Chapter 6

Isomewhat reluctantly follow Mr. Scruffles back to the cell I had gone to the bathroom in. My pulse skitters in trepidation as I use my hands to familiarize myself with my surroundings.

What just happened?

It sounds surreal to say that the cat had transformed into a beast and killed that man…but what other option is there? Someone—or something—had hurt him, and the cat was the only other occupant in the room.

Terror thrums through me as my heart ricochets around my ribcage. There’s a very real threat sitting only a few inches away from me, his tail swinging languidly.

Am I going to be next?

I want to run as far as I can, but I know my attempted escape will be futile. It’s apparent that the cat—monster—has taken a liking to me, practically herding me towards the bedroom. How long will that “liking” last? The last thing I want to do is provoke the creature and shorten my time left on earth.

I sift through my memories for any monster, creature, or paranormal entity that fits the cat’s description. Nothing springs to mind.

Still, despite my fear, I can’t ignore how tempting an actual bed sounds. While I slept peacefully only a few hours ago, there’s something about an actual mattress, pillow, and blanket that appeals to me immensely. Even staring at it through Mr. Scuffles’s eyes reminds my body how weak and leaden it has become. I pull out of the cat’s head, and darkness presses in thickly all around me.

Using my hands for guidance, I stumble around the numerous chairs until I touch the mattress. It smells clean, the scent almost floral, and it’s softer than my mattress at the Compound.

I sink onto the fluffy surface and rest my head on the pillow. I hear Mr. Scruffles climb onto the foot of my bed and rest between my feet. In only seconds, his breathing is even and steady as sleep claims him.

Despite my earlier qualms, I find myself drifting off as well. It doesn’t matter that I just slept for hours in the dank hallway. It doesn’t matter that a monster is purring away at my feet.

I want to sleep, want to forget everything that has transpired in the last month. It feels as if I’ve aged years in a matter of hours. As the first pull of unconsciousness grips me, I think about death. My death, in particular.

How many times did I wish for such a relief in the Compound?

Now, death is quite literally breathing down my neck, but the allure is no longer present. I don’t know if I’m capable of fighting it, but I’ll sure as hell try.

I wakeup to water being squirted in my face with the force of a tsunami. It enters my nostrils and gaping mouth, evoking unimaginable pain. Twisting, I press my forehead against the now-soaked pillow.

As abruptly as it began, the water shuts off.

“Get up, Little Monster,” a cold voice demands. When I remain immobile, I hear the telltale sound of my cage being thrown open.

I mean cage literally.

My cell consists of nothing but gray slabs of stone and bars in front of the only doorway. There are no windows—no sunlight penetrating the suffocatingly small room. Only a cot and pot reside inside my prison. The cot itself smells distinctly of mildew and piss, and the pot reeks something fierce. They’re supposed to clean it out every day, but it has been sitting here for weeks now, overflowing and staining the cement floor.

A moment later, a rough hand fists around my hair, yanking my head back. I just barely manage to contain my yelp of pain, my teeth destroying my lower lip.

“Don’t be a bitch,” he snaps.

Instead of fighting, I go limp in his arms. Call me a coward. Call me weak.

I learned long ago that fighting only leads to more pain.

He shifts me so I’m sitting somewhat comfortably in his arms, one of his hands under my butt and the other around my shoulders. I wince as he begins to grope me, but I know better than to open my mouth.

There’s no reason to fight. Not anymore.

Not after Kai left me.

Tears spring to my eyes instinctively, his mere name evoking such a reaction. I stubbornly hold them in, refusing to shed another tear in front of this man. Maybe later, in the solitude of my cell, I will fall apart. For now, I will pretend that my puzzle pieces aren’t jagged and broken, chewed up and discarded. I will pretend that I’m whole.

Maybe I’ll begin to believe it myself.

I slide into his head as he leads me through the Compound. Instead of the torture chamber, he leads me to a familiar room consisting of a wooden desk and two plastic chairs. I’m deposited on one, and he moves to sit opposite me, his legs kicked up and his hands behind his head.

“You’re being watched and recorded,” he says almost conversationally, nodding first to the camera in the corner of the room and then to the wall-length mirror. He leans forward suddenly, resting his forearms on the table. “So, tell me, Little Monster, what you know about immortality.”

I awake with a gasp,breaths feathering in and out. My heart feels like it is clamped in a spiky vise, bleeding with each consecutive harried pump. The dream replays on repeat in my mind. No, not a dream.

A memory.

Why did he ask me that question? What did he mean? Does it have something to do with my enhanced healing capabilities?

Each question clamors for attention in my head, but I’m unable to settle on just one. A splitting headache forms behind my eyes, and I rub at the sensitive skin with my thumbs.

Was it possible that the facility knew about the supernatural world?

The more I consider it, the more probable it seems. It’s no secret that the men and women present suspected I was something other than human. The tests administered and questions asked confirm as much.

But why me?

Why Kai?

Almost lazily, I push my mind into the nearest set of eyes…only to discover that I’m alone.

Where is Mr. Scruffles? I pat down the blankets, but my searching hands come up empty. Panic surges through me, completely unexpected. I’m struck by the intensity of it.

I don’t trust the cat, yet I’m grieving his absence. Maybe it’s because he was my first friend in years, not just my first friend in this prison. Maybe because his absence causes loneliness to press in on me on all sides, like a steadily shrinking room. As the walls push in, I begin to suffocate.

Breathing unsteady, I stumble around the room, searching futilely for the missing cat.

Did he go back to his owner?

Irrational tears trail down my cheeks, and I scrub them away.

No crying, Nina. You have to be strong. You’re not going to survive another day if you show weakness.

I don’t know how much time has passed, but I’m not hungry. I imagine it’s only been a few hours since I last ate. Since the monster killed…

Don’t think about that.

