "There's not much we can do, I guess, other than wait for it to phase back?"

"We don't have time!" Virgil yanked at his bangs, his heartbeat accelerating. "We could be discovered at any moment, plus what good will it do when Kate and Roman find Rapunzel if we don't find Logan? Who knows what D— what that damned Fae is doing to him! We've already wasted hours! Every second we delay—"

"Then we find another door." Patton laid a gentle hand on Virgil's heaving shoulder. "Virge. Panicking won't help Logan right now. Tangles the size of this prison have dozens of gaps; we'll find another one."

Virgil did a slow, even, 4-7-8 breath. "You're right."

The two crept down the narrow staircase and set off across the courtyard, keeping close to the walls.