I was already thinking about curling up on my couch with a huge, fluffy blanket, hot chocolate with pink marshmallows, and Thief snuggling in my arm. Shit, Thief! Was he still at large in my flat? What if he'd gotten out a window and was lost in the city?
"I'm coming home, Thiefy," I promised him, and stepped into the corridor beyond the basement I'd been tortured in. Although I expected to be in afarworse condition than I was now. I'd barely bled, I wasn't a skin bag full of broken bones. Sang had touched me but, um, it wasn't exactly non-consensual.
I'd wanted it—badly. The feeling of his hands on my body soothed an empty ache of longing I’d had all my life.
Even God of the Void hadn't beaten me. He'd scraped my head with his claws, raked up memories I wanted to stay hidden, but he hadn't set his hands on me. Why?
I knew what the keepers would say. They were playing with me, trying to make me let my guard down before theytrulysavaged me, ripping my skin on their claws to gorge themselves on my internal organs.
"Guard up, Hala," I coached myself, flipping my head left and right to scan the dark hallway outside. It was completely empty of features except for a lift at the end, shiny metal doors locked tight.
I groaned.
I could use my magic to do a lot of things, but melting something to acid and goop wasn't really useful in working a lift. And something told me this was one of those fancy ones that needed a special key.
"Worst case scenario," I whispered, tiptoeing down the cold floor towards the lift, "if the monsters catch you, now you can goopify them."
I lifted my glowing knife in front of me just in case, the back of my neck burning and my skin crawling as I waited for someone to discover me. I couldn't ignore the tiny voice in my head that said this was too easy, but there was no way the shadowkind expected me to burn through my chains and then melt the handle. They thought I was safely locked up.
"Everything is going to be fine," I breathed, pressing the arrow button on the lift and laughing nervously when the doors swung open on an empty cubicle.
Okay, so maybe this was too easy.
When I stepped inside, I was prepared for disappointment. And sure enough, when I tried most buttons, nothing happened. But when I jammed the button for floor two the little number lit up in pure white.
"What thehell?" I hissed when the doors snapped shut and the lift began to ascend. "This isn't supposed to work."
It didn't ask for a key card or a password. It just … worked. Suspiciously well.
"Breathe, Hala," I coached myself, and took exaggerated breaths like I was a pregnant lady in a film. "It's okay that this is a trap; your hands aren't bound this time."
I avoided looking at myself in the mirrored doors. Even at a quick glance, I knew my silver hair was a stringy mess, there were dark shadows around my eyes, and I was sallow and slumped. I looked like the main villain in a gothic horror film.
I was so focused on not catching my reflection that I jumped back when the lift pinged and the doors snapped open.
You got this, you got this…
Swallowing my dread, I peered into the corridor outside with wide eyes. It wasn't anywhere as dark as the basement, with grey walls and abstract paintings hung on them, and the floor covered in expensive rugs. A thick scent of earthy aftershave clung to the air, like the hallway had been doused in it, and it was a thousand times better than the dank smell of the basement.
"Please let there be a door," I whispered, creeping out of the lift and frantically scanning the hallway. "Or a window with a solid ledge."
I wasn't a great fan of heights, and I was a weak climber. My scores on that test had been so low I’d been punished, but Icouldclimb if I was really desperate. At least I knew how.
And then you'll be in the middle of a street in the void, alone, with no idea how to get back to Earth,an unhelpful voice pointed out.
"Deal with that later," I told myself, aware I sounded like a crazy person. Being insane was the least of my worries.
I picked a direction at random, scanning the hall for a window or staircase. I hoped I wouldn’t have to open the doors and hope there wasn't a monster inside.
If I found Sang, he'd tie me up and never let me go. If I found God of the Void … I didn't know what he'd do. Scrape bad memories out of my head again and force me to confront them instead of hiding from them like I usually did?
I lifted my stolen knife in front of me, a faint glow coming from the centre of my palm, and turned a corner into the next hallway.
My shoulders dropped at the same time my heart sank.
It dead-ended at a flat wall with a small table holding a vase of black, withered flowers. That was what happened to life in the void. If I stayed, it would happen to me, too.
I turned back the way I'd come—and screamed at the sight of a massive, shirtless blue monster hulking in the middle of the hall. Smirking at me.