Page 68 of The Vampire's Lament
Why had Silvanus shone like that?
Halfway through the episode, I heard screaming, everything coming to a halt.
I shot upright, my heart leaping into my throat. “What was that?”
Medusa sat up too.
More screaming, voices calling out to each other. And it came from outside this room.
“What…what is that?”
“There’s no way out!” I heard a man cry.
Anxiety wringing my insides, I swung my legs off the bed, darting for the door.
“Don’t, Paris,” Medusa said, totally calm.
My hand curled around the doorhandle. “Don’t what?”
“Where are you?” a woman bellowed, sounding like it came from above me.
Laughter from the studio audience rang from the TV, my heartrate tripling.
“Are they trapped in the corridors?” I swallowed, a horrible idea coming to me.
No. Don’t go there.
Elio once warned me about the danger of getting lost in this palace.
“Yes,” she answered.
I pressed my forehead to the door. “Are they…are they…”
“Executioners,” she spoke gently.
With everything I’d been through, trying to fit round pegs into square holes, the executioner part of me yanked the door open. Pouring everything into my legs, I tore down the endless corridor until the ground trembled.
I froze, turning to see an onyx wall sealing off the way I’d just come, trapping me. Only those with clearance were able to navigate his maze, so I’d just shafted myself.
Whatever. I couldn’t stand the sound of fellow executioners being stuck here, doomed to starve to death.
“Hello?” a voice called from up ahead.
I started moving. “Who’s there?”
What am I doing?
A merman turned the corner, super metallic copper scales on his fair, beige skin.
Copper scales like her, the mermaid who?—
“Are you Paris Raine?” he asked, hurrying toward me.
I came out of the brief stupor. “Yeah. I’m Paris.” I barely got the words out, my chest tangled with barbed vines.
“I’ve seen your picture.” He stopped a few feet away, bending over to catch his breath.
“I…”I shouldn’t be here.
