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One problem, though.
I’ve been up since yesterday morning, my disappointment over Nine leaving me has switched over to embarrassment when I think of the way I acted, and I’m super exhausted after walking around this morning. The second the house lights go down and I’m snuggled down in my seat in the last row of the theatre, I can already feel my eyes grow heavier and heavier until they’re closed.
The next thing I know, I’m not in the theater anymore.
I don’t have a freaking clue where I am. No idea. Then again, the room is so hazy, it’s like it’s full of fog or something. No matter how hard I wave my hand, it does nothing to clear the space.
I can pick out a couple of details. I’m indoors. That much is obvious. There’s this thick, lush rug under my feet; my sneakers sink deeper and deeper into the shag with every step. The walls are white. High windows arching over my head let in a light so bright, it reflects off the hazy mist.
To my left, I see stairs. An ornately carved banister wraps around the spiral set. When I see it twinkle, I realize that it’s not any kind of wood or metal—it’s glass. Weird. It looks sturdy, though, and I might’ve reached for it if I didn’t notice the large, heavy door set in the wall off to my right.
The fog is thinner near the door. It’s big. Huge. I can put another of me on my shoulders and still not hit my head on the door jamb. It’s painted the same pristine white as the wall. If it weren’t for the lines that marked its shaped and the expensive-looking doorknob, I don’t even know if I would recognize it for what it is.
The knob twinkles like the banister. It’s a pale gold, pulled in a shape like a massive diamond. I… I think it’s crystal.
This weirdo place has a crystal doorknob.
Okay, then.
Yeah.
I’ve definitely never been here before.
I drift toward the door. I’ve got this idea that I should open it up. It might lead to another room, or even outdoors. Either way, it?
??s information I won’t have if I linger in this eerily quiet space. Everything around me seems so expensive, I’m almost afraid to breathe in case I break something.
I can’t bring myself to grab the fancy doorknob. Up close, it doesn’t look so sturdy. What if the crystal shatters against my leather glove? My hand’s outstretched, inches away from the curve of the knob, and I just can’t do it.
Come on, Riley. What if freedom’s out there? Or, better yet, some answers?
Yeah. I’m gonna turn the knob.
Suddenly, a voice comes through the door. I draw my hand back. I don’t know if it’s freedom out there, but there’s definitely something—or someone—on the other side. Once I recognize the familiar voice whispering through the door, it hits me that I might be trapped in this strange room, but answers… I might just get some of those.
She doesn’t sound muffled. How thick is that door? Though her voice is quiet and low, it comes through clearly.
My stomach drops.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“I can’t stay long,” Carolina murmurs. There’s a deferential note that I’ve never heard from her before. I don’t like it. “She’s expecting me back in a few days of human time.”
She… How much do I want to bet I know who she means?
“You’ll stay as long as I require you to. Find a way around the truth if you must, but if you have to keep up the pretense that you’re on the Shadow’s side, you will. You’ve done an admirable job so far, Carolina. If I didn’t know you were completely human, I’d wonder if you shared some faerie blood.”
Carolina… even if I didn’t recognize the first voice, the way the rich, haughty second speaker uses her name seals the deal for me.
I figured she wasn’t alone. She had to be talking to someone, right? The way she says human, though, it’s probably not her parents.
But she’s supposed to be with her parents.
Ah, crap.
I really freaking hope this is a dream. That the stress from being on the run, coupled with the way I left things with Nine before I snuck out again, has messed up my head. I was tired, so it makes sense that I would fall asleep.
But I usually don’t dream.
