Warped (Maurissa Guibord)

picture where the unicorn had been, the more distant background of woods and trees and flowers. In the morning light the tapestry looked shabby and frayed at the edges, but the muted colors still glowed. Even now she could hardly believe what had happened: William de Chaucy had really come out of a piece of woven fabric. He was real.
    Tessa frowned and took a step closer. "No," she said slowly. "I think it's different."
    Gray Lily pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "This girl, this Brody person, is beginning to annoy me. Obviously my serpent did not have the desired effect." She turned to Moncrieff, who stood some feet away, his head bowed. Gray Lily raised her hands in clenched fists and shrieked. " And she still has my tapestry! "
    Moncrieff nodded once. "Yes, my lady." He paused. "The unicorn. Even now, could you not control him as you--"
    He broke off, the rest of it not needing to be said. As you do me .
    Gray Lily jerked her head in the negative. "I can't. The unicorn is the only thread I left whole within the tapestry. It's the only way I could"--she glanced at Moncrieff--"contain the creature.
    "It doesn't matter," she said briskly. "I have other useful threads." She sat down and tugged open the drawstrings of her velvet pouch with quick, vicious movements. "I will have this girl on her knees before this day is done. I will have her blood and her tears." She pulled two coarse, spiky threads from her bag and dangled them in the air. Speaking in a low voice, she murmured a series of incantations.
    The threads drifted up and away from her hands and out through the open window.
    "There," said Gray Lily. "I have sent the lymerer. The hunt begins in earnest."

Chapter 28

The tapestry was different. There were two figures in the upper right-hand corner of the tapestry that Tessa hadn't noticed before. They were so small they were just two dark smudges. She took a deep breath. Stared.
    "Will."
    "What?" He looked over at her and came closer.
    "Look at this," Tessa breathed. Her eyes were fixed on the dark woven surface. "It's changing." She stared at it, trying to see if words were forming. No. Not words.
    The figures in the corner were bigger. She could see them clearly now, even though they were only about an inch high. They had taken on faint colors too. One was a man dressed in black; next to him was a shorter form. A dog, held on a leash.
    "They're getting bigger," Tessa said faintly. She shivered. The threads of the tapestry were reworking themselves, transforming the wriggling surface of the fabric. The tapestry flapped against the wall, releasing small puffs of dust. Its surface rippled and shook as the figures got bigger. Closer. The grim-faced man had something black over one eye. A patch. The dog was huge and black, with glowing orange eyes and bared teeth.
    Tessa heard the sharp hiss of Will's indrawn breath and turned. He stood, white-faced, staring at the tapestry. The jagged cut made a dark track on his pale skin. "Tessa!" Without tearing his eyes from the tapestry Will gripped her arm and pulled her back. "Get away from it. He's a lymerer."
    "What's a lymerer?" whispered Tessa.
    "A kind of huntsman. They use dogs to track and to--" He broke off and she glanced up. There was a wild look in his eyes. The same look he'd had when he'd come from the tapestry, Tessa thought. A frozen, hunted look.
    "Will, what's happening?" she cried. When he didn't answer, she looked back. The figure of the man was in the center of the tapestry now, and bigger still. His face was thick and brutish. He held the leash wound around his fisted right hand. A heavy sword hung from his side, as well as a horn. The threads shifted. He was moving .
    The dog pulled forward, pawing the air. The picture got bigger with every passing second, filling the tapestry as Tessa watched in horror.
    "He's coming here." Will pushed her toward the door. "Get away, Tessa. Run!"
    Then it happened. So quickly there was no time to run, no time to think. The room shook, and Tessa heard the rumbling and the tearing sound, the same as before. She stumbled to the door, got one hand on the knob and flung the door open as she twisted to look behind her. "Will!" she screamed.
    The teeth came through first.

Chapter 29

Snapping fangs snagged and tore the threads as a monstrous dog pushed his head out of the tapestry.
    "Run!" Will yelled, shoving Tessa through the open door.
    They flew down the stairs. Will grabbed the rail and leapt over the last few