Page 28 of Their Lethal Pet

With that, he returns to the train door and leaves us without a backward glance.

This is it.

Monsters Night.

Time to run.

CHAPTER SEVEN

ALINA

Oh,good. More white.

Because why would there be any other colors here?

When I think of monsters, I think of darkness. Blood. Cruel fates. Notwhite. And yet this box we’re currently in—anelevator, I believe—is as pristine as the platform we just left.

One of the Protectors presses his palm to the wall, causing a panel to appear. “Ground floor,” he says, his voice deep.

Not Timothy, I think. But that thought doesn’t bring any relief with it because there are three other Protectors in this contraption with us, and one of them is Timothy.

Or rather, it sounded like him earlier.

Okay, but if it is him, what can he actually do?I ask myself.The portals will be opening soon, and then I’ll be monster bait.

Maybe he’s just trying to scare me? A final punishment from the Viscount before I’m released into Monster City?

My knees lock as the room—elevator—begins to move, the sensation foreign and unsteady. I nearlyreach out to Bartholomew for support but curl my fingers into a fist instead as I regain my balance.

Discomfort tugs at my ears, suggesting we’re moving upward quickly.

That explains all the white walls,I think numbly. The scenery had melted into concrete sometime while I’d slept, suggesting we’d ventured underground. But the pressure on my head now tells me we were much deeper than I’d realized.

I’ve only ever felt this sensation one time before—when I was driven up into the mountains for my parents’ funeral ceremony. There were several families involved, all of us having lost loved ones in the same accident.

My nose twitches, the scent of smoke tickling my senses. It’s a sensory memory, one I know isn’t real. But I swear the acrid stench of burning flesh is forever burned into my nostrils.

Not a good time to reminisce, Lina,I tell myself as the elevator dings and the world stops moving.Focus on running.

Because if I’m caught by a monster, I won’t be able to find my sister.

I don’t care what the Duke told me about potential matings and monsters being kinder than my village. All I want is to locate Serapina.

I picture her in my mind, her golden-blonde hair and crystal-blue eyes such a stark contrast to my darker features. We don’t look like sisters at all apart from our smaller stature and pale skin. However, looks can be deceiving. Our souls know the truth. She’s always been my other half. It nearly destroyed me when she was chosen.

But her note changed everything.

I’m here,I want to tell her.I’ll be with you soon.

Just thinking of my purpose has my spine straightening, my head lifting, and my eyes instantly focusing on oursurroundings as we step out of the elevator into a massive room with glass all around it.

Glass walls.

Glass ceiling several stories above my head.

Glass doors.

Glasseverything.