I woke with a start, bolting upright and looking around, confused about where I was or what had happened.It took a moment to work it all out.
I’d fallen asleep on the couch, and now the television was blaring an infomercial for some detergent that was supposed to get bloodstains out of clothing.
If I had to deal with that many blood stains, I had bigger problems in my life than needing a new laundry detergent.
The lights were off—only the harsh glow of the television illuminated the large space, casting strange shadows that looked like monsters, all reaching to yank me down.
After another nightmare, of course, who could blame me for thinking that those shadows reached for me?
The memory remained with me, fresh in my mind.That voice, twisted and guttural, tattooed so deeply into my psyche that I doubted I’d ever really escape it.
Sweat covered my forehead, my back, made my shirt stick to my skin even as I moved.
Why had I woken?
The answer became clear when I turned my head to find three massive figures in the office, near the door.
I slapped my hand over my mouth to muffle my scream.
Light poured through the office, so bright that I flinched from it at first.When my eyes adjusted, instead of the monsters I’d imagined, three very real ones stood there.
“Sorry to startle you,” Carter said.“I figured you’d be in your room, not camping out in the living room, staying up late to watch…” He turned his head toward the TV then chuckled.“Detergent commercials?You going to start doing our laundry?”
“You wish,” I muttered when I pulled my hand from my mouth, angry with myself for showing such weakness.The barb lacked any real bite, but it was the best I had at the moment.Sometimes the most a person could do was move forward, bury insecurities beneath a mountain of snark and lies and false bravery.
The thing that shook me from the distraction was taking a better look at the three of them.
They’d been out far later than they were supposed to be, and seeing them right now gave me a pretty good idea as to why.
Fresh wounds and bruises covered each of them, and in addition?A neon purple that I easily recognized, the scent of it choking and playing havoc with my already fragile mindset.
Monster blood.
There was something about it that nothing could replicate, as though I could smell the very corruption of it, down to some impossibly deep level.Other guides didn’t react as I did to the scent, but other guides hadn’t gone through what I had.
At least, if they ever did, none spoke of it.
“You were in a dungeon,” I said.
Carter smiled broadly, as though to tell me not to worry, to reassure me that this was nothing.“It was a quick one, in and out.Not a big deal.”
“You’re hurt.”
He gestured at himself and waved the concern away.“It’ll all be healed up by morning.It was a small dungeon, and we figured it’d clear in a matter of minutes.”
“Yousaid that,” Shear pointed out.
“Yeah, don’t put this bullshit on us.You were the one who decided to run fucking headlong into a pack of monsters.”Ingram picked a bloody chunk of something from his hair and flicked it off.
“You what?”I knew my tone came out like a scolding mother, but I couldn’t help it.“You just headed into one?Just like that?”
Carter laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.“Well, sure.We’re espers, aren’t we?”
The light gave me a better look at him, the ability to see that his eyes had tinted purple, to see the black lines that bled from his eyes, over his face, his throat, as though blackness ran through his veins instead of normal blood.
“You need guiding,” I whispered.
He shook his head.“I’m fine.Like I said, not a problem.”
