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It’s a long hall Wall sconces adorn the stone walls, and aht falls over a narrow strip of carpeted ay I follow it to the end, where a winding iron staircase leads upward I canstairs two at a tione Almost there…
No sooner do my feet hit the first step than a body crashes intoaway, and my vision falls on another Pulseless Beautiful And a wicked gleahts up a mercury pair of eyes Hiss out from under hi at s locked around his waist,his head into a choke hold He backs and plows ainst the stone wall Back, back, he sla to rip his head off The goddae
"Riley, it’s Noah Get off li toward us I turn Noah loose and land in a run, heading for the spiral steps I’m up them in five seconds and onto the roof
"She nearly tookhead," I hear one say
"Goddamn, Noah," another exclaims "Goddamn"
Outside, I’m free There is a multitude of reddish steeples and turret roofs This place…it’s on a rocky hilltop, surrounded by thick forest A soupy h the trees That’s where I have to go The woods There, I can escape Disappear into the fog I run along a narrow path with a short wall that barely co the far corner, I don’t hesitate I clear the edge, slipping over and down the sun-bleached white stone and eonholes that keepThe last thirty feet or so, I drop, land in a crouch, scan s, then take off Already, the mist envelops me They’ll not find me--
My body hurls through the air and lands with another atop !" He holds me still, tries to pull my arms behind h, wooden base A tree I don’t even look; I begin to clinore I don’t look down until I’round Tall, beautiful, with long brown hair pulled back, the pulseless one stares up at ible, and throws hi Toward round at a dead-run The mist is thicker now, and I can barely seefaint; I’h the dense wood It’s a blind run now as the fog is so soupy, I can only see the al; adrenaline fires through my bloodstream and I’m almost hyper The noises and sounds of the wood increase in pitch and all at once It’s so discombobulated, it makes ets louder--
A body sla, this pulseless one, and he holds his hand over s like a vise "Be still if you want your freedoo dead-still I don’t trust hih for , but so ao I scra into the bracken of the forest floor I see nothing but white as the rasping my ankle loose I kick with ain I scraed across the damp leaves and dirt My arrowl My skin feels flushed with fire as I’m jerked around to face ive hiive rumbles, then ducks, dumps me over his shoulder, and puts one ar o"
It’s the voice of the one called Eli, but what’s da plat-eye? He’d said it in a strange accent, not his own What the hell is going on?
He runs with le, but it’s no use Deeper into the ether Suddenly, I feel queasy, and it’s then he stops running We’re at a building of sorts, and we enter through a door Inside it’s dark and old s The door slams shut and is locked
"You’ll be safe here," he says, and sets me down The moment my feet hit the floor, the pain starts I cruh me, and my body seizes
"Riley, shhh," he says in a low voice "It will soon pass"
Nothing’s passing Pain rips through ony The screanize it Soon, blackness washes over h ain, listless I’ve no energy, not even to weep I can barely open my eyes, even a fraction, but I force myself to He’s beside me I’m sure he’s never left The rooht falls over a hearth, a wardrobe, a single chair, a chest of sorts
"Riley," he says softly
He calls me that frequently I’m not sure if that’s just what he’s named me, or if it really is my name I can’t remember All I know is I can’t even move my head to look at him
His hands ers e, escape, but I can’t hts, I find that better than the pain Perhaps I’athers my body to his I feel his embrace encircleIt hurts to breathe in deeply, so I allow my shallow breath to take it in I close my eyes
In the next instant, his mouth is at my ear
"Je suis désolé, retful Saddened, perhaps His breath fans overmy skin "Mais il n’y a nulle autre voie Il fera seulement mal un moment…"