Chapter 24
Karia
“You said you had so many things to tell me, so talk.” I grip the knife tighter, my palm and fingers clammy around the handle as I follow Cosmo down a darkened hallway.
I made him promise to take me to see Sullen before anything else, and I can only hope he’s keeping his promise.
“Where is Sanford?” I ask as an afterthought, wanting to keep track of everyone in this house, which must be Haunt Muren.
Cosmo glances over his shoulder, his face illuminated by a dim electric sconce on the wall, green eyes vivid in the darkness. He glances at the knife by my side, a hint of a smile on his plush lips before he sighs, turning away from me and leading us further down the corridor.
It smells of cranberries in here, something almost like Christmas, and it is frigid. I shiver in my pajamas but I don’t say a word as I watch the muscles in Cosmo’s back shift while he walks.
“Sanford Rule has information we need, but he’ll have to die, and soon.
” He speaks casually, like this shouldn’t surprise me.
Like he is not surprised. “And before we can continue, I would like to make a request. Can you please stop getting yourself drugged?” His tone is soft and he doesn’t look at me, but I feel my face flush hot.
I swallow tightly, flicking my gaze past him, peering down the darkened hallway. There is a set of stairs, the first few visible in the gloom. I wonder where they lead. What sort of room Cosmo has put Sullen in, and how. Between the two of them, Sullen is bigger. Unless Cosmo somehow drugged him.
I curl my fingers tighter around the knife.
“Blaming the victim, why am I not surprised?” I try to keep my tone even as we come to the bottom of the stairs, but when Cosmo steps aside to allow me to look up, I feel his gaze on the side of my face.
He is too close to me, and when he speaks, his breath caresses my cheek.
“I don’t ever blame you for anything, Karia.”
I clench my teeth and shift my gaze to his as he pulls back marginally, our eyes connecting. But all I ask is, “He’s up here?” And nod toward the staircase.
Cosmo’s brows pull together in what looks like frustration, but he nods once, slowly.
My heart rate quickens.
I think of Sullen’s body on top of mine.
The pool of blood. The bandages on my throat from the knife held there.
How viciously Sullen murdered my attacker.
“Do I need this knife?” I ask quietly, pushing those thoughts aside and refusing to turn to Cosmo again as I focus on the wooden stairs. They trail up into what looks like oblivion, judging by the absence of light.
“Is that a trick question?” he counters, his voice low. “Do you think he’s going to hurt you, or me—”
I whirl on him, narrowing my gaze as he shuts up with my sudden movement. He doesn’t back down, but his brows lift, like he’s surprised. It’s only been a few days since we last saw one another, and yet in so many ways, I feel changed.
I bring the knife up quickly between us as if I might stab him in the sternum and he flinches, but he doesn’t lift his hands to protect himself as I prick the sharp point along his black jacket.
“Am I going to have to hurt you?” I clarify, holding his gaze.
I watch his throat roll as he swallows and a sense of satisfaction courses through me, seeing his nerves.
But still he says, “Drop the knife, Karia,” his tone flat.
I don’t look away for long seconds, neither of us moving.
Then I decide to keep the blade. I back away and lower my hand, and he darts his eyes to it, but he doesn’t try to take the weapon from me.
I break eye contact, then begin walking up the stairs on unsteady legs.
“You’re afraid of him, aren’t you?” Cosmo calls after me, his steps causing the wood to creak below me.
My pulse hammers hard in my chest, but not from Cosmo’s question. Instead, I am thinking about seeing Sullen exposed, and what I will do to cover him up.
But all at once, ringing through the quiet, I hear him before I see anything at all.
“No.” A single word repeated too many times. It blurs together in a run-on sentence. “Nononono.” A breath of denial, desperate urging scraping up a hoarse throat. It sounds as if he is frightened, being alone with himself in this horrible room.
Every limb in my body is tense. It feels as if my heart is breaking, hearing him hurting.
I ascend faster, practically running, shakiness overtaking my frame. I’m worried I will slip.
Then Cosmo is at my side, as if he can’t let me go, and we come to the apex of the stairs in a strange way that feels too soon.
This house is all dark, gleaming wood, golden trim, and here, at the top of what feels like a tower, there is a door more sorry than the rest that I didn’t truly see while I was at the bottom of the stairwell.
It is pale white, as if it was never painted at all beyond a base coating. There is a golden knob that has been dented many times. The wood flooring is dirtier here. I can feel grains of dirt or sand under my bare feet. It is like this place is drenched in neglect.
