Mortem sinks his teeth into my shin.He’s right, we need to get the fuck out of here.
Interitus hasn’t moved.Her eyes have darkened and are so focused on me there’s no doubt that I am her target.
Her prey.
I’ve had to deal with predators my whole life.I just got rid of Ignatius, I have no plans to allow another one in.
I round on her.“What do you want?You already got what you came for, the Veil was torn open, Architecti is free.Leave me alone.”
“Got what I want?You have no idea what I want…” Her eyes trail over my skin, skittering and widening as she focuses on the runes.It’s like she’s peeling away layers of me to examine what’s underneath.I stand there, awkward, exposed as she rifles with metaphorical pliers and tongs and cold metal forceps.
I shiver, pull the curtain tighter and edge away from the balcony railing.
She moves.
One step closer.
Mortem hisses, a plea to leave.
But I’m fixated on Interitus.Pierced by her gaze.
“Then tell me…” I demand a little too forcefully and way more confidently than I’m actually feeling.
“Oh, Lucy, I’d think it was obvious… I want… you…”
Her words aren’t sexy or kinky.They’re not smooth or silken.Nor are they mellowed with lust and honey.
Her words are cold, calculated and filled with a menacing hunger that turns my stomach and makes my teeth chatter.
“Lucy,” Mortem whines.His claws join his teeth, sinking into the fleshy pulp of my shin, snapping me out of the reverie.
“You can’t have me,” I bark and then I run.
Mortem and I race down the stairs together.Feet pounding as hard and fast as we can.
My thighs burn and sweat trickles down my neck as my arms pump left and right and left again.
I give everything, moving like electricity through the hallways and down the stairs.
“She’s behind us,” Mortem says.“Faster, Lucy.There’s a door on the left, it has a mind of its own but use it.”
The last couple of steps are uneven and my feet stumble, but I fling myself at the door.Interitus spreads her wings wide, dimming what light remains as she lands on the ground floor.
“GO,” Mortem hisses.
I rip the door open.The roar of my breath thunders in my ears, a cacophony playing alongside the rapid beat of my heart.
We stumble inside as Interitus’s fingers grab for the handle, and I slam the door shut.
I stare at the door, panting, waiting for her to rip it open.It stays shut.
We made it, we’re sealed inside.
“How?Wasn’t she opening the door as I yanked it closed?”
“I told you, it has a mind of its own,” Mortem says.“Never opens to the same location twice in a row.”
“Wait… twice in a—so it could open here again?”I ask, a frisson of panic fluttering in my gut.
