Page 27 of Sweeter than Honey

When Renata presses her thumb print against the panel, it also activates the hallway lights. They’re bright, so bright that I have to blink a few times as my eyes adjust. The walls are a stark shade of white. There are no windows anywhere. This floor is completely sealed off except for several well-secured vents. There’s a row of bolted doors along the hallway and an office at the very end.

“The holding floor’s security system has been acting up for months,” Renata says, moving down the hallway at a brisk pace. “We’ll just check that everything’s secure and then we’ll be on our way.”

I hurry to keep up with her, but her long legs are much faster than mine, and I fall a few paces behind. She stops at the end of the hallway and opens the door to the office.

The moment she opens the door, a figure wearing loose, black clothes emerges from the office and lunges at her. Their face is covered, but their intent is clear. They knock Renata up against the back wall of the hallway.

“Who…!” Renata yells, but her words are cut off by a shout of pain. There’s an awful, metallic smell. Her attacker holds a thick chain of silver up against her neck.

Adrenaline courses through my veins. My dad always used to saythat you never really know how you’re going to act in a dangerous situation until you’re in one. He always said: be smart, and don’t do anything rash.

Well, clearly I’m very bad at taking advice, because even though I am five foot nothing and very,verynon-magical in every way, I jump at the dark-clothed attacker, giving them everything I’ve got. I might not be strong, but I’m the mother of a five-year-old, and I’ve gone at least a week without a manicure. I sink my long fingernails as deep as I can into the attacker’s hands.

They shout in surprise, and drop the silver chain. It gives Renata a moment to free herself, shoving the attacker aside. They turn to me, their eyes glowing under the hood of their dark cape, and they whisper something so low I’m not able to make out the words.

It’s like a strange dream. A massive forcefield of crimson light shoots out at me, so my entire world is painted red. I fly up into the air, all the way down the long hallway.

There’s a sickening crunch as the back of my head hits the hard concrete floor. I’m overwhelmed by pain unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I try to shout for Renata, but I’m totally winded. Still, I try desperately to force my body to move. I need to help her! What if someone tries to hurt her? I have to call security, or something.

But I can’t move a muscle. The more I try, the more helpless I am. I know that something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong.

There’s another blur of motion as the intruders run past me. There’s an emergency staircase at the other end of the hallway. It will trigger the emergency alarm, but I guess they’ve realized they’ve already been spotted. There are only two of them, I think, but they move so quickly, I can’t be sure.

Why can’t I move my arms? I should be able to move my arms by now, right?

“Lily,” whispers a familiar voice. I blink, and see Renata bending down over me.

There’s an expression of twisted anger on her face. It’s the angriest I’ve ever seen her. Her eyes are crimson to the irises, her nostrils flared.

“Lily,whydid you do that?” she asks, furiously.

I try to respond, but I can’t even manage a whisper. I can feel something wet and sticky on the ground beside me, but I can’t look upor move my arms to see what it could be. I feel very, very…woozy. My eyelids are heavy, and they start to flutter.

Everything hurts. And everything feels wrong…

I think I might die. But…but I can’t die. I can’t leave Eli…

“Shh, hold on,” Renata says. “Hold on, Lily.” She reaches down into the belt she has strapped around her ankle and pulls out her golden dagger.

Is she going to kill me? Am I so far gone that she’s going to end my life so I don’t have to suffer any more? I hope she does it quickly. I hope my mother gets a good insurance payout, and she puts aside some of it for Eli’s college fund. He’s such a smart boy…

I close my eyes, bracing myself.

But I don’t feel the sharp end of the dagger in my heart. Instead, I taste something unusual. Something strange and otherworldly…I lick my lips, and realize my mouth is full of a thick, rich liquid. Is it medicine? Did she give me some alcohol, or drugs to numb the pain? But it doesn’t taste like anything I’ve ever drank before. It’samazing. Like how you would imagine wine tastes like in heaven, or something equally ridiculous.

And then something even stranger happens…the pain starts to melt away, as though it was never there in the first place. I can feel my arms again, and then my legs. I take a deep, shaking inhale and blink my eyes open.

Renata stands above me like an angel, lit by the bright fluorescent lights of the hallway. Her eyes are back to their usual brown again, although they’re still a little red around the edges. There’s a streak of blood down her face, from her eye to her chin. I wonder if it happened when she was fighting the intruders.

I swallow, and take a deep, steady inhale. “Re-Renata?”

“I’m here,” she says, leaning down. “I’m right here.”

Surprised by how well I suddenly feel, I sit up. My palm finds a puddle of thick, red blood pooled around me. Bile rises in my throat. There’s blood all around me. I must have beenverybadly injured. The office is all the way at the end of the hallway, at least thirty feet from where we are. I was pushed all this way and slammed down onto the concrete floor.

Renata reaches into her pocket and pulls out a rose-embroideredhandkerchief. She uses it to wipe down her dagger, which is now bloody.

For a second, I assume it’s my blood, but then I see the neat red line across her wrist.