Which had me frowning for an entirely different reason.
Because I wasn’t sure how I’d ended up on my feet.
I’d been in bed, reading.
And now…
I spun around, my eyes blinking rapidly at the darkness spanning in every direction. Except for the fiery source. The ball. The one Lucifer had created upon his Fall.
What’s going on? Where am I?What happened to the book?
I opened my mouth to call for it, only to realize I couldn’t breathe.
Air didn’t exist here.
And the source suddenly seemed infuriated by my presence.
Itburned, humming and growing and forcing me several steps backward. I tried to apologize, but sound didn’t exist here.
What’s happening to me?I twisted and turned, searching for any way out.
But the sphere kept growing.
Faster now.
Forcing me to run.
Tears traced down my face, the wrongness of that tendril inside me twisting in my gut.I don’t belong here. I’m an intruder. An imposter. I need to run. Run. Run!
Panicked, voiceless, airless, mindless.
I no longer understood reason.
Except for that niggling in my mind that wondered if this was some sort of trial. A new wave of testing. Perhaps Ajax had lied to me about taking his shower. Maybe he’d pushed me into the next phase.
Did I sleep for the whole rest period? Am I losing my mind? Is this all another mirage?
I paused then, my chest trying to move on a pant that didn’t exist.
How am I still alive?I’d been running for what felt like minutes without the ability to breathe.Something isn’t right.
I spun back to the light, sensing the fiery kiss of its fury as it engulfed me from head to toe, stroking hot embers across my skin andmeltingmy insides.
My soul wept.
My heart skipped several beats.
And my eyes… my eyes ceased to be.
Too bright. Too hot. Toointense.
The world spun to life in an instant, the heat of the power scorching my skin and setting my spirit on literal fire.
I screamed. But no sound left my lips.
I’m dying, I realized.This isn’t a mirage at all. It’s real!
And I’d stepped right into the white-hot flames.
