Below me were rows upon rows of seats, all of them surrounding a field of icy, bluish white, painted with red and blue lines. Even in the darkness, the floor glowed. Not eerily, but otherworldly almost.
That glow called to me. It pulled me toward it and slipped between the railings, lowering myself to the seat under the balcony and then down onto the floor. My gaze never left the sight that tugged at my soul.
My hands trailed along the glass-topped enclosure as I looked for a way onto the floor. The smell was indescribable. A combination of so many scents that I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint a single one even if someone paid me to do so.
I stopped at the gate, looking around to see if I was being watched before pulling it open. Reaching down, I touched the ice, ignoring the blast of cold that thundered up my arm. Standing, I glanced around again before stepping through the gate.
The moment my feet touched the ice, a feeling washed through me that I didn’t recognize at first, but the longer I stood there, the more it grew until I realized this place, this ice floor with the tiers of seats surrounding me, this was where I belonged.
This was home.
“What the fuck?”
I popped upright, my heart in my throat. The knob rattled, and the door bounced in the frame. Holding my breath, I waited, hoping the voice I heard had been in my head and not actually outside the door.
Gruff, Russian-accented curses muffled by the door filtered toward me. This was bad. So, so, so, so bad. I grabbed my bag, jumping to my feet. My head swiveled, desperately seeking another exit or a place to hide. There wasn’t anything I could do about the mess I’d made with the food I finally found.
Metal scraped in the lock.
I was outta time.
I scrambled, heading toward the door. There was just enough space to tuck in behind it. Hopefully, when it opened, whoever was on the other side would walk into the room, see the mess, and stop so I could sneak out behind them. The problem with that was they knew this place better than I did, even though I had spent the entire night wandering the halls searching the rooms. I even took a shower when I found the locker room, something I hadn’t done in longer than I could, or wanted to remember. I even found some new clothes. Not new-new, but new to me. And they smelled clean. Afterward, I felt like a new guy.
I slid into place just as the door opened. I held my breath, and I watched the biggest man I think I’ve ever seen walk into the room.
He had to be six feet tall, if not taller. Probably closer to six-three or six-four. He towered over my five-eleven.
“What the hell happened in here?”
I edged around the door, but my sneakers squeaked when they left the carpet for the tile. The big guy turned, our eyes collided, and for a moment, the world stood still. I took off at a run. Behind me, his deep rumbling voice echoed through empty halls. The light coming in from the windows high on the outside walls told me it was still before daylight. I made it to the lobby, running to the door, smacking into it, my hands on the push lever, and depressed the bar, but the door didn’t move. I was screwed.
Tears flooded. They burned their way up my throat. Pinpricks stabbed the back of my eyes.
“Kid, I’m not going to hurt you.”
Turning, I looked at the guy. I hated judging a book by the cover, but I couldn’t help myself. He was massive. Nearly as wide as he was tall.
“Said everyone who’s ever hurt me in the past.”
I took off down the hall away from him. He was hot on my heels. For a big guy, he was fast. Really fast.
I raced into the arena, down the stands, and around the rink to the opposite side of the building. I got to another door. The one I came in through last night, hoping it would open. But, of course, it didn’t.
I collapsed on the floor, my back to the hallway wall. Defeat pummeled me, knocking out the dam holding back the tears that clogged my throat and filled my eyes. Big fat droplets fell. I knocked them off my face, but they came so hard and fast that it was no use. So, I stopped.
The footsteps that pounded after me stopped several feet away. The guy huffed a breath, but I kept my eyes averted. Until ajangle sounded. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of light just before he tossed something into the air. The unmistakable sound of keys hitting the ground filled the near silence between us, echoing off the walls.
“The doors are locked. You can’t get out without a key. Although I don’t know how you got in without a key either, but that’s not the point.”
“Are you Russian?”
“No. I’m Croatian. And you?”
I shrugged, chewing my lip while trying to force myself to look at him. My eyes made it to his shoes before darting away.
“I dunno. Plain old American?”
“Nothing wrong with that. Wanna tell me how you got into my rink?”
