The last man was taken straight from my teenage fantasies. Tall and pale with a thick mop of dark hair and eyes filled with existential suffering. Pure moody, brooding Goth. I blamed my weakness for such a look on Timothy Chalamet and Adam Driver.
Of the three strangers, he was the only one who seemed to register my undressed state, a slight widening of those soulful eyes, drinking me in.
I liked him the best. As much as I could like anyone who’d mysteriously appeared in my room.
“Izzy Brown?” the sitting man asked. He’d been the one who’s spoken previously, that deep rumbling voice hard to miss.
I found it jarring that these three had barged into my apartment but still wished to verify my name.
“Who’s asking?” I countered.
That made the woman glower and sitting-man quirk a smile, if only for an instant.
“Who we are is of little consequence in the long run. You need to come with us.”
Yeah, because that wasn’t ominous and terrifying.
“Not until you explain who you are and how you got in here and what you want.” I deserved that much.
Sitting-man didn’t smile at my sass this time. He waved a hand at the two others. “Theyare of little consequence, justhere to ensure your… cooperation. My name is Svokol. We arrived here with magic. We want you to come with us.”
As if that explainedanything!
Magic? Really?
He didn’t seem to like my silence. “Perhaps I should rephrase. We are here to bring you back with us toourrealm. There you will take a test. If you fail, we’ll return you here and bother you no longer.”
If I fail?
“And if I pass?”
“You’ll remain with us.”
Wasn’t passing supposed to be good?
“And if I say no?”
His grin returned, but there was no mirth in it.
“I suggest you don’t. Come willingly and we’ll let you get dressed, perhaps even gather a few things. Fight us and we’ll drag you along just as you are.”
I quickly assessed my options.
I was closer to the window, and the fire escape beyond. Had I not been in pain, I might have been able to make it to the window, open it, and flee before they reached me. But Iwasin pain and wouldn’t be moving fast. I’d never make it.
Which left…
I was pretty sure the advice Old Lady Moonie had given me when I was eight, not to get into cars with strangers, applied to going with dangerous looking people to take tests in undisclosed locations.
But I had few other options.
Unless…
“I don’t suppose you’d look the other way while I get dressed?” If they did, I might have a chance to get to the window.
The man’s smile turned just a little vicious. “I don’t thinkso.” Then, as if he’d read my previous thoughts, he motioned for the woman to guard the window.
Well, that was it.
