Page 39 of The Nightmare's Kiss

I catch a glimpse of a young woman sitting on a metal table with her knees pulled to her chest, a winged creature so bright that it hurts to look at it for more than a second. A monster with a snake’s body and a man’s head, and another that looks like a woman made of fire.

There’s also a tall woman with long, wet hair, completely naked and covered in shimmering scales, wandering through the empty hallways with blood on her hands and face. There’s no sound from the video feed, but her lips move like she’s speaking…or singing.

I remember Belle’s words on the radio.X-12…the Siren.I have to hope I won’t run into her, or that if I do, Belle was right when she said she could be reasoned with. I tear my eyes away from her and continue looking through the video feeds.

There are so many creatures locked in this facility…but I feel sad, instead of frightened of them.

But whatdoesscare me is that I can’t find Somnus among them.

I look over the screens one by one, but I catch no glimpse of my familiar shadowed figure. Finally, I realize that there’s no footage at all for cell 13; they must have shut the cameras off. I’m afraid to think of what that might mean.

But no matter what undoubtedly horrible things the director has put him through, I’m here now to save him.

Judging by the camera feeds, security hasn’t entered the building yet, but I know it’s only a matter of time until they pull together an effort to recapture the Siren. There’s no time to delay. I search through the control panels until I find the switch for cell 13 and swap it to theunlockedposition. Electricity jolts through me as I do so, a delicious thrill and sense of satisfaction.

The Nightmare is free. Now all that’s left is to go claim him.

24

Chapter Twenty-Four

I probably look insane, a recently fired employee sprinting through the building with a wild grin on my face. I can imagine them running video clips of this during news segments,unstable ex-employee stages dangerous jail break, et cetera, but I can’t bring myself to care right now. The only thing at the forefront of my mind is the Nightmare. Somnus is waiting for me. This will be not only a reunion, but a first meeting of sorts. I am so excited to see him, touch him, hold and be held by him.

I run past the door to my usual observation workspace, and instead go the next door over: room 13B, the cell I usually observe. When I pull on the handle, the metal creaks open and reveals the room I’ve only seen from the other side of a window.

Then the smell hits me. It is rank and animal. Like a filthy, damp dog.

I go still. This is not the smoke and spice of my Nightmare. My instincts screamwrong, screamrun, and I realize that I’ve made a mistake a moment before I hear the wet snuffle of something in the corner.

This cell is occupied, but not by Somnus.

Slowly, I turn to face the creature lurking in the shadows of the room. It stands at least eight feet tall, and is as thick as a tree. It’s bipedal and covered in matted brown fur, with a pair of twin horns curving out of its head. Each limb bulges with muscle in a way that is nearly obscene, and it is clad only in a filthy-looking loincloth. For a moment I can only stare, but then my brain catches up and supplies a name for what I’m looking at:minotaur.

There doesn’t seem to be any intelligence in its beady black eyes. But I was wrong with the Nightmare at first. Maybe I’m wrong now too.

“Hello…” I try, my voice coming out thin and weak. I take a step back, and it growls, so I freeze again. “Can you…speak? Or understand me?” I ask, but my heart is already sinking as I observe the way it’s looking at me, its lack of a reaction to my attempts to speak to it, other than a flick of its tapered ears.

It takes a step toward me. A cloven hoof scrapes at the tile. I take a step back, suppressing the urge to run. I know what they say about turning your back to a predator, and this thing definitely feels like one.

“Okay, okay… Sorry for intruding…” I babble, attempting a soothing voice that comes out too high-pitched with anxiety. My body quakes as I slowly back toward the door.Just a couple more steps, a couple more.

Then the Minotaur lets out an angry snort. It stamps one hoof on the ground, and I’m hit with a distinct flashback to a viral video featuring a bull about to charge.

I turn and bolt out the door, flinging it half shut behind me. Not a second later, there’s a deep bellow and an earth-shattering crash as the Minotaur slams into it. Metal screeches horribly. I glance over my shoulder, still running, to see that the creature has ripped the door off its hinges and flung it to the floor. Now it’s in the hallway, and its beady eyes are still locked on me, filled with rage.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I whisper. I ran in a panic, and now, I realize with a lurch, I’m heading deeper into the Facility, toward endless locked doors and God knows what else rather than outside where the guards can defend me. But it’s too late to turn back; the Minotaur is prowling after me, its bulky form filling most of the hallway. All I can do is keep running.

The melancholic wail of the alarm is still going off somewhere in the building. Between its screams, I can hear another, distant noise. Is someone…singing? But no time to focus on that. The monster behind me bellows again, as though the sounds have further enraged it.Just what I fucking need right now.I’m distantly aware that my plan is falling apart. Any chance of stealth or secrecy is fully gone. I have to focus on getting out alive. The rest can wait until I’mnotbeing chased by an eight-foot-tall bull monster who could snap my spine with one hand.

God, I wish I had my own monster at my side right now. I didn’t have a plan to getoutof here once I was inside—I figured with Somnus, we could figure it out together. And even while I’m running desperately for my life, I can’t help but worry about him. Where is he? What have they done with him?

I swipe Ezra’s card at door after door between bouts of sprinting to get ahead of the minotaur, but none of them open. When I pound on a few in desperation, there’s no answer. My breath becomes ragged, my legs shaky with exhaustion and panic as I navigate a seemingly never-ending spiral of hallways, deeper and deeper into the facility. And every minute, the minotaur is getting closer. I can hear its heavy, plodding steps following me, its horrible grunting and snuffling. It follows me slowly but steadily, like it has all the time in the world. And it probably does. I have nowhere to go; sooner or later, I’m going to hit a dead end, and then I’m done for.

Soon my breath leaves in gasping sobs, and I’m stumbling rather than sprinting. I have yet to see another soul. The building has fully evacuated. Is security coming? Or is it just me and this goddamn monster in an empty building of locked doors? The thought makes me want to collapse in a heap.

Just when I think I can’t take it anymore, I round a corner and plow into someone. We both go sprawling onto the floor.

“Help me, please—” I gasp, before realizing who’s under me.

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