“Well, you better get ready to put a claim in on your insurance.”
“Why?”
Balz reached out for the Book. “Because it’s coming with me—”
Just before his hands made contact with the ancient tome, the lights flickered—
And then everything went black.
Mae came back to consciousness because she dropped to the floor—and the sudden impact hurt. But it was also a case of her being able to breathe again.
Gone. The crushing, invisible pressure was gone.
As she started to cough and gag, she rolled onto her back and shoved her hair out of her face with a loose, flappy hand. Staring up at a bald white ceiling, she was confused about where she was, but then her brain began tossing context into the boat of her consciousness, the images and sounds and smells of her short-term memories like dry-dock fish flipping around, spastic and overlapping.
The brunette—
With a shot of adrenaline, Mae shoved herself into a sit-up and put her hand to her head. Even though everything went around in a circle, she managed to track enough so that the racks of clothes registered and so did the purses and the shoes . . . the kitchen area. The bed.
She was alone.
The brunette woman—or whatever she was—was nowhere to be seen.
Mae’s legs were loose as she stood up, and she needed to brace a hand on the wall to keep vertical. Looking around, she expected the evil woman to jump out from behind the partition over by the bathroom area . . . or re-form right in front of her.
When neither of those happened, Mae stopped thinking about immediate self-defense and possible weapons—and started worrying about survival and getting the hell out of wherever she was.
With a lurch, she headed off to the door on the other side of the—what was this, anyway? An apartment in a converted warehouse? It had to be underground given the no-windows, and she tried to scent things to get some clues, but whether it was all the perfume or that her nose was broken, she couldn’t smell anything except that Macy’s-counter stuff.
The only exit she could see was solid steel. With reinforced bars riveted in place.
It didn’t budge as she pushed at the handle, but like that was a surprise? And there was going to be no dematerializing for her. She had no clue where she was or what was on the other side of any of these walls or that door. Plus, with how much pain she was in? No way she could calm herself—
Phone!
Mae shoved her hand into her pocket—her phone. She still had her phone! Yanking the thing out, her hands trembled.
No service.
“Shit.”
But at least it was three in the morning. She had been gone for hours. Surely Sahvage had noticed her absence? Surely he was looking for her? And even though she had been unconscious for a while, there was still enough time before sunrise to get home.
Holding the cell phone out straight, she walked around and hoped to pick up a bar. When that didn’t happen, she circled the perimeter of the space, looking for any viable option to get out.
There was nothing. No other feasible way to leave except for that one bank-vault-worthy door. Yes, there were a couple of vents over the stove, and in the bathroom area, and two heat exchangers in the corners that pumped in warm, dry air. But that was too suicidal. You dematerialized and tried to travel through a venting system you weren’t familiar with?
All it took was one steel-based air filter and you were Swiss cheese.
For a split second, her brain fritzed out with panic, and the gonowhere buzz got worse as she glanced at the dog cage she’d broken free of.
But losing focus was not going to help.
She reminded herself that Sahvage would know she should have been long home by now. He would look for her. He might even find her car at the side of the road—
Oh, God, that poor human man who had rear-ended her. He was dead because he had tried to help her.
She had to get out of here—
A low rumble emanated from somewhere above—no, not above. All around. Terrified, Mae covered her head and ducked down, her injuries screaming at the awkward position as whatever it was came to a culmination of volume, with a vibration that emanated up through her legs.
And then . . . it faded.
As Mae straightened and dropped her arms, she looked around.
The subway, she thought.
She was definitely somewhere underground.
• • •
“No, no, I’m happy to . . .” Nate glanced at Elyn and decided not to finish that thought out loud.
I’m happy to go anywhere with you seemed a little intense.
“It’s a nice idea to walk outside,” he concluded as he made a point to look up at the starry sky. “And get some air.”