Page 47 of Flock This

“Is this really the time for jokes?”

“My mom taught me that it was always the time for jokes. Humor makes the bad things in life easier to deal with.”

“Fair point, but why do you actively seek out those bad things? I told you to stay away from the medical ward, to not go looking for William’s thralls. You really couldn’t listen to me just that once?” He came forward, each step loud in the space that suddenly felt so much smaller than it had. “This place can kill you. This isn’t a joke—this place wants to kill you. You want to understand just how much danger you’re in?”

I expected him to grab me, even braced myself when he moved. He didn’t touch me, though, and instead hit his fist against one of the buttons on the elevator, the metal groaning. The doors closed and the elevator sped upward. Even still, Kelvin didn’t tear his gaze from mine, locking me in place with that look.

It was angry, but so much more. This wasn’t normal, ‘I lost a match in a stupid PVP game’ anger. This wasn’t fleeting or simple. Instead, it seemed to hold so much meaning.

Which unsettled me. It hinted that the relationship I had with Kelvin was deeper than I’d realized, that perhaps he saw me more as an annoying potential lay.

And I had no fucking idea what to do with that information, especially when he remained serious.

The elevator stopped at the top floor, the doors opening to the roof. The sky was still dark, but a line of pink on the horizon showed sunrise neared.

Which probably made the roof the worst place Kelvin could be—not that he seemed to notice or care. He grabbed my arm, his grip unyielding as he yanked me along with him.

Getting pulled around, as it turned out, was not a kink of mine. I didn’t much care for it, but that hadn’t stopped anyone from doing it.

The roof wasn’t entirely flat, with a building resting on the south side of it that had a door at the front. Was it not accessible from the interior of the building?

If not, it had to be a place they didn’t want people finding. I had a really bad feeling about this.

Kelvin dragged me toward it, saying nothing, not easing my fears at all. When we reached the door, he twisted the handle and pushed it open.

No lock?

Then again, between the magical barriers and the access at the elevator, they probably didn’t worry about people making their way up here much.

A rotting scent hit me when he opened that door so strongly I gagged immediately. Kelvin didn’t pause, though, yanking me inside and all but throwing me toward the center of the room.

It was dark inside, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust.

The interior came to me bit by horrific bit until the totality struck me.

Cages rested along the far wall, large enough to hold big dogs—but I doubted they were used for that. Blood coated the bars of those cages, along with streaks on the walls and puddles on the floor. Some of the blood was old, other fresh, but all of it had been spilled with so little care.

Something black caught my attention, and before I could stop myself, I crouched down to pick it up.

A black feather, the shaft broken, blood on it. As I stood, as my brain worked through more details of the room, I spotted other feathers. So many of them lying forgotten on the floor, like trash.

And wedged in the corner of one of the blood-stained cages was a clump of hair, as though caught there accidentally then ripped out from the scalp. A tremble started through me when I recognized that they were blue—the same shade as my normal hair.

“Do you understand now? Do you get how far they’re willing to go to get you? That they’re looking for you, searching for you? If they’re willing to do this to anything they think might be you, what do you think will happen if they get their hands on you?”

I turned to face Kelvin, finding him right behind me, so much closer than I’d realized. He stared down at me, and I couldn’t stop the shaking through me.

I’d known I was in danger—I wasn’t stupid, after all—but somehow it hadn’t felt this real before. Now, seeing the death etched into these walls—the pain that was all my fault—I couldn’t unsee it.

Kelvin’s expression softened just a bit as he set his palm on my cheek. “You’re right in their grasp, Grey, and I don’t want to see you end up here. I just need you to listen to me and I will get you through this alive.”

I’d never believed a word Kelvin said before, but for some reason, the words rang true. Was it because the sight here had scared me that much? Because I wanted to believe him? I wanted to feel some semblance of safety so badly that I was willing to accept his words at face value?

Foolish, but sometimes foolish things were all we had.

Kelvin turned his face toward the door, the sky outside lightning farther, signaling the oncoming morning. “I don’t feel like sleeping here today. Come on, we’re going elsewhere.”

“But, the sun…”

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