Worlds Collide (The Land of Stories #6)(75)

The idea made Froggy’s heart fill with joy, but he wasn’t convinced it was the right thing to do.

“Are you sure this is the wedding you want?” he asked. “I don’t mean to be crude, but the whole street is covered in a witch’s remains.”

A large and self-assured smile grew on Red’s face. “Charlie, I can’t think of a better place to get married than on the ashes of your ex-girlfriend,” she said. “Mother Goose, will you do the honors?”

Besides being pinned to the ground by a three-ton lion statue, Mother Goose couldn’t think of a reason why she couldn’t perform the ceremony.

“I suppose I’m available,” she said.

“Wonderful!” Red squealed. “And for all intents and purposes, we’ll say the Fairy Council are our witnesses, Conner is the best man, and Alex is my maid of honor. Don’t worry, Alex! This will only take a minute and we’ll get right back to helping you!”

Red and Froggy joined hands and stood in the middle of Times Square as Mother Goose officiated the impromptu wedding.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today—against our will—to unexpectedly watch this frog and woman join in questionable matrimony. Do you, Charlie Charming, take Red Riding Hood as your lovably high-maintenance wife?”

“I do,” Froggy declared.

“And do you, Red Riding Hood, take Charlie Charming as your adorably webfooted husband?”

“I do,” Red said.

“Then it is with the power mistrusted in me that I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss the frog!”

Red and Froggy shared their first kiss as a married couple, and their friends cheered.

“Beautiful ceremony, my dear,” Merlin said.

“Believe it or not, this isn’t the strangest wedding I’ve been to,” Mother Goose said. “Now will someone get this stone feline off me?”

Fortunately, they didn’t have to. Alex soared across Manhattan as her magic consumed the island below her. The lion statues leaped off Mother Goose and Merlin and followed Alex, jumping from rooftop to rooftop across the city. Froggy and Red cut the cables around Conner and Bree and then sliced through the vines trapping the Fairy Council.

“What do we do now?” Bree asked.

“We need to get off this island and regroup with the others,” Conner said. “Now that she’s been ordered to destroy the Otherworld, Alex isn’t going to stop until we break the curse.”

“Any ideas how to break it?” Froggy asked.

“Just one,” Conner said. “But I’m praying we find another way.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE





A BROTHER’S BURDEN


A wave of Alex’s destructive vines chased after Conner, his friends, and the Fairy Council as they ran through the New York City streets. The fairies zapped the approaching plants with enchantments to keep them off their tail, but every time they destroyed one vine, a dozen grew in its place.

“It’s like Manhattan is sinking into the Thornbush Pit!” Conner said.

“What’s a Thornbush Pit?” Bree asked.

“It’s a dangerous sinkhole in the fairy-tale world,” Conner explained. “Alex and I had to go inside it to retrieve an item for the Wishing Spell. You know what’s funny? After all this, that seems like a good memory!”

“Speak for yourself!” Froggy said.

Luckily, the group came to an intersection and crossed paths with Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and Cornelius. They, too, were on the run from the atrocious vines covering the city. The unicorn carried Rook’s body on his back; the knights had covered him in candy wrappers from the witches’ base.

“Did you find Alex?” Arthur asked.

“We did,” Red said. “As you can see from the demonic plants covering the city, it didn’t go so well.”

“A witch ordered Alex to destroy the world, starting with the city,” Conner said. “We’re trying to get off the island so we can come up with a plan to stop her!”

Eventually, they reached the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan. Merlin transformed a pigeon into a small ferry and everyone quickly boarded it and sailed down the river toward Liberty Island. Conner was virtually speechless as he watched Alex’s magic consume the city beside them. His sister had come a long way from the bookworm in Mrs. Peters’s sixth-grade classroom.

The ferry docked on Liberty Island, and Conner reunited with his friends and characters from the Saint Andrew’s Children’s Hospital commissary. Charlotte and Bob were overjoyed to see that Conner and his friends were safe. They charged through the crowds on the island and gave him a huge hug.

All the pirates, superheroes, archaeologists, and Cyborgs appeared to be in great spirits given the circumstances, but their demeanors quickly changed when they noticed the body on Cornelius’s back.

“What happened?” Bolt asked.

“Rook saved Alex’s life,” Conner informed them. “He stepped in front of a sniper’s bullet before it hit her.”

“My God,” Bob said. “His poor father.”

“Where is your sister now?” Charlotte asked.

“She’s currently destroying the biggest city in the United States,” Conner said. “You know, typical teenage stuff.”