I blink and the office swims into focus. The couch. The blanket tangled around my legs. The bowl of fruit untouched on the table.
When did I fall asleep?
"Everything's okay." He's lifting me, cradling me against his chest like I weigh nothing. "Everything's fine. I'm going to give you a bath."
Fine.
Fine.
The word bounces around my skull like a marble in a tin can, keeping perfect, metronomic rhythm with the constant, pulsingthump that now fills every available crevice of my brain. Pushing out everything else, leaving behind just that single syllable on endless repeat.
Fine fine fine fine fine.
We're moving. Hallway. Doors. His footsteps steady on tile, then wood, then tile again. He's talking, his voice a low murmur against the top of my head.
"—my private quarters. No one comes in here without permission. You're safe. I've got you."
Safe.
The bamboo walls rise around us.
No.
No.
That's not right. These are concrete walls. White. Clean. But I see the bamboo anyway, see the maze twisting ahead of me, hear Helix's voice in my earbuds telling me torun, little slut, run.
"Scarletta?"
The blonde attendant's head in the mud. Eyes open. Mouth slack.
That wasn't in the story. Lyra never found bodies. The monsters in my story didn't?—
"You're dissociating. That's normal. Stay with me."
Steam. Warm air on my face. The sound of water running.
I blink and we're in a bathroom. Massive. Marble. A tub the size of a small pool filling with water that smells like lavender.
The bathing pavilion. The stirrups. The blond attendants hands between my?—
No. Different room. Different water.
"I'm going to set you down now."
My feet touch cold tile. My knees buckle immediately and he catches me, holds me upright.
"Easy. I've got you."
Helix caught Lyra in the third corridor. Pinned her against the wall. His claws?—
The stranger's claws cutting my hip. Real blood. My blood.
That wasn't supposed to happen. In my story, the monsters only made her feel good?—
Good, Scarletta? They raped her.
But… she wanted it!
