Page 96 of Blood Day: Part Two

Into the unknown.

I tried to feel downward a little to touch the metal tunnel, but it didn’t appear to have a bottom. It just… it just kept going.

And the air felt even hotter.

I instinctively tried to shift backward but couldn’t, my wiggling less effective and barely causing me to budge. A strangled sort of sound followed, one I barely understood.Is that me?I wondered as a dizzying sensation overwhelmed me once more.I… How am I…?

That noise echoed again.

Definitely me,I thought, the world seeming to spin once more.

I pressed my forehead against the warm metal, incapable of moving anymore.This is my end. I’m done. I’m no more.

Except that wasn’t true at all.

Cedric’s bond had damned me to an eternity of agony.

Unless he somehow dies.

I nearly laughed at the thought. He was invincible. An ancient vampire with superior strength and skill. It would take a—

The metal beneath me shook as something pounded against it.

Lycans, I realized.They’ve found me.

I could hear their claws scraping the sides of the vent, trying to dig their way in.

A sob tore from my throat, one born of gratitude and terror. Such a twisted combination. But I wanted to be freed from this hell.

And yet, an even worse fate waited for me on the other side.

Alas, everything already ached. What more could they do?

So much more,I realized, my palm touching the opening again.Maybe falling headfirst would be better. I might break my neck. They’ll find me, think I’m dead, and discard me.

I blinked, the plan suddenly far more appealing than waiting here while they clawed through the vent beneath me. I’d rather die.

I’ll end up in that flesh pile, I thought, recalling the corpses.Maybe I’ll be able to find a new way out.

My brow furrowed as a detail of my escape nagged at me. Something about the opening doors. Coincidence, perhaps? Or had it really been Cedric?

Goddess, I couldn’t even trust my mind anymore.What’s real? What’s fake?

This air is real, I told myself.That sound is real, too.

Angry claws.

Dragging along the metal.

Or air.

A free fall into a hot oblivion. Maybe it’ll burn me alive. Or maybe I’ll be lucky enough to break my neck before I can feel any more heat.

Yes.

That was the only way.

I grabbed hold of the ledge before me, knowing one good yank would pull me over the edge and into dark obscurity.