Page 40 of The Curse of Blood and Silenc

The tunnel was narrow, but it would do. One person at a time, at crawling speed—not ideal, but infinitely better than whatever horrors were closing in behind us. Those screams were definitely getting closer, although on the plus side the confined space would slow down anything bigger than us. I flexed my foot, ignoring the throb. We’d have to move fast, injury or no injury. Whatever was coming down that hall, whatever was causing those screams—it would have to catch us first.

“You first.” I grabbed Shannon’s arm and shoved her toward the vent opening. The screams outside were getting closer.

“I can’t.” Her voice quivered, exhaustion and terror warring in her eyes.

“Those things out there could be more demons. Do you want them to find you?” The words came out harsh, but fear hadstolen any softness from my voice. “What do you think they’ll do to you if Balthazar hands you over to them?”

Terror flashed across Shannon’s face. She glanced over her shoulder at the door, then back at the dark, gaping maw of the vent. The hope of survival finally won. She dragged herself forward with trembling arms, each movement punctuated by soft groans of pain. I crawled in after her, the cold metal pressing against my palms, my knees. The vent felt smaller now that I was inside it, the walls too close, the air too thin.

“Faster,” I whispered, trying to keep my voice steady. “Please, Shannon, try to go a little faster.”

The door exploded inward with a sound like a thunderclap. Wood splintered, metal shrieked, and my heart stopped.

“Serenity?” Balthazar’s voice rolled through the room like black smoke. “Where are you?”

My whole body locked up, ice flooding my veins. That voice. That falsely tender voice that promised such beautiful things only to ripped people apart. My lungs seized up, and I had to press my fist against my mouth to contain the panicked sound trying to escape. Sweat slicked my palms against the metal vent, and for a horrible moment, I was back in his grasp, drowning in sulfur-sweet darkness.

No. No. Keep moving. Don’t let him in your head.

Shannon froze ahead of me and let out a soft, muffled cry. Her entire body started trembling, her ankle quivering under my warning grip. I could hear her ragged breathing echoing in the metal tunnel, too loud, too fast. She was hyperventilating.

Through the darkness, I saw her shoulders hunch, making herself smaller and more vulnerable—exactly what he wanted. His voracious feeding had left her too weak.

I could picture him standing there, probably still wearing that pleasant smile, Shannon’s blood dried on his chin.Surveying the empty room. Seeing the broken vent. Knowing exactly where his prey had gone.

Crawl. Crawl. Crawl.My mind screamed at my body to move faster, but there was nowhere to go but forward, nowhere to hide in this metal tunnel. If he reached in with those long arms...

Shannon’s harsh breathing echoed off the metal walls. My own pulse roared in my ears. Behind us, silence, the kind that comes before a storm. Then?—

“How did you get in here?” Balthazar’s angry voice echoed through the vent.

“Where is she?” The voice sounded exactly like Angelo’s, that perfect mix of ice and rage. My heart clenched painfully. Balthazar was such a master of deception. This could easily be another of his games, another way to toy with my emotions, a trick to make me turn back.

“Someplace you’ll never find her. She’s mine.”

The words bounced off the metal walls, trapping me in their threat. my stomach lurched, hope crumbling to ash in my mouth. I pressed my back against the cold vent, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from this horrible uncertainty. This was exactly how Balthazar operated—letting you believe rescue was at hand before tearing all hope away. But god, it sounded so like Angelo, that protective rage I’d trusted with my life before.

My fingers scraped against the metal as I fought to keep myself from coming apart. One wrong choice in this metal coffin and Shannon and I were both dead.

Chapter

Twenty-One

Serenity

Loud screams were still echoingoutside the vent, vibrating through the metal against my spine. But I forced my racing mind to ignore them and focus instead on every nuance of the two voices arguing beyond our metal prison. Each word could mean life or death. Balthazar was a master of disguise. My skin crawled at the memory of how many times he’d twisted his voice into something familiar, something safe, only to tear hope away. It could be him out there right now, spinning another beautiful lie to lure me out like a spider drawing a fly into its web.

“I have something for you, demon.” Metal clinked against metal.

My heart stuttered in my chest, hope and terror warring for control. I bit down hard on my lower lip, the taste of copper flooding my mouth as I fought to stay silent.

That voice—god, it soundedexactlylike Angelo, right down to the dangerous edge he got in his voice when protecting someone. Even the way he spat the word ‘demon’ was pureAngelo. But Balthazar had fooled me before, had wielded my memories like weapons. Each perfect inflection could be another carefully crafted lie, designed to make me crawl out of safety and right into his hands.

Arrgggh!

The scream that ripped through the vent walls now wasn’t like the others. This one was raw, savage, cut off abruptly like the speaker’s throat had been slashed. But was it real? Was any of this real?

I froze mid-crawl, my hands pressed against the cold metal, doubt churning in my stomach. Every instinct screamed at me to keep moving. I couldn’t risk going back, couldn’t risk being trapped by Balthazar again. The memory of his tortures, of being forced to heal Shannon over and over, made my skin crawl. No. Even if that really was Angelo, I couldn’t risk being caught. Freedom was too close.

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