I debate my options. I could stay in this room, where I’ve been relatively safe so far, or I could take my chances somewhere else in the Labyrinth. The main problem with the former idea is the owner of this room. I have no idea who or what he is and what he will do to me if he discovers me in his space. But if I travel by myself in the Labyrinth…

I’m under no misconception that I’m a strong fighter. Not every heroine has to be one. I know the basics of throwing a punch, but if you were to put me in a fight against a hardened criminal, I would be dead in seconds. That is, if they kill me. I’m not completely oblivious of what can be done to females in today’s society.

Before I can make my decision, there’s a rustling noise to the left of me, and I whip my head in that direction. Deciding quickly, I slide into the newcomer’s mind just as she staggers to a stop in front of the open door, panting.

“I’ve been…” Pant. “Looking for you…” Pant. “Everywhere.”

Her voice is decidedly feminine, and when she glances down, I see ample breasts and a ruby red gown. It’s far nicer than anything I would’ve expected to see in a prison.

She fixes her gaze on me, trembling in the corner of the room.

“Looking for me?” I ask softly, watching my mouth move through her eyes. It will never not be weird.

“Blade told me to look after you,” she explains, but I have no idea who this “Blade” is. If he’s anything like his namesake, I don’t want to find out. “I went to where the guards usually drop off the new inmates, but you weren’t there. Then I started asking around, but no one saw you. “Usually, Blade likes new females seeing other females when they wake up. It makes them feel more comfortable. I’m Tessa, by the way. And you are…?” She steps forward, hand extended, only to pause when she’s directly in front of me.

I know she can see my white, sightless eyes.

“Holy shit!” she curses. “You’re blind?” Before I can reply, she releases a melodic laugh that instantly puts me at ease. “How have you survived this long?” She tsks her tongue before kneeling down to stare at me.

“I’m Nina,” I stutter out at last. She seems friendly, charismatic, but is it an act? There were only a few females in the Compound with me, and all of them were captors instead of captives. Evil doesn’t discriminate against gender.

“Nina,” she says softly. “That’s a pretty name.” With a sigh, she rises to her full height and lifts a hand to help me up. “Come on. Blade wants to meet you.”

Those words freeze every organ in my body. My heart struggles to pump blood. My mouth parts in shock and terror.

“What?” I ask meekly.

“He’s not that bad,” Tessa says, and I can imagine she’s rolling her eyes. She seems like the type. “None of his inner circle is that bad…well, except for Damien. He’s an asshole. A sexy asshole, but an asshole all the same. And I swear Cain looks as if he’s seconds away from snapping my neck…” She trails off thoughtfully, but her words do the opposite of what she intended.

Fear like no other claims me in an impenetrable chain. I scramble on my hands and knees until my back is against the wall.

Tessa releases a heavy sigh. “Look, I can either force you, or you can come willingly. Either way, you’re coming with me. Got it? Good.”

Without waiting for me to respond, she lifts her hand and my entire body freezes. Abruptly, I’m yanked out of her mind and back into my solitary darkness. A pathetic squeak escapes me as my feet hover just above the ground, never touching.

What does she plan to do with me?

I’ve never missed Mr. Scruffles more than I do in this moment.

Air brushes my cheeks, whipping my hair around my face, as I move down the hall. Only, I’m not actually moving. Tessa is moving me. My feet never once touch the ground.

I don’t know how long we walk until Tessa releases me, my slippered feet landing gently on the cold cement. I stagger, head pounding, as a delicate hand rests on my shoulder.

“It’s better me than the others,” she tells me sincerely. “But I promise, Nina, that I’ll protect you. You don’t have to be scared of them.”

I don’t know why, but a part of me believes her. I have dealt with liars and crooks my entire life, but there’s nothing but truth emanating from her. Maybe it’ll be beneficial to have someone like her as an ally.

“Now, when the door opens, you’re going to have to step inside. I’ll be right behind you, okay? They’re going to be straight ahead. Take maybe about seven steps, okay? Stop and then bow. Don’t say anything until you’re spoken to. I know this is scary for you, but you’ll be safe. Promise. Blade doesn’t harm women. The worst that could happen is one of the others propositioning you, but if you say no, they’ll back off. Okay?” She squeezes my shoulder, and I take the moment to once again slip into her head.

I wonder, briefly, if the spell she performed on me prohibited me from entering her head before. It would be interesting to experiment with. Does her magic cancel out my magic? Is that even what this is? Magic?

Tessa’s facing me currently, but through her eyes, I can see an immense doorway directly over my shoulder. What appears to be snakes and dragons are etched into the silver lining. It’s by far fancier than the rest of the prison, but it does nothing to quell the full body shivers overtaking me.

“You’ll be okay,” Tessa assures me before pushing open the door. It slides open silently, revealing a room with stark white walls, gray flooring, and a high-backed chair against the far wall of the room.

A man is sitting on the chair currently, talking to a man wearing a pressed suit and tie. Out of Tessa’s peripheral, I spot other men, but she doesn’t focus long enough for me to get a good look at them.

Even if she did, I wouldn’t.

My entire attention—my entire being—is fixated on the man in the chair.

His dark hair cascades to his shoulders in disheveled waves. A wicked scar runs down his left cheek, somehow accentuating his handsome features. Tattoos climb up his throat, and his white shirt sleeves are pushed up to reveal more on his forearms. He’s a vision of chiseled muscle and rugged sexiness.

And he’s also painfully familiar.

“Kai,” I whisper softly. Before I realize what I’m doing, I’m running forward. It appears as if there are miles between us, miles I wish desperately to breach…

He stiffens, but he doesn’t look away from the man he’s deep in conversation with.

My vision shifts suddenly, and I release a startled oomph as I’m tackled to the ground.