Page 27 of A Game of Queens
The room suddenly went dark, and the doctor leaped to his feet with a soft little gasp of fear. "Holy shit. I was just kidding."
I wasn't sure why he was afraid. To me, darkness meant safety. In whatever hell I'd been in, it was never dark. So it was never safe.
The machine I was hooked up to started beeping. Voices rose outside the small room and people hurried back and forth, turning off whatever wasn't absolutely necessary. A male nurse stuck his head into my room. "Hey, doc, sounds like the power grid went down. The generators are firing up now. Does she need an emergency battery for anything?"
"No, she'll be fine until the generators are up." The doctor turned back to me and sheepishly ran a hand through his hair. "No government conspiracy today, I guess." He laughed again, shaking his head ruefully. "Next thing I'll be thinking you're an alien."
I didn't know what to say. I wasn't an extraterrestrial, but I certainly wasn't human either. I knew it like I knew my name was Karmen, though I didn't know what I was exactly. Or why I was here.
"When the other round of tests come back, I'll stop by to discuss the results with you." He moved to the door. Now, he seemed eager to get away, as if I was the dangerous one.
Maybe I was. "Doctor?" He paused at the door and glanced back at me, eyes wary. "How sure are you?"
"About the pregnancy?"
I nodded, jaw clenching.
"As sure as I can be, given how different your blood chemistry is. Elevated levels of hCG are the primary indicator of pregnancy. Yours are quite high, Karmen. If you were a human, I'd guess that you were even having twins before doing an ultrasound."
I couldn't seem to move or think. I watched him leave. I watched the other nurses and doctors hurrying to take care of the more critical patients. My body felt numb and heavy. At least I didn't feel like I was going to float away again. I shifted restlessly on the bed, feeling trapped and exposed. I needed to do something. Anything. Lying here waiting for a human doctor to run more tests wasn't going to help me. He didn't even know what I was.
I don't know what I am either.
The restlessness increased. My nerves twitched and itched inside me with anxiety. The darkness weighed heavier. Instead of hiding me in safety... I suddenly feared I was in danger again. I felt trapped. I couldn't get out. I didn't know this place. I couldn't breathe. I didn't want to be here any longer.
Every instinct screamed with alarm to flee. Flee now.
Where could I go? I didn't know anyone. If this place wasn't safe any longer... where could I go? The doctor was at least trying to help me.
Someone screamed faintly in the distance. Inside this building? Or outside? I couldn't tell.
Heart racing, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and gingerly touched my feet to the floor. I wasn't sure if I was strong enough to walk. The tiles were cold beneath my bare feet. I tested my strength, slowly slipping more of my weight off the bed. My knees felt a little trembly, but I took a step. Another. I used the end of the bed to balance myself, straining to hear the screams again. I lurched for the door, gasping for breath as I leaned against the doorframe.
I stared down the darkened hallway. Emergency lights cast a greenish glow along the floor, but the upper half of the hallway was wreathed in shadows. I started to turn and look the other way, but something crackled. Up in the darkness, a flash of red and gold. The lick of fire.
Ice filled my veins. I whirled away, stumbling down the hall, bouncing my shoulder along the wall to keep upright.They're here. They're here.
I couldn't stop babbling inside my head, even though I didn't know who they were. No, that wasn't true.
I knew exactly who they were.
I didn'twantto remember.
Fire. Gold. Flickering flames in the darkness. For them to materialize in the shadows took immense effort. So they were the strongest of the entire legion.
I broke into a stumbling run.
EIVIND
The passenger doorof my car flew open and someone hopped in before I could even bark out,"What the fuck?"
I opened my mouth, but my words stilled. The woman in the alley.
The fuckingqueen.
"Go," she ordered, looking back over her shoulder. Dressed in a hospital gown, she still looked bruised and thin, as if she'd been held in captivity for months or longer, but definitely better than dead.
For her, at least.