There is nothing else on this floor. Just the door at the landing.
Cosmo’s arm brushes my shoulder.
I grip the knife tighter, my palm clammy.
“No, no, no.” Sullen sounds terrified. Like he is stammering. Shaking.
He is inside there.
Trapped?
My heart aches as I turn to my former friend, his lime eyes meeting mine. “What did you do to him?” I keep my voice down, afraid if Sullen hears me, he will be more scared.
As it is, I don’t know what he’s afraid of now except perhaps his own memories.
“I told you,” Cosmo says coldly. “I stripped him. To ensure he didn’t have any hidden weapons.” He inclines his head, as if to indicate the knife I hold. “I can’t take chances with either of you, it seems.”
“That’s all?” But even as I ask, I know it’s more than enough. That would be worse than a blow to Sullen.
Pressure builds behind my eyes. To Cosmo, it’s silly. Stupid. But to my monster, to me, it’s everything.
“Isn’t that enough?” Cosmo counters.
Maybe he realizes it isn’t stupid at all. My breath catches, wondering how Sullen reacted when Cosmo stripped him. He said he seemed fine, which is exactly how I know he wasn’t.
“Did you lock him in here?” I turn to stare at the door.
Sullen is still murmuring behind it. I don’t know how long he’s been here. I don’t know how many hours have lapsed between lying on the floor as a man tried to kill me and now. I don’t know if the man’s body has been moved.
I don’t know anything at all, except I want to go through that door. I will tear it down if I have to.
“The door is built that way.” Cosmo inclines his head toward it.
I see the small sliver of a lock on the outside.
Then on the floor is a silver bar that has to be pulled out of place to allow entrance.
He was locked in this room many times before, wasn’t he?
By Stein.
What did he endure here?
What is reliving, even now?
Did he die here, in his mind? Did he ever get up and leave this place? Was I the only piece of sanity he had left?
I don’t say anything to Cosmo.
I step forward, then crouch down. I ignore the pains along my body, my throat, my side.
I disengage the clunky bar with my free hand and watch as a corner of the door seems to pop a little with the relief of tension.
Sullen’s murmurs stop.
He is silent beyond.
I think I should warn him I am coming in.
I open my mouth as I dart my fingers to the doorknob, but Cosmo’s hand comes to my elbow, grabbing me, startling me to stillness.
I think about stabbing him.
“I don’t want you in there alone with him.”
I close my eyes tight, but I don’t move. “I don’t give a fuck what you want.”
“You need to eat. You look unwell. I want to examine your throat.” He lists each thing off like he’s reciting a checklist. “You should probably have some water. Just come downstairs with me, then we’ll return. You wanted me to take you to him and I did. You hear him. Now, let’s talk.”
I laugh a little. It sounds deranged. “No.” I don’t wait for his permission after that.
I flip the lock on the knob, then grab the latter.
Cosmo doesn’t let go of me.
I don’t care.
I open the door.
Cold greets me.
Complete darkness.
The scent of urine is sharp and I hate Cosmo a little more, even though I’m not sure it’s his fault. I don’t know if the smell is from days past, or tonight.
I don’t know where Sullen is in the gloom.
The space feels vast.
“Sullen?”
Cosmo’s fingers curl tighter around the back of my arm.
He will have to physically restrain me if he wants to try and stop me, or I will drive the blade into his flesh.
I am not letting anyone jerk me around again. Not anymore.
I take a step forward.
Cosmo moves with me.
“Sullen?” I say again, louder, my voice cracking.
Silence.
It is like the air is dead here, but it’s so cold. I know there must be vents or even a window or something besides this vast emptiness it feels like I am staring down.
“Karia,” Cosmo whispers, and I hear the uneasiness in his words. He is afraid of the monster he is taunting. He’s probably wishing he had taken the knife instead of me. “Let’s go back downstairs and—”
There is a sudden thump.
Like a dresser hitting a wall or a fist against one.
I step further into the room.
The floor creaks beneath my bare feet.
It feels like hardwoods.
Another step.
Cosmo doesn’t let me go.
Then there is a gleam of white.
Eyes in the night.
Right in front of me.
A shadow in my face.
It leaps for me.
I open my mouth but don’t scream. Don’t raise the knife.
The form doesn’t land on me. Cosmo’s hand forcefully releases me and I stagger forward a few steps as I turn around, only to see the shadow of Cosmo’s head collide with the opposite wall at the exact moment the door is slammed shut.
Then Cosmo starts to scream.