She saw a chandelier, a lovely thing really. Had she been of better mind, she would have marveled at it. Were they in a cave? She’d forgotten. Above her a chandelier twirled—or was she twirling? She’d thought she’d been on a ride, but everything in this fucked-up place was backward. Maybe Todd being dead meant he was really alive? This place was like that, turning in on itself.

For a dead woman, Cecile had a mighty grip. She held Lara up as she sank in the gondola chair.

“I’m sorry.” Lara closed her eyes and swore that if Althacazur started babbling again, she’d say something that would send her to the White Forest, but she didn’t care. “You said that Todd is dead?”

“He is.” Cecile touched her hand. “I’m so sorry.”

“You’re sure.” Lara focused on Cecile’s eyes, locked in on them. Perhaps it was the poison, but she found she was numb all over. Her lips were dry and felt like they were swelling. She’d begun rocking.

“Sadly, yes.”

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Lara leaned over the gondola and threw up in the River Styx.

She was very much inside herself now, as if she were experiencing the fuzzy effects of a painkiller, while somewhere in the distance she heard Althacazur continue his monologue. “Esmé knows it’s coming to an end. She knows that Lara is the most powerful creature to come down from the line. I’ve made you the strongest magical creature that I can for the sole purpose of stopping my daughter. That, Lara, is why she wants to kill you.”

The car began to lift. Lara was still woozy and didn’t understand this part of the conversation. Hell, the entire thing was confusing.

“Hold on until we get to the top. Don’t die on us. It would be so anticlimactic.” Althacazur cackled.

Dying. She thought she was probably close to that now, given the effect of the toxin. This would be an acceptable end to her story, she decided. As they reached the arcade lobby again, Althacazur lifted the bar and got out of the car, holding out his gloved hand for Lara, who was aided by Cecile. Tisdale scampered to turn off the machine.

Lara was still stumbling even under Cecile’s grip when Tisdale came and presented her with a lollipop.

“Oh, I can’t.” Lara made a face. The idea of eating anything right now was impossible.

“It’s the antidote,” said Althacazur, taking the lollipop and handing it to her. “I warn you, though, it tastes like…”

Lara put it in her mouth and began to cough. “Shit! This tastes so foul.”

“Indeed. It’s actually made of petrified donkey shit from Hades, but it will save your life.”

Lara lurched, fell over, and threw up again. After she’d collected herself, Tisdale motioned for her to keep sucking it.