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I’m getting close. I can feel it.
Then I hear a sound behind me. At first, it’s just small, metallic, grating. But then the whole hallway booms as the door I propped open at the top of the stairs slams shut.
The hallway is plunged into complete darkness.
My spine snaps rigid and I freeze at the sound of footsteps, clanging on the metal staircase.
And then…laughter.
“Maleqqi,” a voice growls, low and familiar. So very Norwegian-sounding. “It’s good to be back here with you.”
My blood runs cold.
Jonas.
“This is where we were mademen, Mal,” Jonas’ voice whispers in the darkness. “This is where everythingstarted.”
The light is completely gone now, swallowed whole by the gloom. I reach for my phone to turn it back on, but I can feel him near. So I turn, fists raised, ready for the fight I know is coming.
Pain explodes through my temple as his fist slams out of the pitch black and into my face. I go reeling, seeing stars as I tumble back and crash into the stone wall behind me.
I grunt, shaking it off and righting myself, fists up again, even though I can’t see a goddamn thing.
Shit.
I groan again when I get hit a second time, this time from behind. Pain explodes down my neck and back as his fist slams into me. I whirl, throwing a wild punch, but it only connects with air.
I wince, catching myself against the wall as his leg sweeps mine, smashing hard into the side of my knee. He lands another punch right on my jaw, and I groan when the taste of copper explodes across my tongue.
What thefuck. I can’t seeanything. Meanwhile, he’s scoring direct hits every time. The fucker’s gotta be wearing some kind of night vision goggles.
“Come on, Mal,” Jonas taunts. “Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft.”
I throw another wild punch into the darkness, but it’s useless. He strikes again, a brutal hit that connects with my ribs,knocking the wind from my lungs. I stumble, struggling to find my footing.
He’s relentless. He hits me again.
I grit my teeth, forcing myself to keep going, even as the pain and punishment intensifies.
“You know what’s going to happen, Mal?” Jonas’ voice slithers through the darkness. “You’re going to stay alive just long enough to watch her die. But not before I makehera monster, same as us. She’s going to kill Kir, Mal,” Jonas laughs. “I’m going to make her kill her own father.”
I stop cold, his words sinking in like poison.
“And then she’ll be destroyed, Mal. She’ll never recover from it.”
Rage burns within me, white-hot and blinding. I lunge forward, but he’s already danced away. I hear him behind me again, his steps light and deliberate. I’m losing this. I’m losingher.
Then I see it—a thin crack of light cutting through the blackness, just ahead. A door, maybe.
I wait, listening, sensing his position. He strikes again, but this time I’m ready. I grab him by the arm, using the momentum of his punch to throw him off balance. It gives me just enough time.
I rush toward the door, my hand fumbling frantically for the knob, my fingers curling around an old-fashioned crank lock. Jonas is right behind me, his footsteps pounding on the stone floor. I twist the lock, yanking the door open.
Instantly, light floods the hallway.
It’s not bright, by any means. But Jonas screams just the same, clutching his face as the ultra-sensitive goggles I was right abouthim wearing magnify that light to the brightness of a fucking supernova and send it right into his optic nerves.
He roars in pain, stumbling back, disoriented, and I seize the moment. I charge him, hitting him hard and tackling him onto the floor of the room I’ve just unlocked.
